This year has been the year of home improvement in our home. As some of you know, last summer I came up with an ultimatum for my family. We were to either fix up our house so that it looked like a home and not one big frat house, sell the place and build a new one, or sell the place and move to Florida (still kind of with I'd sold them on that one). Well in this economy selling the place would be about as easy and flying to the moon. So we decided to fix the place up. Fresh paint, new flooring, new furniture that no one had peed on. I would be lying if I said that I didn't love my "new" house. I do however the process of the great re-make wasn't an easy one. Nor is it now easy. I am not a home decorator. If I were I'm pretty sure I would have done it right the first time and would merely have needed new flooring instead of the whole shebang. As I don't know what I'm doing I went to an expert. She was wonderful. She came up with some great ideas. What she didn't come up with is a timely manner in getting things in, and an understanding of what the word budget means. After the first two rooms were done, I decided I had the thing down pat and took over with what she taught me to look for and a few ideas of my own as well as my friends.
We started last October. We emptied rooms and filled nail holes and repainted. We got new hard wood floors in two of the rooms. This was a dream of mine. I always wanted hard wood floors. We get the floors installed and the walls are all painted what I didn't count on was waiting till Christmas and after for my furniture to get in. What I also didn't count on was that come July those same hardwood floors that I dreamed of and wanted for my very own would buckle. Now here I sit in September looking at my strip of paper that should be hardwood. Where they have ripped out the faulty section, in hopes of figuring out what went wrong.
If you were to ask my family what my strongest suit is, they would not tell you patience. The wouldn't tell you cooking, or baking, organization either, but by far patience is lacking in my temperament. Perhaps it's an only child personality trait that I just can't ditch. I'm not sure but I think that in this instance I've been more than patient far more fair than most. It's been almost a full month since they pulled up the wood and have yet to come and fix it. A less patient person would have called them long before now and told them to either get out here and fix it now or get out here rip it all out and give them back their money. Have I done either of these things? No. No I've sat and waited. Until last week I had held out hope that any day they would come and fix it and all would be well. Last week I decided to call. I explained I was unhappy. I told them a solution would be appreciated. A return phone call was to be made, it never was. So today I called and again said I was unhappy (Seriously? Do they not know that when mama isn't happy nobody is happy?) I said I would like this taken care of that my patience that they had commended me with in the past is now spreading thin. Today I got a call back and hopefully in the next couple days some manufacturing guru will come and say what the problem is and they will fix it. Hopefully!
This journey we have been on has been quite an adventure really. Living where we do we get a lot of spiders. Some of them live in my stairwell well out of reach. I discovered that they are of little use to me as they were unable and unwilling to help me paint the corners that were hard to reach. How we painted it before is a mystery to me. We have learned that a bookshelf isn't just a bookshelf. Some book selves are Divine and even those are full of my treasured books. Which was the reason behind the birthday present of the nook. This device feeds my desire to have immediate satisfaction as I'm able to buy book from it without ever leaving the house. This is good as we no longer have a bookstore in our town. We have a Walmart and a Meijer that both sell books but it's not the same as a bookstore where you can roam isle after isle of imagination and education. You lose that in the nook but you gain just as much so I feel content.
Did you know that having the right stuff is better than having a lot of the wrong stuff? We learned that too. Over the course of 15 years of marriage and children you accumulate a LOT. Getting rid of a great deal and using just what was needed has calmed me immensely. I no longer feel it's best to be away from home as it's simpler now to get it all cleaned up and this calms me. Before it was just SO much that it overwhelmed me to the point I'd rather move and start over. For this I'm very grateful for the help that was involved in this process.
My office still needs help. I have yet to figure out how to get it manageable. Perhaps it's more conducive to my work to have it messy. It's good material. However, as the rest of the house is so orderly, I think the greatest gift for me would be to have someone come in and show me how to get this figured out also. The vastness of the mess is what gets to me. I often have trouble seeing the trees for the forest. Some people can't see the trees for the forest, I'm backwards. In all actuality I should be able to take one desk at a time and get it right then move on, all I can do is keep looking at what is left so I walk away, to one of the more calming rooms. My reading room is lovely. It's also known as the living room. I call it my reading room because it's you know, where I read. It's also my favorite room, aside from the missing flooring it's lovely. The light is best in that room and the couch is very comfy for settling in with a good book.
So this is what I know. Deliveries only happen when you are painting in another room. It also helps if it is a holiday. It doesn't matter if they have a factory full of furniture you will get yours when they get good and ready to send it. Washable fabrics are your friend. Patience is a virtue but delivery is Divine!
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