It's that time already

Today I mailed my first mortgage payment.  It was a great feeling... very different from writing that rent check each month for the past three years.  I am so thankful to have been blessed with this house and a means to pay for it.

Simplicity

This just showed up in my inbox, less than an hour after my previous post.  How's that for confirmation?

I just saw this on one of my favorite new blogs and thought it was so appropriate:

Simplicity, many people think,
is an end in itself
But they're getting it backwards
Simplicity is the path, the means
It's not a far off destination,
somewhere in the future
It's right here, right now
It's taking things one at a time
It's asking simple questions
It's taking simple actions
It's doing it slowly
It's considering and being conscious,
with everything


When you find yourself becoming overwhelmed
on the path to simplicity
Taking a complicated, frenzied path
to get there
Stop, consider, and choose
the simpler path
And take it slowly
And easily
And lovely

God has a way of getting my attention

It's been a few days since my fall.  Since I haven't been able to do much in the way of renovating or unpacking, I've had a lot of time about what this experience might be teaching me.  I did manage to make it to my women's small group meeting on Monday night, where the topic is learning to discern the voice of God, and all that goes with that.

I've come to realize that my actions in the days leading up to the accident were symbolic of how I've led my life in the past.  And I've been forced to remember what I always seem to forget - that living on autopilot (in other words, out of focus on the bigger purpose) has consequences.  Since moving into the house and embarking on my very ambitious plans for the house, I've been receiving subtle warnings from family and friends.  "Don't overdo it"... "There's no need to rush"... "You've got plenty of time"... "Rome wasn't built in a day."  Intellectually, I knew all those things were true, and I knew they were right.  But I lost sight of the process and focused instead on the end result.

Knowing that I couldn't climb back on that ladder to pick up where I left off when I fell, last night I simply sat in the middle of the kitchen floor with the cabinet doors that had already been removed.  I slowly started scraping paint, not with the force I used before to get it done quickly, but with a slow, steady rhythm, focusing on each small area, sometimes literally removing one coat at a time.  Even though I knew doing it this way was going to take me longer, and even though my new pace was warranted by necessity not design, immediately I knew that this was the lesson.

As I sat there scraping, I saw the subtleties in the wood and felt the changes in the grain.  I saw imperfections in the prior paint jobs that would require a little more time and effort to repair, and most importantly, I was moving slowly and quietly enough to be able to feel God's presence in the process.  In those moments, I was reminded that life is not about rushing towards a predetermined destination, it's about enjoying the journey and savoring those sweet, simple moments along the way.

Progress Report

It's hard knowing that there's so much that needs to be done, but that I have to take a mandatory break because of the fall.  While I like to consider myself an optimist, I'm also a perfectionist and I tend to focus on what still needs to be done, rather than how much I've already done.  When I'm feeling this way, it usually helps to make a list of what I've done to serve as a visual reminder that I am making progress.

So here's my 4-week progress report:

1. Purchased a new dishwasher and refrigerator and had them both installed.
2. Purchased new flooring tiles.
3. Ordered a new countertop.
4. Removed ceramic tile from kitchen backsplash.
5. Scraped most of the old pain (3 coats) from kitchen cabinets.
6. Took classes at Home Depot on tiling, painting and kitchen renovation.
7. Selected the perfect glass mosaic tiles for the kitchen backsplash.
8. Planted a peach tree in the side yard.
9. Found 2 end chairs for the dining room and the perfect arm chair for my bedroom from local thrift shops.
10. Purchased fabric to make drapes for the kitchen and mudroom.
11. Cleaned, primed and painted pantry and started putting foods away.
12. Painted and lined shelves in linen closet.
13. Purchased and installed temporary light-filtering window coverings.
14. Had security system installed.
15. Purchase new rugs for living room and dining room.
16. Made compost bin and started to make compost.
17. Hired a handyman who has done a lot of the heavy-duty repairs/updates that needed to be done.
18. Unpacked (or moved) all boxes from living room and dining room.

Not too bad, I guess.

A DIY disaster

I've just had my first official DIY initiation.  Determined to get my upper kitchen cabinets prepped, primed and painted this week before the new countertop is delivered at the end of the week, I was on a role yesterday and on schedule for getting the job done.  Until I fell off the ladder, that is. 

