Overwhelmed!

In some ways, I'm feeling really stumped by all we have to do at our house. It's hard to manage spending time there with caring for a very busy 16 month old guy. But, I know we'll get it all done before moving day (June 12!). We've had lots of help from my family, and are working hard whenever we can. I do, at times, feel guilty that Paul is pulling more of the load. I have to bring Henry back to Grandma's for nap, and early for bedtime while Paul works on. It's hard, not feeling like I'm doing my share of the yuck work.

I've gotten our bedroom walls, ceiling, trim and closet painted...just needs a few touchups. Henry's room has a first coat, and the trim is done. I painted the hall trim, and need to do the walls this weekend. We need to prime and paint the upstairs floors, and then it's just detail work that can happen after we move in. Aunt Cindy deep-cleaned the upstairs bath yesterday, and Paul has all the wall repair done on the plastered dining room. Aunt Lois came over to paint some living room trim this morning, and I cleaned up all the plaster dust (quite a long process, as I had to clean the shop vac filter 3 times before I finished the room). I'm at home while Henry naps now, then I'll bring him up to my Dad's place, where Sandi will look after him for a few hours so I can go back to the house and paint some more.

I absolutely LOVE to paint, and am kind of a nut about doing it "right." I've had to let go of that controlling, perfectionist feeling in order to just relax and let others help with this work. It helps that the house is old and flawed, somehow. Maybe because I know that painting perfectly isn't going to make the trim or walls look perfect? I'm a nut.

I've taken lots of "before" photos, but the camera is in a kitchen cabinet at the new house, so I've yet to upload any.

Really, in the grand scheme of things, all this work is minor, "finish" work to us. Having lived through remodeling our old house from the studs out (plumbing, electrical, drywall, building a kitchen, etc), this really is very little work by comparison. I think most people feel overwhelmed when they walk in, but overall, it feels like a snap! It will be all fresh and ready to live in, soon. Just paint and cleaning, that's what I keep telling myself.

We decided to have the hardwood flooring on the main floor refinished. We'd planned to do it ourselves, but the task seemed to daunting and monumental, and we really strongly want it to look it's best. Paul and I agree; we'd rather suck it up and pay a bit more now than look back and wish we'd done so when our DIY floor job bothered us. That's one thing we learned from Lamay...if you're not sure you can do it well, it's worth it to check into having someone else do it well, otherwise it will bother us indefinitely.

Henry is doing well with all the chaos. He loves to roam and romp in our fenced back yard. There's plenty of room for him to explore, and it's so relaxing to be able to sit in a chair and watch him do it, rather than be on his heels to make sure he stays out of the alley or the street. We're really going to love living in this house! It's just right for our family.