Liberating

There's something incredibly liberating in taking on a project that most people lable as men's work.

Today I have chipped out the remainder of the old tile from the bathroom. I've been to home depot twice for materials since I greatly underestimated the amount of stuff I'd need to finish the drywall. Who knew that a 5X3 shower could suck up so much stuff?

So far I'm about $500 into this project, but I'm just about done buying supplies, and considering that's labor included, I consider it a pretty decent bargain. I still have to drive to yet another home depot in order to buy the rest of the tile I want. They were out of the decorative border piece that I wanted at the local shop. Fortunately, the store near Wil's parents house has plenty of it, and I have to go there to get the kiddo anyway. Then I have to stop by Dad's to pick up a tool I need to cut the pieces that will need cutting. Sure I can do straight cuts just fine with my manual cutter, but I want the precision, and yes, the gratification of power tools.

And if Wil could see me now, here in my plaster covered shorts, sweating, in nothing else but a bra and a baseball cap, he'd think I'd gone nuts, but I have to admit, I was born for this sort of thing. Sure, I've tried my hand at more girlier projects. I can sew, knit, cross-stitch, I can cook, I can clean, rumor has it, I can even write when I put my mind to it. But this physical labor... the sweating and the pounding and the measuring and the fitting and the tools, yes, the tools, it's just what I was meant for. At least, it feels that way until tomorrow when I wake up with every muscle in my body aching.

So now, with the bathroom starting to come together. I'm dreaming of the next projects I want to undertake. Unfortunately, the next couple of projects that'll be going on around here are ones that I can't do by myself. I mean, I could, but they're things I've never done before and things that I certainly want done properly. Could you imagine an exterior wall built by a total novice? That'd be a recipe for disaster.

The list so far looks like this:

1. New air conditioner.
2. New bedroom carpet.
3. Framing in the porch to convert it to a laundry room.
4. Wiring electric and running plumbing to the new laundry room.
5. While the electrician is working his magic, have him drop a line into J's room for a fan.
6. Stucco repair outside
7. Exterior paint
8. Shed door repair.
9. New countertops in kitchen (budget permitting)
10. Livingroom furniture (again, budget permitting)
11. Interior paint.
12. New, larger porch

Jeez, I must be expecting a huge sum of money from the refi, eh?

Actually, I think we can get it all done, even after paying off some other debts. OF course, like the bathroom, I may be significantly underestimating the cost. I originally budgeted about $800 for the bathroom, and that included a new vanity and new lighting. Doesn't look like that's going to happen. But the shower is going to look incredible, and the vanity can come in time, I suppose. The one we have is functional, and not horribly ugly. And I don't HAVE to have new countertops in the kithcen either. Just the added space of moving the laundry room will be a huge bonus.

And the new porch can be built piece by piece since my sister and her fiancee will be doing the work there. I just have to contract with someone to pour the slab. That's probably going to be the biggest expense. Even with materials and labor at a discount, I'm probably looking at $3,000-$5,000 for that.

Ugh. Guess I'd better re-think some of my priorities, or hope Santa's good to me this year.