The minute I realized I was falling things went to slow-motion, just like they do on TV.  I immediately started praying that I wouldn't be seriously hurt.  It wasn't until a few hours and several X-rays later that I realized how blessed I really use.  I fell into a fairly small area, surrounded by the cabinets, the stove and the glass-front cabinet doors.  It really is nothing short of a miracle that I didn't hit my head on anything or break the glass panes in the cabinet doors and cut myself.  Other than feeling like I survived a full cycle tumbling in a commercial clothes dryer, I can't complain. 

7 Tips for Less Stressful Unpacking

Under the right circumstances, moving can be exciting.  It represents an opportunity to explore new places, to meet new people, to decorate our new surroundings to reflect our current tastes.  It can also be exhausting, expensive and emotionally overwhelming.  But it doesn't have to be.  Here are a few times on making the transition into your new home less stressful.

1. Take micro-steps.  It's true that the longest journey begins with a single step.  Sometimes it's simply to daunting to try to tackle all that "stuff" at one time.  Focus instead on emptying one box, or putting away three things.  Pick a goal that's easily attainable.  Who knows, you might find it so simple to put away three things, that you decided to put away three more, and three more after that.  But even if you don't, the fact that you've done anything, even just a little bit, will bring you that much closer to your goal of getting it all done.
2. Find a hidden staging area.  Being out of sight and out of mind isn't necessarily a bad thing.  Last week I had half-empty boxes open in every room in my house.  This weekend I decided to focus on just the living room and dining room.  I moved all of the boxes from these two rooms into the guest bedroom and shut the door.  Words can't describe how much better I feel already.  Sure, the things I moved still need to be dealt with, but not all at once.  And at least now I can enjoy the space that I've cleared.  I feel less overwhelmed and I'm reminded that I'm making progress.
   
3. Try to focus on one room at a time.  This ties in with #2.  Any task seems less daunting when it's divided up into smaller, more manageable pieces.
   
4. Create a place for everything and put everything in it's place.  Moving into a new home is the perfect time to design and build a new system for organizing your things.  Be creative and consider making your belongings work double-duty, i.e., rarely used suitcases can hold craft supplies or off-season clothing, moving boxes can be re-packed with seldom used items and placed out of the way, an empty bowl or ashtray can be the perfect landing spot for those house keys that always end up misplaced.
   
5. Remember that it's not too late to purge.  Just because you moved it doesn't mean you have to keep it.  If you have more stuff than you have space to store it, that's a pretty good sign that you have too much.  Consider re-gifting, selling or donating those items that you no longer need or want.  One man's trash might be another man's treasure.
   
6. Avoid the urge to buy everything at once.  It's natural to want to move into a new home and have everything look perfect right away.  Even if I had the money to purchase everything right away, I'm not sure I'd want to do that.  Sometimes it helps to sit on ideas for a while.  Sometimes better ideas come to mind, or you may change your mind altogether.  And sometimes, we need to allow our space to tell us what it wants.  When it's time to buy that rug, or the perfect piece of artwork, or that ideal reaching chair, you'll know it.  Until then, enjoy the journey.
   
7. Pace yourself.  Again, I can't stress this enough... even if you're moving under the best of circumstances, moving is still a stressful experience.  Don't feel the need to get everything done right away.  Avoid the temptation to push yourself hard to get it all done yesterday.  Even if it doesn't feel like it, chances are that you've accomplished a lot more than you think you have.  Give yourself a break.  You deserve it.
   

Expect the unexpected when updating the kitchen

From the first moment I saw my new kitchen, I knew the outdated white and black ceramic tiles on the backsplash were going to have to go.  I'm sure they were all the rage in their day, but considering that I hadn't even been born then, I don't feel the least bit guilty about letting them go.

After picking the most beautiful glass mosaic tiles for my new backsplash, I did my research online and then took a few classes on tiling and kitchen remodeling at Home Depot.  I found my hammer and I bought a new chisel.  I was ready to get started.  I knew there was a slight chance that I'd do some damage to the plaster, particularly when I first started removing the tiles.  That's okay.  I've spackled before, and I actually enjoy it.  So I was prepared.  Or so I thought.

