So Amy and I have been planning for a while to do a bunch of home improvement projects. Things have really come together quite amazingly to make it possible. However, as most projects like this go, it has become quite the beast of a project. We planned to begin on Wednesday (tonight) and end on Saturday night. We were going to have Amy and the kids stay at a friend's home and I would work on the projects here at home each night and all day Saturday. I was going to recruit people to help with a few projects to make it go fast enough.
The projects include...
-Repainting the house (pretty much everything from trim to all the rooms)
-Stripping, sanding, and staining the railing
-Ripping out the vinyl in the laundry room and upstairs bathroom and tiling them
-Tearing out the carpet and putting in new carpet and pad
-and other things as they present themselves
Well, then the following happened...
1) the family we were going to stay with backed out on us on Monday and we tried a few other options till we had no more so, we had to put Amy and the kids in a hotel for 3 days.
2) I found out on Monday that our work team was going to have a late nighter (testing our new software release) on Thursday night till about midnight, meaning I would have to miss a full night of work
3) I had to arrange to take Friday off, therefore using a full day off (I have only earned 2 so far).
4) My home teacher and good friend, Casey (who has Friday's off), was going to help on Friday, except it's his 5 year anniversary and won't be around.
5) Today Amy got sick and threw up and has been sick all day (an infection).
6) I burned my finger with stain/paint stripper tonight.
7) Jess, Brent, and the rest of the family are either enjoying Lindsay's company, are out of state, or otherwise busy.
8) and a guy I hometeach asked me to teach Sunday School on Sunday (which I am really excited about - I got to do it last sunday too)
So now I have worked all night (it's now 11:30 pm) and am very tired. Amy is managing 2 kids by herself in a hotel, and our house is a LOOOng ways from being done.
HOWEVER...although it is a crazy undertaking and things have gone kind of wrong and the timing of it all has stunk...
It's not that bad. I actually enjoy it and we are so grateful and excited to improve our house. Amy so deserves it. It's funny how I find myself laughing about it all, honestly, and how I still am finding a grateful heart and good spirits. I tell you, life is becoming quite a rich and wonderful experience for me. All the hard things I have gone through have changed me and strengthened me. I know this sounds like a journal entry, but I just thought I would share it with you. Don't you sometimes suddenly find yourself suddenly aware of your changes? I have lately and I love it. Sometimes it seems like when I re-read my old journals that I am still struggling with the same weaknesses and problems. However, these days I have been able to see real progress. I believe that my wife and kids have a ton to do with this. Boy what a great thing. Be good all.
Adam
3 comments:
Sorry we aren't there to help with your project. Mike would enjoy helping. I could help too, or just help Amy. I am also sorry Amy has to watch them by herself. I'm glad things are going so well for you guys and we are excited to see you soon.
So, what have you done so far? Stripped paint off the railing? We probably ought to do that to our oak railings eventually.
What's next?
To allay some of your fears about Adam & Amy's situation, we have Henry at our place today. I offered to have them stay with us instead of going to a motel, but with Hans, Lindsey and Ralph there, Amy and Adam opted not to crash at our place. They are still welcome to come! It would save some money. I did not know Amy was sick yesterday. She had told me she was coming to spend the day and we kept waiting for her to come. I'm really sorry to hear that she is so sick! I was home all day yesterday and could easily have taken both kids. Henry seemed happy to see me this morning and was happy to go with Gillian.
As far as painting, well, Kaitlin and I did a lot of work on her room and I'm not really anxious to do it again, but I'm a good painter. Maybe I'll go over for a couple of hours this weekend and help out. You've taken on a big chore!!
Post a Comment