Home sweet home.

Well, we moved in.  Hooray!!!!!!!!!  But we still have tons to do.  The first couple weeks we still didn't have a functioning bathroom.  That doesn't mean we were heading to "CVS" every few hours to relieve ourselves.  We did, however, have to leave through the front door and enter into the former barber-shop-now-storage-room to take a tinkle.  I can't tell you how much fun that was.  Picture a 3am "nature-call"...you stumble out of bed and then have to fumble with your damn keys.

Maybe you all are wondering, "Why in the world would these two crazy kids move into a house without installing a toilet in the bathroom?"  I have one word for you...grout.  We had not yet grout the floor or wall tile.  This delayed the installation of our toilet.  So during the first few weeks we were peeing in the front room, showering in the bathroom, and brushing our teeth in the kitchen.




We have lived in our new home exactly four weeks and we have accomplished quite a bit but as one of our many contractors has said, "It's the finish work that takes the longest."  There are still traces of pink/putty/flesh-tone but it will all be painted over...I promise.




The kitchen is still what I would call "a disaster".  We don't have a stove and are limited in our counter space.  The organization is questionable.  I often find myself buttering toast or making coffee on a counter that is littered with tools.  William Sonoma, Martha Stewart and any one who works at HGTV would be appalled at the state of our kitchen.  With that in mind I always try to time my hardware store errands early in the morning in hopes of being approached by a home-improvement host.


On the way I practice my shock and giddiness while planning which aisle might I find a kitchen make-over show.  Appliances...no, too obvious.  Lighting...nope, way too "I've done it all this is the last of my shopping."  Faucets...perfect!  I already have the perfect faucet which I bought from Overstock.com.  It's exactly what we need right now...I just have to wait to paint over the orange laminate counter.  You know...so it'll look "better".



I kind of have the feeling that the kitchen will get done later.  In the meantime I need to find a stove and some temporary but not atrocious cabinetry to frame the stove and give us some much needed counter space.  I'm not worried about matching it all...because I plan to paint EVERYTHING.

I've mentioned my day job is a Sign Language Interpreter.  This means that everyday I show up with paint ALL OVER my hands, elbows, in my hair and any number of places I can't see.  The teenagers look at me with disdain or that oh-you-poor-thing-you're-still-painting look.  Truly!  One of my favorite kids asks everyday, "Still painting?  Not finished?"  NOPE.  "Volunteer?" I ask her.  She smiles and with her devilish, beautiful smile she declines.




So we are mostly unpacked.  Everything has found its rightful place and we aren't losing things nearly as often.








But I still make coffee amidst the tools and we have yet to install a proper sink of the bathroom.  Organization is a luxury but a hot shower puts every long day into a rightful perspective.  We cook dinner in the toaster oven or on the grill. We've found countless uses for the plug-in skillet.  I'm fearless when it comes to light fixture installment while Jeff can wield almost any power tool known to man.  I have a new affinity for Grant Wood's American Gothic or Bob Vila on PBS' This Old House, to name a few.






Lastly, the only analogy to which home-ownership seems to relate is marriage.  It takes work and maintenance but when you find that perfect balance it is, and will always remain, home.