TOTALLY A "MARTHA" THIS WEEK .........

Holy cow!! How much work has to be done - and I am pretty limited to what I can do at one time. And along with that I've been stressing a little too much about all of it. 
Don't get me wrong - I love a clean, clean house - but........... 
I   H-A-T-E getting there. I grumble, bellyache, protest, snivel, and squawk the whole time. But, I just press on and get it done. 

First job is the guest bathroom. Here's the beginning of the work. 

In this first picture,  I have started boxing things up and getting ready to move all my soaps, lotions, etc. out of here. I will be moving into Wade's bathroom and sharing it with him. I suspect he really doesn't want to share, but I don't blame him - I prefer not to share too. Toilet seat is gone and I bought a new one. I used a pumice stone to get all the yucky rust stains out of the toilet. We have such hard water and eventually the weekly scrubbings don't get it all. 

Bathtub was scrubbed clean, new mat in there to prevent slipping. New shower curtain. New bath towels, wash cloths, and rugs. Here is the end result. 

That shelving unit behind the toilet was not originally planned for this bathroom. I bought this intending to put it in "our" bathroom so I could store my stuff. But that first night Wade came home from work - he definitely did not like it and was not happy about it.

:o(   So my makeup etc. are stored in a basket beneath the sink and the new shelves were put into the guest bathroom. 

The bathroom is now guest ready - I haven't used it this week except to wash and dry the laundry. 

A great problem I am dealing with is the storage of all of my (our) stuff. We have been moving closet contents from 2 other bedrooms and have to plan where to put it. We do have attic storage but I don't like putting things up there. Here's my dilemma. Sure I can put pictures, knick-knacks, keepsakes, etc in plastic tubs and Jason is more than happy to haul them up into the attic. But in my mind - they're gone. I know I will never climb the ladder and crawl into the attic. And it makes me sad to think I can't go through boxes anymore. In my mind, the attic is just like a big garbage dump to me. I don't know what is up there now and I don't want to move more up into that twilight zone.

Consequently, the hallway looks like an episode of "Hoarders", until I decide what I want to do with what I have. 

That's the plastic sheeting down the hallway. Boxes on boxes, a hope chest and several bookshelves. I'm not saying it will all stay, eventually I will throw some things away and give away others. 

When I think about it however - it's just all stuff...... Thanks to God, I've been blessed with so much and it's all His anyway. So I think it's okay to temporarily be a little sad to get rid of things because then I'm reminded to remember the biggest, greatest, most important thing I have is my salvation and promise of where my final home will be. 

What a whiney-baby I can be sometimes!! But (see back at the beginning) I'm bellyaching about doing more work and sorting through this. I hope I can get this sorted and cleaned up by the end of October. 

My big job this morning was shampooing the living room carpet. That's a double yuck job. There are stains that are difficult to remove and I grumbled and kvetched enough that I finally put on some music and listened to songs while I cleaned up. 

It's done and no one (human or canine) is allowed in there until it is dry. But, I look forward to the day when I no longer have carpet and can clean the floors so much easier. And eventually our old lady dogs will be gone and not replaced. 

Dixie, Willie, Carol and Shelly left Idaho on Wednesday morning and we're not exactly sure when they will arrive - total driving time is about 24-26 hours so it will depend on how much they can travel each day. 

A NEW ADVENTURE AND BEGINNING OF AN END

Over a year ago, Wade started talking about the possibility of asking his mother to come live here with us in Springfield. Her husband had passed away and she was living alone in a house in a small town. Willie and Carol were close by, but if she needed additional help - it just might not be there. 
In the back of my mind I always agreed - yes. She can come live with us anytime. And a part of me just thought that this would never happen anyway. Score points for me!! I can be the loving daughter-in-law to Wade and not be inconvenienced in any way. How truly noble of me!!!
Then we heard Dixie had had some minor strokes. Not enough to totally incapacitate her, but enough that her vision was affected, there was some dizziness, and now she could not drive her car anymore. She would be at the mercy of anyone available to get her where she needed to be. Carol was a good daughter-in-law and stepped in whenever needed - plus helping with housework and yard maintenance. 
But Wade could not shake the urging that came on him. He wanted to get her to come live here with us. So during the summer while we were visiting, he brought up the idea and after a while she agreed with some conditions. Mainly, she would not want to be a 'guest' in our house, but rather have her own separate living area. Agreed - we could remodel the house to incorporate a mother-in-law's living area. Take the garage and one bedroom and convert it into a small apartment-type dwelling with her own bathroom and kitchen area. 
So now time has elapsed and she will be leaving Montpelier, Idaho tomorrow morning to start a new life here with us. 
Since summertime, I have been praying about this project of preparing the home for Dixie. Asking God's direction, blessing, insight, and wisdom. We've hit some big snags and I believe it's all in His hands: 
First - we applied for a refinance of the mortgage. Our financial company offered a no-cost, no-appraisal refinance for a lower interest rate. We applied and they started the paper work process. Fortunately all the required documents could be emailed which saved numerous trips to the company. But I believe that God's hand has been holding things back:
1. Closing times have been lengthened and we were told it could take up to 90 days for closing. 
2. The interest rate was only a fraction less than what we are paying now. 
3. Closing costs were going to be close to 4 thousand dollars.
4. An appraisal was required and came in so low that we would be getting a small amount to use as building funds. 
Based on all this we decided just a couple of weeks ago to stop pursuing the refinance loan and work slowly with funds as they come up.  (God timing - God wisdom).
We have been unable to find a construction 'guy' to do work for us. I've looked through Christian Blue Pages, asked on Facebook, Wade has been asking around at work. No one available to take on the jobs we need done. So the garage sits (mostly) empty and waiting. Wade has torn down some walls and ripped out the closets in the bedroom and there is debris and plaster all over the rug that will eventually be torn out. 

This is the wall between the garage and back bedroom. Eventually it will be torn down.

This is the doorway leading into the hallway of the house. There used to be a door there, but it's gone now....

This is the room formerly known as "Tiffany's Room". Heaters have been torn out and we were hoping to have some nice big picture windows installed. (Tiffany's Room will be moved to the library eventually.)

This used to be two big closets - and all the contents are sitting in my hallway and the library where they need to be sorted and hidden this week. 

Garbage on the floor and plastic sheeting hanging in the hall to separate our part of the house with the construction area.

Wade told me that living with construction work going on in the house is stressful. Well I believe it. I've had internal tantrums, snippy remarks, and downright sullenness about this process. Not the work so much, but giving up some of my THINGS. Putting away, throwing away, and giving away. And the work that I'm doing here too. But what is calming me is the Lord's quiet voice telling me that He is all that I truly need. Everything else is just stuff - and I need to let some of this stuff go. So with His help I am working on it. In future posts, I will share what I have come to realize, know, and live.