Imagine my utter horror after my first hour or so of banging on my wall and removing some sort of homemade "patch" when I uncovered this:

My surprise at finding that metal boxey-thing there just above the backsplash wasn't too bad.  But what  was bad, was realizing that the reason the tiles weren't "popping off" as I'd been told they would, was because they had been adhered to the wall in 1-1/2 inches of concrete!  Yes, that's right, I did say concrete.  Don't believe me?  Take a look at this.

The original backsplash is gone now, concrete mortar and all.  It was time-consuming, but  "MG" (my guy) was kind enough to bang the sh** out of the walls for a few hours on Saturday night.  Not a very romantic date, I know, but it made my life so much easier.

My handyman (not to be confused with my man who's handy) then came in and removed the wire mesh that held the concrete in place between the studs, repaired the plaster around the edges, and installed Hardieboard on the backsplash.  Now I'm ready to install my beautiful new tiles.  Once I finish scraping and re-painting the cabinets, that is.  That's a post for another day.

Renovations take time

I wonder if I can sue DIY or HGTV for the misleading slant of their home improvement shows.  The good news is that they're very empowering, convincing home owners that they can take charge of their own home renovations and/or beautification projects.  The bad news is that they never give you a reasonable estimate of how long the project will take.  If only it was possible to renovate a kitchen over the course of a 30-minute TV episode.  It took me longer than that to figure out how to put a blade in my new utility knife.  And they make painting look so quick and easy.  Have you noticed that they always show one-coat coverage?  Outside of reality TV land, there's no such thing.  And of course you never see how much time, energy and effort goes into preparing the surfaces for paint.  I wonder how many 30-minute segments it would take to show scraping 3 layers of paint off of an entire set of kitchen cabinets BEFORE I can even prime them!

Do I sound like I'm complaining?  I guess I am, a little.  Don't get me wrong, things are going well... just not as quickly as I'd hoped.. After all, it's been 2 weeks and nothing's finished yet!  (OK, so I'm being a little sarcastic here).  I'm tired, and achy, and bruised from tripping over boxes.  I'm sick of eating fast food because I don't have a refrigerator.  As if that wasn't enough, I think I'm having an allergic reaction to all the dust I've unearthed.  So, I took a break last night, and another one tonight.  Now that I'm feeling better, I'll be back in the work boots tomorrow.  I'll post some pictures soon.

A funny thing about dirt

I enjoy gardening.  Digging around in the dirt doesn't bother me at all.  As long as I have gloves on.  The dirt is okay, it's the bugs that make my skin crawl.  But today was the day to start deep cleaning the kitchen.  I swear the kitchen has got to be the dirtiest room in a house, and you never know how filthy it is until it's completely empty.

The pantry was disgusting. The walls and shelves had lots of dirt, but also some dark brown drippy stuff that looked like watered down molassas.  I was armed with industrial cleaning gloves, 409, plastic goggles and one of those white face masks that covers your mouth and nose (no kidding!), but I still felt like I needed a HAZMAT suit.  For some reason that I don't quite understand, dirt in a kitchen seems much dirtier than dirt in the back  yard.  Glad that job is done!

Every girl needs a handyman

I met my new handyman today and he is a keeper.  He spent most of the day with me, discussing the things I need and/or want to have done around the house, providing very helpful suggestions, telling me which things I can do myself (to save money) and providing estimates on an item by item basis.  I felt no pressure, and he assured me that we could do the work at my own pace (in other words, when I could afford it).

He realized that it's important to me to do as much of the work as I can and interestingly, rather than feeling like I'd "sold out" by reaching out to a handyman, I actually felt empowered.  He was very honest about the things that I could do myself, he offered to teach me how to do the things that I really want to do that I'm not so sure about, and he confirmed that if I ever found myself in over my head on a project (like the 2" concrete mortar behind my backsplash tiles), that he was always just a phone call away.

My biggest worry, after realizing that I will indeed get the concrete off the wall, was what to do about the existing countertop.  It never occurred to me that the company that installed the new countertop wouldn't remove and discard the existing one.  Well, that's not entirely true, they will take care of it, for a nominal fee of $7.00 per linear foot.  I think not.  In less than 15 minutes, Jim had the entire countertop off and out in the back yard, ready to be disposed of... and for much less than the installers would have charged.  And, as an added bonus, he gave me some tips on getting the rest of the backsplash tiles off.

