One Sixty: The Weekendless May

The Weekendless May

What a bummer of a week. I should be psyched - the grass is coming up, the office is painted, and it's been beautiful out.

But there's also bad news. I'll be working this Sunday, next Saturday, Sunday the-what-ever's-after-next-Sunday, and the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. And not just working working - like, out of the state working. I should be psyched about that too - it's a great opportunity and should be lotsa fun. (Can't elaborate any more, however. It's a little bit of a hush-hush operation for now at least.)

But this is the start of Spring!! Normally every weekend is jam-packed with places to go, people to see, and things to do. This Sunday, I'll be missing out on the blessing of the bikes, for example. =(

And Mike and I won't be able to go camping at Nickerson on Memorial Day weekend like last year.

Not to mention the loss of countless hours of work around the house. Saturdays are going to be super stressful. That is, if I don't have to travel on Saturdays. I'll be getting the details today at 1pm. This Saturday, as an example, I have to get up early for a hair appointment. (Shut up, and let me be girly for an hour and a half please!) Meanwhile, Mike's got to haul a load of scrap metal to the junk yard for cash. When we both get home, we have to run to the deepho, rent the stapler, and try like hell to do the office floor by end of the day.

For now, I hope this crazy schedule is only for May. I'm going to cry if it cuts into June and July. I'm already missing Laconia this year because of a stupid dance recital we're shooting 6/16. We always go up last weekend of the week - and I was really looking forward to it being just the two of us this year. Plus I wanted to get a new leather jacket at Weirs Beach.

Anyway - nothing I can do about it. It's just - why can't all this stuff happen in Fall, Winter, or Early Spring?!

Blog Story

My now husband Mike and I purchased this quaint home back in spring of 2004 - our first home - and, being the handy folks we are, expected to have the entire thing renovated in about a year or so.

And here we still are... renovating away.

This house needed a complete overhaul. Its plaster walls were uninsulated, its attic floor covered in 2" of bat guano, its basement - dirt and snakes, its exterior - asbestos siding, and lead paint windows in every room. The electric had not been updated and light sockets hung bare from the ceiling. Plumbing featured cast iron radiators - and only one for the entire upstairs.

We began by gutting almost the entire house from top to bottom. (sans bathroom - we needed to pee) We rebuilt the entire upstairs, with a new floor (not new carpet or wood - the once unstable framing underneath) and turned 3 small rooms into two. We reinvented the downstairs by turning a closet into a hallway and eliminating interior exterior windows and doors from old half-assed additions.

New insulation, windows, electrical wiring (including phone and CAT-5 internet), plumbing and baseboards, and drywall were all added.

We purchased kitchen cabinets from a yard sale. (None existed previously.) Our families helped us replace and purchase new appliances including the once also missing washer & dryer.

Then we had the entire house lifted - straight into the air - dug out the dirt, and had a real basement foundation poured. We updated our oil tank and burner and created heating zones.

Outside, we took down trees and planted grass. We dug out an awkward hill to create a 2nd part to the driveway and used the rocks our house once sat on as a retaining wall. We electrified and repainted the garage.

And of course, we spent many an hour on finish work like paint, trim, closet doors, lighting fixtures, hardwood floors, curtain rods, dimmer switches, and many other things everyone else takes for granted. We are still working to complete all this final finishing, but happy to report that we are FINALLY nearing completion of all little things in all rooms!

In 2008 we began overhauling the exterior by creating a new french door entryway and building a farmer's porch and garage addition. We replaced our roof and then stripped off our siding and replaced with new clapboards. We then planted two new flowering trees and a maple in the front yard - our first major landscape purchases. I'm happy to report that here in 2011, the porch is nearing completion and the back yard is on the road to recovery with some new loam and grass. More plantings soon to come!

In 2012 we plan to attack the last MAJOR (emphasis on major) job in the house - the dreaded BATHROOM! We plan to first add a second bathroom in the basement. Then, demolish our current bathroom and rebuild it, adding a second bathroom on top for the upstairs.

And that pretty much brings you up to date. The battle continues day to day as we try and complete everything.

One Sixty

The Weekendless May

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