A short update on the house

I should be in bed right now 'cause I'm exhausted and tomorrow will start fast and furious. I had just finished drying my hair (during which time Jon took a shower with his eyes closed and quickly fell asleep before I finished), and I came down to the kitchen for a glass of water and to turn out the lights. Recently I've been afraid to go into the kitchen, particularly first thing in the morning, late at night, or anytime we've been away for a few hours. Yes, the ants have taken up permanent residency in there and throughout the house. There are little freeways of ants traveling up the walls, across the carpet, and through my cabinets. The refrigerator is stocked with non-perishables, and surfaces and dishes are kept clean at all times.

But it doesn't matter. Tonight the ants found a crumb of something in my cabinet of baking ingredients. By the time I had dealt with them, and finished brushing them off my arms and neck, I decided to post a little something here.

So, hello! Several of you have emailed and wondered if we're all settled in to the new house. Not quite. I haven't taken the time to take many pictures, but here are some from yesterday morning...

The work continues. Jon has been working so hard in the midst of an otherwise busy time. Not only that, but he got his turn with the virus that made the kids and me sick recently. I don't know, but given our various constraints right now, maybe we've bitten off more than we can chew? It feels like that now, but I think we'll be glad we took the opportunity. These beams, for instance, were painted a dark, heavy brown. It's almost criminal. It took days of sanding, and created heaps of dust throughout the house. Obviously, it would not be very practical to put it off till the walls were painted and the furniture moved in.

The beams are just an example. We're trying to do as much of the work ourselves to make these renovations financially possible, and everyone helps out according to their ability. Today I applied wood bleach to some spots on the old wood floors which Jon has sanded down, and I even used the hand sander to touch up some areas. When I started sanding it felt like the sander had a mind of its own, so Jon told me I needed to "man handle it". Ok. The boys hauled out lumber and the upstairs carpet, and the kids and I all pulled out hundreds and hundreds of staples in the subfloor. I man-handled those pliers till my blisters burst and my skin began to tear.

Yep, the simple fact is that I do not have man hands.

But I do enjoy the work. There have been times in my life (mainly during pregnancy) when I couldn't do the normal things I'm responsible for. When my ability to work is taken away, I quickly realize how good work is. A sense of productivity is important and the ability to work is a gift.

So anyway, we have a couple more weeks to go before we actually move. In the mean time, we've got double or triple amount of work compared to the normal full load. My mornings are spent schooling and cleaning and cooking, early afternoons are lessons and errands, and the rest of the day is usually spent working at the new house. I need to start packing up, too, as I've only done four boxes...

Sleepiness has returned, and I'm going to regret not sleeping while I can. Good night.


~Katherine