Yes, we're renovating. Well, Elnora is staying up in her office while Big Daddy renovates. My darling husband is a do-it-yourself kind of guy. Things get colorful around my house whenever a renovation is going on. Loud snarling noises drift up the stairs to my office. The cat runs and hides under the bed. Hammers fly, nails sail and sooner or later, I hear a burly voice from the bottom of the stairs.
"I have to go to Lowe's. Or maybe Home Depot. I need ......" He always needs a part, or more grout or a new measuring tape. The house is quiet for a while then I hear saws cranking up, tiles being cut, the cat's dreadful meow of protest. White sheets of dust start floating up the staircase like the ghosts of projects past. But sometimes, even Big Daddy hires out the job.
Then I get to wait for even more burly men to appear at the door, usually carrying tool belts and water bottles and kitchen counters! Then more sawing and colorful language and dust flying through the air. So ... what's to be done about renovations? Is there an easy way to remodel a room without all the nasty stuff such as cluttered closets and cabinets having to be straightened or 25 different sets of placemats having to be sorted???How do I get rid of all that carpenter dust?? Somebody tell me? Or ask me what I've learned watching HGTV????
And by the way, if you have a question for Elnora or any of our lovely ladies, please send it to me through my website: www.lenoraworth.com. We want YOU to ask for our advice!!!!!We'll post your question here on the next Friday and give you a proper answer. And I'll even throw in a book or two. I'll draw a name from the questions sent to me and YOU might win a prize. (No, not a gift card to Home Depot or Lowe's--or maybe that is a good one!)
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I know what you mean about HGTV. When I'm sick or have to stay in for some reason I flip between HGTV and Food Network - makes me want to redo something in my house or go in the kitchen and cook sometime and make a mess. Hope your remodeling turns out great.
ReplyDeleteplhouston(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Elnora, we just painted our kitchen last weekend. That was ENOUGH. Things still aren't back to normal.
ReplyDeleteBTW, we painted it Philadelphia Cream Benjamin Moore. Looks FAB!
My question: How do you keep it all running--ie, career, house, husband-pleasing, pet-care, etc?
How do I keep it running? Elnora is rolling on floor laughing. Good thing I have on my floor rolling shoes! How do women keep all those plates spinning in the air? Well, I am blessed to have Big Daddy. He does all the heavy lifting while I tend to sweep the room with a glance. Elnora has learned to compartmentalize (hope I spelled that correctly). I can only good one thing (and do it well) at a time or as Toby Keith sings "I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was."
ReplyDeleteI tend to concentrate on that one thing and then move on (or forget the other things. I called this organized disorder. Somehow, I muddle through. After all, we writers tend to live by deadlines. That's why they call them dealines, I suppose. But God throws us lifelines that help us hang on!
Let's try that again:
ReplyDeleteI can only one thing (and do it well) at a time or as Toby Keith sings "I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was."
See, I can't even write an organized sentence!!!
Patsy--I love HGTV. It's fun to watch other people tearing up and rebuilding things, or looking for new homes. Elnora loves "House Hunters!"
Miss Elnora, when we were remodeling the kitchen, we hired it done. We still got the dust, dishes in the middle to the living room, refrigerator at the wrong of the kitchen. 5 months it took. Toward the end (I thought I'd never say this) but I didn't want to eat out again. Of course, I've gotten over that hump.
ReplyDeleteI'm always in for remodeling and makeovers, but let me tell you, Dear Elnora, that I thought my kitchen remodeling would put an end to my 20 year wedding and not those ghastly cabinets.
ReplyDeleteFirst let me tell you that my handy dear husband make those HGTV look like amateurs - he can do anything around the house going to the point of building inside stairs only by reading about it in the internet.
We decided to buy the cabinets in IKEA and that didn't start the best way as when we started to assemble it we realised we didn't measure it well. My fault apparently though he was holding the tape and just telling me to put in the wall ;).
And the cursing whenever he found an hurdle would make a stevador mum blush of embarassement.
The result was great - I Love You Dear Husband - but it was an ordeal because he was very stressed with the magnitude of what he'd undertake plus we're quite organised and tidy around home and to have the fridge (and the dishes piled, and all those things you hide inside the cabinets but never see) in the living room when he seated on the sofa for a few tv at night was too much to the poor soul.
Glad I kept my husband and my gorgeous kitchen but when I mention how off he was during those days he still grumbles "Crazy woman, always inventing things" LOL.
But don't think it will deter me; he's away in work but when he returns I have these wonderful porch clippings for him to... see ;)
Have a nice Weekend!
Isn't it funny how they tend to forget their "man-trauma"??? This renovation is going rather quickly. That's because Elnora learned a trick long ago. Give Himself a deadline. I told him I wanted to have my 55th birthday party here and I really wanted my kitchen done before then. I started this around last fall, so he'd have the idea in his head for a while. Now, we're almost done. Just have to do the back splash tiles and a few little tweaks. That's good, because the party is in a week!!! And Leann, I cooked our first meal at home (in two weeks)last night. Shrimp Creole. It was so good! We have a new stove top and it really cooks!
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