As winter tromps along, with seemingly no end in sight, so does our Family Bath Project. Brad’s been fitting in bits of the project between winter storms, while Dave and Jonas have been giving us time on the weekends to fit us in amid their busy (weather-altered) schedule. We knew that the wintertime project would be inevitably affected by the weather, other bigger jobs (this is, after all, just a tiny bathroom compared to the whole houses all these dudes are working on), and colds and flus. So far we’ve been incredibly lucky, and the scheduling has worked out very well for everyone. Until…

We found out that Team Tile can only work on the room about one day a week. That means that their 5 day estimate for the actual hours of work it will take to complete the room will take about a month (or more) in real time. Sigh. Blerg. But, the eternal optimist in my says that the good part is that we get to have the best tile people around on our job (Caleb, of Team Tile, is about to head to Africa for 3 months for charity work). They had to cancel other jobs so that they can complete as much as they can before Caleb heads out. But they didn’t cancel us (score!).

Lucky for us, we’re in no real hurry. We have two finished and working bathrooms (well, one and a half), so we’re not doing without anything crucial. And that gives me time to learn how to use joint compound to smooth out some rough areas on the walls and ceiling, and to get the ceiling painted, and the room base coated long before Team Carpentry comes back to finish up. And we checked with our building department regarding our permits that we thought were expiring in January – our permits are still good so long as work has already begun. (Phew.) So, now begins the long, leisurely run-up to the finish on this bathroom refresh. Though it doesn’t feel very leisurely. It feels like renovations do: cluttered, chaotic, dirty, and makes the house feel like it’s on pause until the entire room is complete. So we’re back to that old holding-our-breath feeling from the summer. But it’s ok. We’ll manage, readjust and try to focus on getting some other parts of the house (basement, we’re coming for you!) back under control.

The good things, the lucky things, far outweigh the tiny little bit of scheduling issues that we’re facing. We still need to purchase a few odds and ends – shower curtains and rod, towel bars and toilet paper holders, etc. – so the extra time will give us more time to find the just-right things we’re looking for. We’ve still got lighting that needs to be installed in several bedrooms, a curtain project that I’ve been putting off since last spring, and mountains of organizing, purging and cleaning to do. The delay may actually be a good thing, in the end.

Until next time, some pictures of our essential Teams and their progress. Enjoy!

* Song lyrics from Airplanes by Local Natives.