We’ve never owned a home before. So it’s not surprising that there are lots of surprises. Or maybe less “surprises” and more “things you just don’t know until you have to do it.”
Like that when you remove wallpaper you aren’t done there. You have to sand, scrub, and scrape the walls to get them ready to paint. And then sometimes they are too smooth and have trouble soaking in the paint. Hello foyer.
And you don’t just paint trim. You sand it, prime it, paint it, and paint it again. Then you need to caulk it, which isn’t hard, but it takes time. Oh, and after you painted, if you didn’t pull up the tape when it was wet, you will likely have to spend three nights scraping it off. But if you do pull up the tape when it’s wet, it’s easy and looks really clean.
We just didn’t know.
We didn’t know that a kitchen designer could use a fancy computer program and still order a corner cabinet that won’t fit. And that two different employees would give us misinformation about when that would be delivered.
We didn’t know how much money we’d spend on little things – drop cloths, painters tape, sandpaper, etc. Or how much take out we’d eat.
We didn’t know that road work on our street would entail digging up half our yard. And that our yard would be the only one that happens to.
You just learn. It is what it is.
You learn that no matter how tired you are, you have to be kind to each other. That a word of encouragement goes a long way when it’s 10:30 p.m. on a weeknight and you want to stop and don’t want to stop at the same time.
You learn that if your house is in a great neighborhood, with amazing neighbors, it’s easy to picture what life will be like there, and that your hard work will probably be worth it.
You learn that learning things is just part of it. Inflexible expectations destroy your spirit. If you have power, running water, and a toaster oven, you can move in. And it will be ok.
It will be ok!
Image: The flowering tree right outside our bedroom window, from a few weeks ago.
Keeps on Ringing 