So... no matter how much of a DIY Diva you are, it always helps to have a handyman handy, waiting in the wings, just in case you need him.

An uninvited squatter

There's a very large, very old garage/workshop in the back yard that needs to come down as soon as I can afford to have it demolished.  I've already started planning for a beautiful outdoor room in that space.  However,  yesterday I realized  that someone (or something) has other plans for that space.

The groundhog in the movie, "Groundhog Day" was kind of cute.  The groundhog living in my garage is not.  I haven't gotten a good look at him yet, but I've seen enough to know that I don't want to ever see him again.  Call me mean and insensitive, but he has got to go.  Where are those PETA people when you need them?

Closing day

I thought I'd be anxious, or worried, or second-guessing whether this was the right decision.  After all, it's a major investment, I'm doing this alone, and there's no such thing as "job security" anymore.  But I haven't doubted this decision once, and today is not the day to start.  From the beginning this decision has been confirmed time and time again, I've had one "divine appointment" after another, and there isn't a single doubt in my mind that this is my time to buy this particular house. 

Now, my focus is on transforming this house into the home it's meant to be, not for me personally, but so it can be a place of peace, comfort, strength and inspiration to allow me to finally commit fully to the life work that God has planned for me.  I know that I will be hosting knitting ministries and other women's group meetings there.  I know that I will write there.  I know that I will share love, faith and fellowship there.  I'm ready to start this new journey. 

Check your Settlement Statement closely (Part 2)

I feel vindicated.  As I posted last night, I spent quite a bit of time reviewing the Settlement Statement for closing tomorrow.  I had several questions that I was very concerned about.  It took some "pushing", but I was able to get the settlement agent to investigate my concern, and the bottom line was that I was right, reducing my cost by more than $300.  I was also correct in noting that the 2-10 Homeowner's Warranty that the seller had agreed to pay was not included in the Settlement Statement.  That was added today, a value of nearly $400.

Considering that the experts had reviewed the documents several times, and the same documents were also reviewed by the seller's attorney, I'm feeling pretty good about the fact that I was able to find two discrepancies that everyone else missed.  I'll be the first to admit that the documents are daunting and the dollar amounts are intimidating, but please, do yourself a favor and take the time to make sure you understand what you're signing.  And remember, making sure that the math is correct is the easy part.  Anybody who knows how to use a calculator can do that.  But, it's possible for the math to be correct even though the logic is faulty.  And if the logic is faulty, the numbers aren't right.  If you believe in your gut that something's not right, there's a really good chance that it isn't.  Don't give up until you feel your questions have been answered.

Pick your fabric first

I thought I had settled on a beautiful blue mosaic tile for the backsplash I'm adding to my new kitchen.  I've been looking at it for weeks and thought for sure it was "the one."  Until today.  I went back to a wonderful fabric shop that I've recently discovered, looking for fabric for kitchen curtains.  I found one that I really liked, but I wasn't sure if the blues in the fabric would work well with the blues in the tile.

Fortunately I resisted the temptation to buy the fabric right then and instead took a swatch and drove across town to the only Home Depot in town that had samples of the special-order tiles.  As much as I thought I loved the tiles I chosen, they really didn't go well with the fabric.  Just as I was about to conclude that I needed to continue my search for fabric, I happened to notice a sample of another special-order tile.  I'd seen it before, but it didn't fit the vision I had in my head about what the kitchen would look like.  But then I hadn't had a particular fabric in mind.  Just for kicks, I pulled the sample out and laid the fabric against it.  It was incredible!  All of a sudden, the original tiles faded into the background and the new tiles that I'd never considered before dazzled like diamonds.  Together, the fabric and the new tiles popped!  Now, as my luck would have it, the new tiles are twice as expensive as the original ones, but the difference in the visual effect is well worth it.  I'm going back tomorrow to buy the fabric and order the tiles.

Bottom line, it's much easier to carry around a swatch of the fabric with you when you're looking for furniture, fixtures and other stuff.  Intuitively, I knew that it was going to be harder for me to find a fabric to match the tiles, than to pick a tile that would match the fabric.  There just aren't that many options on the tiling, so I knew wouldn't be paralyzed by indecision on that.

