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ninanevermoreToday on my drive into work, I was wondering if the recessed lighting that Jeff has installed in my kitchen is reason enough for me not to burn my house down on New Year's Day. Back in January, I made a New Year's Resolution of sorts to my husband that if our fixer-upper house didn't look any better or more livable in one year, I was going to burn it down. I meant it.
A naive person might believe that buying a house that needs a little TLC and spiffing it up might be an easy way to get a nicer house than you deserve for a price you can afford. It might even sound romantic to spend a lot of time with someone you love, making eyes at each other from across the room while you hammer nails and paint walls to refurbish the home of your dreams. You might even have fantasies about throwing your beloved down onto a paint-splatter drop cloth and doing wild, dirty deeds to each other while intoxicated on the fumes of drying latex paint.
If you think this way, you are mistaken.
When I got pregnant after we bought the house, Jeff lost 50% of his home-repair labor force, as the task of caring for a child vastly cut into my time for carpentry. On his own, he has done a tremendous amount of work on the house since last year. He is currently, even as I type this, fixing our roof so that it doesn't leak anymore. He has done repair work in the ceilings so that they don't cave in. He has rewired the weird and whimsical wiring that the original electrician (who apparently had some sort of drinking problem) installed. He has put in a new fence in the backyard so we don't have to look at the ghastliness of the house next door, and whoever eventually moves into it (the previous occupants defaulted on their mortgage) won't be able to look at the haphazard landscaping that is our backyard.
But I am a shallow woman. I don't live on the roof, or in the ceiling, or in the backyard. I, selfishly, want the parts of the house that I see when I walk in the door fixed up. Until a couple of weeks ago, I was getting ready to stockpile matches and lighter fluid in anticipation of the upcoming end of the year, and looked forward the watching the whole structure go up in flames.
Then Jeff installed recessed lighting in my kitchen, foiling my plans. He also fixed the abomination that was the kitchen ceiling, by sanding down the inch of drywall mud that went around the ceiling fan and texturing it to look like an actual ceiling in a presentable house, instead of a photo to illustrate why a person should not install their own ceiling fans when they have no talent home repair. To top it off, he put a new hood over the stove, which I grudging admit looks much better than the old one.
Nevertheless, I still hate the house. I still, in my heart of hearts, would like to burn it down. But a promise is a promise. I said I wanted to see improvement, and I do. In one room. If I happen to be looking up.
Next year, when I make my resolution, I'll have to be more specific. I'll have to say something like, "If the house doesn't look like someplace I would be willing to let someone see in the inside of, I will burn the house down." Otherwise, I could be stuck living there for yet another year.
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A naive person might believe that buying a house that needs a little TLC and spiffing it up might be an easy way to get a nicer house than you deserve for a price you can afford. It might even sound romantic to spend a lot of time with someone you love, making eyes at each other from across the room while you hammer nails and paint walls to refurbish the home of your dreams. You might even have fantasies about throwing your beloved down onto a paint-splatter drop cloth and doing wild, dirty deeds to each other while intoxicated on the fumes of drying latex paint.
If you think this way, you are mistaken.
When I got pregnant after we bought the house, Jeff lost 50% of his home-repair labor force, as the task of caring for a child vastly cut into my time for carpentry. On his own, he has done a tremendous amount of work on the house since last year. He is currently, even as I type this, fixing our roof so that it doesn't leak anymore. He has done repair work in the ceilings so that they don't cave in. He has rewired the weird and whimsical wiring that the original electrician (who apparently had some sort of drinking problem) installed. He has put in a new fence in the backyard so we don't have to look at the ghastliness of the house next door, and whoever eventually moves into it (the previous occupants defaulted on their mortgage) won't be able to look at the haphazard landscaping that is our backyard.
But I am a shallow woman. I don't live on the roof, or in the ceiling, or in the backyard. I, selfishly, want the parts of the house that I see when I walk in the door fixed up. Until a couple of weeks ago, I was getting ready to stockpile matches and lighter fluid in anticipation of the upcoming end of the year, and looked forward the watching the whole structure go up in flames.
Then Jeff installed recessed lighting in my kitchen, foiling my plans. He also fixed the abomination that was the kitchen ceiling, by sanding down the inch of drywall mud that went around the ceiling fan and texturing it to look like an actual ceiling in a presentable house, instead of a photo to illustrate why a person should not install their own ceiling fans when they have no talent home repair. To top it off, he put a new hood over the stove, which I grudging admit looks much better than the old one.
Nevertheless, I still hate the house. I still, in my heart of hearts, would like to burn it down. But a promise is a promise. I said I wanted to see improvement, and I do. In one room. If I happen to be looking up.
Next year, when I make my resolution, I'll have to be more specific. I'll have to say something like, "If the house doesn't look like someplace I would be willing to let someone see in the inside of, I will burn the house down." Otherwise, I could be stuck living there for yet another year.
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no subject
Date: 2006-10-30 10:06 pm (UTC)I am THE least handy person alive. So I admire people who can actually do stuff.
As for me..even turning on a lightswitch is a challenge...and replacing a bulb taxes my DIY "ability" to the max.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-30 10:19 pm (UTC)Yeah, there are some tasks it's just better to pay a professional to do. Most home repairs fall in the catagory, to my way of thinking.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-31 08:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-31 09:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-01 03:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-01 05:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-01 08:10 pm (UTC)You've let ME see the inside of it. Better be more specific and make relatives the exception.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-01 08:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-01 11:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-01 11:15 pm (UTC)