before
Last week I spent most of my days cleaning and purging the city house. The area was hit pretty hard with flooding a few weeks ago and when that happens, you need to let the targeted area dehumidify before assessing the damage. When dealing with as big a house as this, it takes multiple visits to go through 60 years of accumulation so we have been chipping away at repairing and clearing things out in waves. It's the only way to do this. We are at the final stages of the game and had a setback with the basement, so the main focus was on getting it ready to show on the market. This meant really gutting out the storage areas, cleaning and sanitizing, scraping, sweeping and finally painting. I enjoy working on projects, especially when I see light at the end of the tunnel, but I get on a quest and nowadays my body feels the after affects more painfully. Picture the tin man here.
after
I don't mind working on projects alone, for it can be therapeutic, but I do like when others pitch in. Steve and Darcy helped to clear out the closet and went through memorabilia and kept whatever they chose. Steve was on a mission to secure the very old fashioned table lighters and he found five of them. They both found some money which made for a fun find. Our buddies, Tom and Mark came by to restore the water heater - a huge lifesaver. Thanks guys. Dinner at Dao very soon! Wayne came by Saturday and we completed the basement together. I must share the story that I purchased the necessary paints and supplies at my favorite Home Depot. Josh gave me the perfect items to get the job done properly. I was determined not to buy any more paint, and wouldn't you know it, I looked in the tool room and found just enough to finish the white portions. Then I found the exact paint to restore the hallway, which Wayne calls battleship blue, and finally I opened a small can of almond to put on the doors and discovered it was the very same paint that was originally put on. I had just enough to cover all that was needed. I like those little moments.
before
As we always do, we left the house feeling good about our accomplishments. Together we get it done. It was a long, hard fortnight, but the end result was worth it. Today I will go in solo and clear out the attic room, which used to be our love nest. It's kind of sentimental to me, as tomorrow will be our 37th anniversary of being together. We spent a lot of bonding time in that room. I'll reminisce today and it will go by more smoothly. I plan to pack many heartwarming items from the Nalepa/Wind archives, so one day our sons will have momentos of their heritage. We collected a half dozen bags of things for Angie and Natalie to go through. Angie is an avid creator so she will surely use some things for her crafts.
after
The rest of the week I hope to be at my own home. I have a client for massage tomorrow and will visit my dad and brother toward the end of the week, but will not return to this big house project until Saturday where we both plan to wash and repair all the windows and storm windows on the upper level. We'll have a lesson from the guy at Fronczak's on how to install new clips so they stay in the windows properly; then I will learn another thing. We have close to 100 windows to clean. I haven't done this for two years so we have our work cut out for us that day. It is not easy being a homeowner, but the rewards of accomplishment felt after the work is done is worth the time and energy. We just don't want to continue doing this any longer in our lives. We want to simplify and focus on only one property - our very own.
sunflowers
I had to end my share with a pretty picture after all the drab rehab. My son, Danny, and his buddies, Casey and Rudy, spent the entire weekend working at Lollapalooza. They left at 8:30 each morning and did not return until almost midnight. It was labor intensive, but an experience unlike any other. Today they will rest and restore their energy tanks. My son, Mike, has been restoring his own bathroom and after repeated adjustments and plumbing and tile issues, it is finally complete. It has been out of commission for about three months but thanks to Margarita's dad, Jon, and Mike's best buddy, Anthony, everything worked out. Mike has learned more skills due to this project, so it is never in vain. The visits to Bourbonnais restored my energy.
Build Ye Life as the
Pyramid
Four Corners Converge Above
With Fire in the Middle
The Fire of Love
Life, Mind, Truth, Love
Spirit.
To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward.
A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities; an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.
BE HAPPY! :) xo
