House update

So, our party was on Saturday night and it was really nice. I got to see a lot of people that I don't get to see much and I also got to show off the news things that have been done to the house.

Friday afternoon, though, I came home from work and the stucco was still on the front of the house, unchanged. I walked into the house, all excited to see the tiles... the counter top was in. But the backsplash was a mess of chewed-up drywall. The faucet was laying on its side. No grouting in the counter.

And reno mess everywhere. I nearly cried.

I get emotional about these things.

Alex had called a plumber to install the sink and faucet and they came the next day. My neighbour came over with a belt sander and suggested we try it. I went and bought belt sanding replacement paper (I don't know what you call that stuff, but you know the actual sand paper that goes on the roller). And I grocery shopped for the party. And cleaned.

Alex went to baseball, I think. And probably worried very much about how upset I was.

Saturday, we woke up and Alex went to baseball. I went to IKEA. I bought our patio chairs. I bought flowers and some more odds and ends at the grocery store and came home.

Alex was busy with the belt sander. But he had to get back to baseball.

The plumber arrived and began installing the sink. I got to work on the sanding.

Alex and I traded off when he got home and I continued with cleaning and assembling our patio table and chopping veggies.

Finally, I jumped in the shower, dressed and then I heard the sander switch off and the power washer come on. Alex cleaned up the brick dust outside. I cleaned up the brick dust inside. It was on every surface. I had just finished washing the floor when Raye arrived.

We opened a bottle of wine and sat out in the back yard to await the others.

Parties are a lot of work.

But it forced us to get a lot done:

• We have most of the stucco off. YAY! We just need to paint it.
  
• We have our landscaping done for this year (more next year).
  
• We have our countertop and WILL have our backsplash and basement laundry room tiles by the end of this week, I think.
  
• We have our patio set. Which I lounged in yesterday in the afternoon sun, enjoying a frivolous magazine.
  
• We have our gorgeous new windows. Which I have to get them back to recaulk at the top, no big deal.
  
• We have air conditioning. We just need a little surround for the unit so it looks a little less ugly.
  

There is still lots to do. Our front deck, for example, needs some work: turn over the boards or maybe replace them altogether. New railing for sure. Our neighbour gave an excellent idea for a bit of storage on the one side...

We still need a cupboard door for the cupboard over the over-the-range microwave.

And I still need to clean up the basement so that I can actually find things. I need some walls in the laundry room and some shelving.

As they all say, it's a never-ending process.