Keep a good perspective

So, this is what I'm having to tell myself right now. I'm having a moment of, 'this house is taking too long to get done oh my gosh people probably think we're crazy the world is ending' type of thing. If I stop and think of how long it is taking, I have a panic attack. Okay, not full out, but I seriously won't even let my mind go to the thought of realizing how long we've been doing this, and how it's still not done..and we don't have toilets or paint on the walls or lighting or cabinets, yet. I've had people say, "yeah, our house was built in months." Ohhhh, gosh, we are renovating for ETERNITY. I'm just so ready to be settled. But, then my mind goes to, "you haven't sold your house, yet, what's the rush?" which is immediately followed with, "YOU HAVEN'T SOLD YOUR HOUSE YET!!" Double whammy. World coming to an end.

I need to remind myself of my attitude toward it all. It's all about perspective. Right?.... Right? We're doing what we can, as quickly as we can for 2 inexperienced house renovators not using a contractor and might I add we did knowingly make a decision to add on when we were close to the finish line, so that was self inflicted:)...also living almost an hour away from the whole scene makes it tricky. So RELATIVELY (that word always makes things better) this isn't taking too long if I think about the sequence of events and circumstances. And, surely houses stay on the market for quite sometime. Yes, surely.

I know we could just drop the price to bare minimum or below that and hurry the sale, and I know we could probably make quicker decisions on the house to get it to move faster, or I don't know...

I need to quit the doomed outlook here. At least we have a roof over our head and another roof waiting to be over our head one day that we'll be so proud to know we were able to do together. Surely, one day I'll enjoy the sight of house magazines again, and I'll think fondly of my HOUSE organizer book...which I currently hide from myself until I need it. I'll forget the annoyance of each new bill and invoice from the builders, and I'll be able to stand the sight of HGTV again. I'll miss asking Matt, "have you talked to so and so about so and so," and he'll miss having to remind me that the house could show ANY day, so we need to keep it in order. I'll miss the fact that my renovated house went through TWO Halloweens, Thanksgivings and Christmases in a state with no electricity. Really, this isn't helping! :)

It reminds me of my engagement. Weird comparison, but I remember when we first got engaged, I was soaking up the bridal magazines, organizing all of my vendor information, happily making calls to wedding people, etc...then, it just became about getting married and reaching the actual wedding day. When we first bought the house, I had a bazillion ideas, and accumulated house magazines like a hoarder. I created a 'cute' house book all organized with pictures I liked organized by room, etc...but I was quickly inundated with 'what type of  air conditioner do you want and who do you want to use for insulation?' type questions. After months of this, the house magazines and ideas grew old, and now we're just ready to move in.

By the time we reach the fun part, I will be so worn out from it, I'll probably have the strangest looking house ever. "Yeah, sure lime green walls with purple polka dots and stars rock, how about glow in the dark walls in the bathroom, sure those turquoise and pink cabinets are great, they're on sale right? Yes, honey, we can put a kegerator in the kitchen. What type of toilet? Oh sure the one with the furry top please." AHH! I don't even know what I like anymore. Here we are, nearing the end, and I've lost my steam.

So, the topic of the post is far from its contents. I should have labeled it, "Amanda whines like a champ."

I feel better. Maybe I can move back to my good perspective, now.

"The tragic or the humorous is a matter of perspective."

nice. Matt and the camera

So, for some reason my stomach has hurt for about a week now. Just uncomfortable...you know, like I've worked it into knots and it's just rubbing it in my face for a while. Anyway, for the past couple of days I've come home and had bouts of cleaning/activity and then total immobility when my stomach would start hurting. Well, today, I found lying on my stomach helped, so I passed out in my super awesome robe face first on the bed, and Wally found me and decided to take a nap, too. Matt decided to document the scene, and I just thought I'd share.

This one had to be included. I had broken a candle holder earlier and ran to the bedroom to get shoes so I could clean the mess without cutting my feet, and before the animals got into it. This was my quick attempt at shoes. Then, the stomach annoyance, and pass out happened. Mismatched shoes on and all. And, poor Larry's cow cow is gasping for air under my leg:)

Time for bed. Again:) Face first of course.

Pictures of the addition

I never realized how high houses are from the ground.

Getting ready to install the new support beam.

So this, plus all the way to the end of the house, is 8 feet to the kitchen, den, and bedroom. The kitchen/den are pretty much one big room. The addition to the bedroom will be half used for a long closet (i'm PUMPED!!), and the other half will be bedroom space. I'm giddy over the closet. I was going to be sharing a closet with Matt (which is fine), but it'd also be where I get ready in the morning (only place we could put a vanity area), but now there will be plenty of room for both and all of our clothes. The addition to the den/kitchen allows us to have an island in the kitchen, and room for a breakfast room. I am so excited. The builder said it should be about 3-4 more months. Well, he said less than that, but that was his original estimate for the addition, so I'm going with that. And. Yes. We still have to refinish the floors, put in the lighting, and put in the kitchen cabinets, but I'm so very excited. I'm not expecting anything earlier than a Spring move in, but that'll be perfect. And, surely, our Memphis home will sell (right??) hope so. really, really hope so:)