C’mon y’all know I had to kill her…*

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Day 57 started off great. Stone getting worked on (sinks, seams and sealer!) and paint happening all around. And then I got ill. Feverish, sleeping all day, sick to my stomach ill. Not fun. So I missed the rest of it. And now we’re finishing day 58. So it’s a combo post, not because nothing happened, but because sickness struck again. Ugh. (Still mending, not quite 100% yet… maybe 67%? Perhaps 78%? Remains to be seen.)

But, my health issues aside, so much has changed in a day! The whole house is painted, or nearly so, tile is being installed, countertops are in, the sink is in, the dishwasher is in place… we can almost imagine a day in the not too distant future where we’ll actually get to have a kitchen! It’s so good. So, first, on Tuesday, Team Stone finished up the install on the countertops (which look UH-MAY-ZING, by the way), and Team Dave finished painting, oh, just about everything! (Love you, Dave!) I staggered downstairs at one point later in the day (in my pj’s, looking ever so pathetic, I’m sure) and was amazed by how much paint can change the feeling of a space. No more do we have paint samples painted all over the walls in the foyer, or dingy looking trim. It’s all fresh, bright, and clean. It made me as happy as anything can make someone in my state. (I promptly went back to sleep.)

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And I think to myself, what a wonderful world…*

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Day 56 started week 12 (!) today, with all of our eyes on the finish line. Team Dave got here at the crack (again) starting off the week finishing up painting the trim in the downstairs. I even got in the spirit of things by finishing up the paint on the balustrade in preparation for painting the entire railing system at the end of the job (don’t want to have tradespeople coming up and down the stairs grabbing onto wet paint, do we?). But my painting efforts were interrupted (happily) by the arrival of Team Stone with our countertops! I happily ditched my fresh container of paint to snap some photos and drool over the absolutely gorgeous stone (thank you, Team Quarry!)

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You, and me, walk on, walk on, walk on, ’cause we can’t go back now…

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Days 54 and 55 were saturated by Tropical Storm Nicole. She blew, blustered, rained and soaked. And ruined our chances at getting our countertops installed before week’s end. (Insert sadface here.) The driving rain, high wind and just general ickiness prevented Team Stone from being able to both work in the driveway, or carry the stone by suction handles into the house. The Team was worried about the excessive moisture (and it was excessive) inhibiting the ability for the suction gripper thingys from actually, well, gripping the stone. The very last thing we’d want is for the stone to fall and shatter in the driveway. I’m pretty sure my heart would stop right then and there. Stone install was therefore postponed until early next week. Poop.

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You were born with ten fingers and you’re gonna use them all…

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Day 53 started before I got up. Well, okay, any given day always does, yes, but today production was afoot while I stayed in bed. Dave was experiencing more car trouble, and had a carpool ride that dropped him off in the wee small hours of the morning.  As Dave was feeling back to normal (woo-hoo!), he got started by painting another coat onto the trim in the master bath.  As my cold was on its way out (double woo-hoo!), I was able to help Dave sand some of the balusters on the staircase, and began painting the ones on the upstairs landing (nothing like sweating out a cold!). Even though Dave (obviously) did the bulk of the work today, I loved feeling useful again (I hate being sick), and loved seeing progress in the house. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: there is nothing like a fresh coat of white paint.

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One by one, one by one, it comes to us all…

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Week 11 began, but we didn’t. Sickness took hold of us, and held us in our beds whether we wanted to be there or not (we didn’t). So, day 51 (Monday) happened, but nothing happened. Unless you count sleeping. At least it was raining, and therefore didn’t seem so horrible to have work stopped. So, now we’re onto day 52 (Tuesday), and it’s slow going. We’re all still sickly, and trying to do what we can to be a bit productive, but not so much that we extend the sickness beyond its natural conclusion. So, ugh. That’s what’s up.

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For what it’s worth, it was worth all the while…

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Days 49 (Thursday) and 50 (Friday) completed week 10. They also completed our time with Eric (who leaves for his new life in Arizona on Sunday). That makes ten weeks of dedication and skilled craftsmanship; 50 days of bleeding, sweating, smiling, laughing, hammering, sawing, measuring, crouching, sanding, caulking, painting, cleaning, and growing a beard (he didn’t really have one when we first met him). So, in tribute to Eric, and all of his hard work, I asked him what song he’d like to title his farewell post. He said, Green Day’s “Time of Your Life” in honor of his grandfather who died this summer (they sang it at his funeral). We’ve had a lot of life lived all around us this summer. It’s been pretty amazing, and pretty overwhelming at times. I hope it was worth all their while.

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Take a break, you must be tired from the strain…

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Day 47 (Tuesday) happened completely without us. I mean, we had a Tuesday, but not at the work-camp/homefront. Jeff and I had to make a trip to NYC to beautify a bride-to-be (Jeff’s sister) while the Team kept at it with the baseboard trim. They also mocked up the piece that will sit atop the cabinets – I believe we’re calling it the head casing? – though it’s really so much more like a piece of cabinetry. After much discussion and planning, we came to a decision! We have a plan for the cabinets, one that I think it will make them appear more built-in, more custom, more classic, almost original-esque. Very happy indeed.

Day 48, however, began with a bang. Literally. Dave’s car had a (non-injury causing, non-dangerous) tire blowout on his way here. And while Dave was sorting out what turned out to be only a nuisance (thankfully he and the car were unscathed), we met with our glass shower door representative, Tom of Oasis Shower Doors. Once Tom took a look at Caleb and J.J.’s amazing work, he insisted upon helping us out with the prices so that we could use the higher end glass. (Thanks, Tom!) We’re paying a bit more than we hoped, but we’re getting exactly what we hoped for, so everything worked out in the end. Exciting!

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Please, please, please, don’t you know that I need you?…

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Week 10, day 46, and we’re off and running. Well, maybe more like walking. You’re really not supposed to run with sharp objects in your hands anyway. Not safe at all. But, the Team arrived to a less fume-ridden house, the floors having cured well enough since the last coat to be walked on lightly with socks, and tomorrow with shoes (though that’s really only so the dog can walk out of the house on her own, instead of being hoisted by Jeff). We’ll probably all still do the sock thing for a few more days. I will, anyhow.

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Like painted kites, those days and nights, they went flyin’ by…

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Week 9, days 41 through 45, came and went while we dawdled along on vacation. I can’t say that Jeff dawdled along, he worked most of it, while Bec and I alternated between napping, cooking (well, she didn’t cook, of course) and going for walks. Though the weather was so chilly that the walks and outdoorsy times I had hoped for were sort of curtailed (I didn’t pack correctly, while rushing around trying to FIND things on our way out, and after we learned the hard way that our dryer at home was not working), I did manage to see the sea, the sunset, and had a walk in the sand.

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May the sound of my voice be your guide, bring you closer to me…

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Day 40. Forty. Forty days, plus weekends. Eight full weeks of living in a home littered with sawdust, hammers, drop cloths, and nails (among other things). Forty days of having crews of people in and out, toiling, sweating, laughing, bleeding, aching, exhilarating, working on our home. It’s really become their home, in a way. I mean, it’s their job, their workplace, their 9-5 (really more like 8-6, but you know what I mean). And it’s our home, too. What a conflict, what a dance. Soon, though, and slowly, the identity and the ownership of the space will return to us, and we will return to it with open arms.

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