The same rationale applies to choosing paint.  Picking a paint color before choosing the color of your furnishings is like choosing an eye shadow to match your outfit before you know what you're going to wear.

Check your Settlement Statement closely (Part 1)

Just when I thought I'd skated through the easiest, most carefree home purchase experience in history, I discovered that there's no such thing. Yesterday my banker told me that the amount I owed at closing would be $500 more than we'd anticipated.  Not good, but I decided that it could have been worse.  Well, today it got worse.  I found out from the settlement company that the new number was another $500 more, this time due to an accounting error.  It may not seem like much, but a $1,000 increase in less than 24 hours really made a dent in my home improvement budget!

When the settlement rep told me that several people had reviewed the numbers several times, and it was finally the seller's attorney that noticed the error, I felt like kicking myself for not heeding my mother's advice that I retain my own real estate attorney to represent me at closing. Don't you just hate it when Mom's right ? Unless, of course, you're the Mom.

It's too late, and now I'm really too broke, to hire a real estate attorney (closing is less than 48 hours away), but all was not lost.  Had it not been for these errors, I probably wouldn't have spent the last three hours pouring over every line of the Settlement Statement (several times) to make sure that everything else was in order.

Thank God I did, because I found several potential "issues" that I have concerns about.  I've just sent a two-page (single spaced) letter to the settlement rep with a series of specific questions about 6 line items.  There may be perfectly reasonable explanations for some of them, but I'm absolutely convinced that I'm right about some of them.  If so, I may have just saved myself more than the $1,000 that just got added to the amount I owe at closing.

Regardless of how this turns out, this experience has reminded me lnot to assume that the "professionals" are always right.  And even if they are, it's still better to understand exactly what you're getting yourself into before you sign on the dotted line.

I'll post the results once I have them.

4 Days and counting

The final walk-through was this evening.  I'm so excited that I can hardly stand it.  I found a few small things that still need to be taken care of, but the sellers have been so accommodating throughout the entire process that I'm sure these will be resolved before closing on Friday.

I've been so focused on the vision of my renovated kitchen, that I'd forgotten how much prep work I'm going to have to do before I can even start on the renovation.  Unlike the rest of the house, the kitchen wasn't cleaned and freshly re-painted.  The truth is, it's pretty grungy.  I'm not looking forward to the heavy-duty cleaning, but I realize that it's important preparation for the fun work to come.  And when it's all done, I'm sure I'll admit that it was well worth the effort.

5 days and counting

On Friday I'm set to close on my new home.  It's not the first home I've owned, nor is it the most expensive.  But it is by far the most important, for reasons that I'll share in future posts.  I've been living in an apartment, a very nice one, for three years since my divorce.  During that time I've watched my daughter blossom, leave the nest and join the U.S. Armed Services.  I've slowly lost most of the very lucrative home-based business due to the economic downturn. I've worked a variety of jobs to supplement my income. I've taken a full-time job. I've joined a new church family.  I've published a book on the connection between spirituality and knitting.

I'm an ordinary woman, yet God is doing extraordinary things in my life.  The past three years have been a journey, all leading to this point.  During that time I've managed to learn to live comfortably and joyously on a lot less. I've gotten completely out of debt. I've come to understand that the desire to create is an intensely spiritual one and that it can be expressed in many ways. I've come to truly enjoy my own company and welcome the time I spend alone.  All of those lessons, and so many more, will be put to the test as I enter into this wonderful new season of life.  Words cannot express my gratitude and humility for all that God has done for me, in spite of myself.

As the name of this blog implies, my mission is to transform the old Cape Cod I'm buying into something truly beautiful.  With lots of money, any body with a decent sense of style or the sense to hire a decorator and a staff of home improvement gurus could do the same thing.  But I don't have a lot of money.  In fact, I have very little.  But that's what makes this adventure so exciting.  This is my opportunity to prove that lots of money is not a prerequisite to turning a house into a truly beautiful, comfortable, peaceful and soul-full home.

I invite you to share this journey with me.  I'll try to post regularly, with lots of before and after pictures of my progress.  As I learn new skills, identify new resources, and uncover new surprises, I'll share them with you.  Feel free to share your stories here as well.