I once rearranged the furniture in my bedroom the night before the movers arrived to transport my belongings to my new home. That’s how much I need order.
And ambiance.
We’re in the midst of construction right now, replacing our carpeting with hardwood floors. This kind of endeavor can be somewhat challenging for two individuals who like their routines. And their order. We’re creatures of habit. We’re also pretty meticulous when it comes to caring for our abode. For example, my husband has a thing about his driveway. It has a steep incline and he gets really nervous when delivery trucks blast their the way up the asphalt (UPS, especially!) only to scrape their way back down.
Snow plows are the bane of his existence. Not only do they make his snow removal efforts so much more difficult when they push the snow into his freshly shoveled driveway, they also push the gravel into the grass at the end of the cul-de-sac. I don’t have to tell you what that does to his lawn mower.
My beloved goes to great lengths to prepare for these occasions. This involves cones and garbage cans, barriers and bright yellow caution tape. You can imagine his distress each time a new truck arrives to drop off yet another pile of wood. I forgot to mention the first stack they delivered was gunsmoke even though the box said butterscotch. Yes, and that was the stack he helped carry in, too.
Lest you think my beloved is the only one with idiosyncrasies. . .
I have a few of my own.
I remember the time we were building a deck on the back of our house. Every time a worker made his way through the kitchen, I followed with him with my little dust buster. I made sure he was out the door before I began my cleaning detail, but still, before long they all knew I was ‘over the top’ when it came to dirt.
And then there was the time I rearranged the furniture in my bedroom the night before a move. To the outsider looking in this action probably looked rather futile, but I slept soundly that night. And yesterday when the contractor called and said, “We’re running behind because of the snow. We won’t be out again until Tuesday,” I was positively gleeful. I started pulling mattresses and box springs and boxes out of my study, so very grateful they hadn’t yet dismantled my desk. And here I sit, reclaiming some sense of order in an otherwise chaotic week, twinkly lights glowing in the window. And there he sits enjoying some semblance of order … waiting for wood. Can you relate?
How to prepare for hardwood flooring installation (or any disruption in your routine) without losing sleep (or your mind)
1. Find a contractor who listens, REALLY listens. (I love my floor man. I interviewed several. Don’t settle.)
2. Make a progressive dinner that you can eat all week because you may not be able to get into your kitchen. (progressive dinner below)
3. If you work from home, schedule all phone calls for the evening hours. You will NOT be able to hold an intelligent conversation with hammers pounding and saws searing, compressors buzzing and railings tumbling off the landing while the wrong wood gets delivered and retrieved and the cold winds blow.
4. Make sure YOU figure out the order in which the workers move through your home and COMMUNICATE to them that you’ll need at least one bed left intact where you can sleep. Trust me, they will not think of this.
5. Wear shoes around your house during the entire construction process. You might even consider wearing them to bed.
6. Add at least a week to ten days to the original schedule. Maybe more. Sh*t happens.
Progressive Dinner
Chicken Stock
image source & recipe: marthastewart.com
14 thoughts on “When Life Gives You Lemons”
I giggled at the picture of your hubby in the empty room, happily enjoying the wait for wood delivery. The whole post made me smile, and the recipe for the roast chicken looks divine!
Laura, now let’s go for that run, shall we?
Love this, Sue Ann. I can so relate to the dustbuster. Lately I have begun to wonder if I keep acquiring people and animals into my life just to rid me of my compulsiveness. I have had to lower my standards. It’s a spiritual practice. 😉
Oh my, Juli, yes! I’m sure I would have lowered my standards (i.e. dropped some of those compulsive habits) had I had children and pets to guide me. LOL
This was making me smile because I fantasize about more order in my house and it ALWAYS falls flat – three teenagers and a very active golden retriever will do that! Throw in a husband who does not have the same sense of order as me and it can really test my patience. I have learned to practice acceptance, before long the kids will be out of the house and I can finally have order back!
Heather, I suspect my sense of order would be very different with pets and children in the mix. Savor every moment!
Sue, what a great way to make lemonade out of lemons! I feel for you as the memories of our kitchen remodel from last March are still fresh in my mind – adding the week to 10 days because sh*t happens. In our case, it was supposed to be done in early February. It was not complete until late March. I missed my kitchen and was ever so happy to get her back.
Thank you for the giggle this morning and I especially loved your #4 of being prepared.
Wishing that your contractors come on Tuesday and no more “snow” or other delays and you can enjoy your hardwood floors and everything back in its place.
Thank you, Linda. I am so enjoying my reprieve today. I even have visions of taking a nap, which I never do … in my bed which is squashed up against a corner of my bedroom … which is currently half floor and half plywood. *tee hee*
I totally love the progressive dinner pictures! And while we are on the topic of meticulous husbands, let me tell you about the sticky mats that my husband discovered while we were in construction. They are sort of like lint rollers, with peel off, replaceable-underneath, mats that you stomp on when entering or leaving the work zone. The contractor brought them and had them at every entrance. They were black at the end of each day and fresh every morning. Well, after they left, Zal had to source these things for himself. I objected that they didn’t look very nice in the front hallway, so we compromised and have them in the garage/mudroom entrance. I hate them because they pull off any non-tie shoe. But I have to put up with it because they get pretty darn dirty from my footprints!
Great story, Mindy, thank you. I won’t be sharing this piece of information with my husband, however. LOL
I totally agree with you about the snow plows totally blocking your driveway that you have meticulously cleaned. I like order and tidiness,my husband is over the top and even had a conversation with the plow driver about moving the mess off our entrance, but was told it couldn’t be done. We have hardwood floors all over our main floor of our house (it’s a rancher walkout) even in the kitchen so hubby would be going around cleaning and complaining about any water drips that happened in the kitchen area. I try to be careful and clean up afterwards but cooking and washing vegetables and so on cannot be done with out some drops here and there. Luckily he found an interesting project that took him out of early retirement for a while so now he doesn’t seem to see the odd drops so much. But does kindly do a great cleaning job when I’m out of town vising the kids for a few days. A win win situation.I think we all have specific messes that bother us the most. I like my main Island in the kitchen to be clean and clear with just a flower and a candle visible before I leave home, I dislike visual clutter.
I’m with you on the visual clutter, Anne, and the water spots, too. xxoo
Omigoodness, the dust, the incredible amounts of dust generated by just one little home improvement project are inexplicable! I have survived 3 “bouts” of remodeling within the last 4 months, but just barely. The first few days I was chanting “we tear down to rebuild more beautiful”, but by Day 4 my new mantra “just get out and take your dirty feet with you!” Excellent ideas and tips on how to manage the mess. –from your dustbuster-owning friend, Laura W
Yes, Laura, yes! Where does this dust come from? I feel like I am eating dust right now.
P.S. We just bought a new vacuum cleaner, a VERY expensive vacuum cleaner that’s supposed to filter the air as it cleans. We’ll see. . .