While we are terrible at keeping up with this blog, we have
been religiously recording our experience in this little book.
When we’re in the midst of the episodes we
share with you here, it is sometimes hard to find the humor in the situation. However, re-reading it a year later, after
the wounds have healed (both mental and physical), we can laugh. That’s a good thing.
Now, let’s recap the summer of 2012. The four of us began the trip full of
optimism and hope. Armed with a
plan. A dry well was not part of our
plan. That took our energy, knocked us
down, kicked us a little bit…we wish it would have spit on us too. That would have been somewhat like a shower
that we hoped to take. Eventually got it
licked and began our project in earnest.
One of the first things we did was go to visit Renae’s family. They were downsizing and offered us the
majority of the furniture and odds and ends in their home. We trucked the goodies back to our place and
used the furniture to make our living quarters more comfortable. There was also a pumpkin bread kit that we
made up after a particularly grueling day.
The smell of pumpkin bread baking can fix anything.
Unfortunately, Dennis was only with us for a week so all he
got to work on was the well. Actually,
that’s not completely true, he also had time to improve our household
situation. One night after we discovered
that a Damp-Rid container in our pantry would have been a good idea, he helped
make garlic bread by sawing the top and bottom off the garlic powder container
and grating the brick that it had become back into a powder. You can call us
crazy, but you can’t call us quitters.
Chip, Renae and I got to work on finishing the double cabin
the second week in. We insulated the
floor and laid a new sub-floor while the three of us were there. After Renae and I went home, Chip finished
the drywall, applied texture to the walls and ceiling, painted, laid the slate
in the kitchen and bath, installed and finished the wood flooring, made a
vanity and kitchen cabinet. By himself.
We had a tough row to hoe in the summer of 2012, but when we
look back at all that was accomplished in spite of the initial stumbles, it
turned out OK. This upcoming weekend we’re
getting together to sketch out our plan for the summer of 2013. I know what you’re thinking: “We read this
blog. Why bother with a plan?” The Cynical Sally in us sometimes feels the
same way, then we come back to the old adage, “Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail.” In our case, it should probably be “Make a
Plan, Plan to Make Significant Adjustments.”
And that’s OK too.
And that’s OK too.
No comments:
Post a Comment