Life is Definitely Improving!

Front windows with sheetrock

I am so very lucky to have Leigh as my contractor!  She is awesome!  Yesterday turned into a nightmare with 11 hours of sheetrock installation!  On top of that, the guys did not clean up (as I'd heard Leigh and their boss discuss), they did not reconnect my washer/dryer, they played their boom box all day, maybe not really loudly but enough so it was bothersome when I was in my room, and a few other issues.  They finally left at nearly 7PM (and my regular readers know that I fold definitely by 5 and by 7 I am heading to bed!).  I was then left to clean up as best I could, try to find some dinner (ended up with a protein bar, apple, some sea crackers and a Righteously Raw chocolate bar because I couldn't find an outlet that would do my toaster oven and a light!), and collapse into bed.

 I was totally overcome with it all.  The dirt and dust was enormous.  I just couldn't cope with the clean up (and with allergies and asthma I am told I shouldn't be), not to mention the task of keeping the pets out of so much unhealthy debris (which Poosa, bless her hungry heart, is as likely to eat as anything!).  Anyway, I was ready to call the whole thing off and just get the sheetrock primed and painted, but it looks so horrid now and I've put so much into this remodel that that thought just about broke my heart.

Sheetrock in the great room

I didn't sleep, and along about 1AM I wrote Leigh an e-mail to let her know my thoughts and what had happened.  Then I took some medicine for my colon which was acting up (stress, strange food, who knows), and on the second dropper (I have to have the kids' version because the adult version comes in gelatin caps which as a vegan, I don't do) I swallowed wrong.  This started me coughing and I then couldn't stop coughing for nearly 3 hours!  The only plus about that horrible situation was that dear sweet Sasha came over and crawled on my chest as I sat in bed trying to drink very hot tea with hopes that that would help.  Sasha and I got in lots of petting and I read more of May Sarton's journal The House by the Sea which is really good!  Finally got to sleep around 4AM. Chauncey woke me at 7 so he and Poosa could go out, but they came right back and we all went back to sleep until Leigh called just ahead of 9AM, worried about everything I had reported.

Laundry, utilities, and very small closet

Turns out that what happened yesterday never should have happened.  Neither Leigh nor the guys' boss had any reason to doubt that the guys were doing exactly as instructed and meanwhile, I didn't know what the instructions were and just assumed they were told to finish the job.  Turns out that the guys were supposed to be gone by 5 and finish up on Monday and they were supposed to stop early enough to clean everything before they left.  Had that actually happened, it would all have been fine.  And the guys have always been really reliable about doing what they are told, so why yesterday it ran amok is anyone's guess.  But Leigh and I talked and we are on exactly the same page.  She is determined to make this work for me.  From now on, the work week will be M-F, 9-5, period, end of discussion.  The last few weekends the roofers especially have asked for Saturdays and I've given in because it is roofing and it is winter.  I'm not even sure why the sheetrock got scheduled for Saturday, but it won't be again.  And no more 7:30 or 8:00 starts.  If work doesn't start until 9, then I can be sure I'm up, have at least made my breakfast shakes, maybe put my mid-morning soy yogurt and my lunchtime sprout/lettuce/tofu salad fixings outside my bedroom door since it is still quite cold, and get myself organized so that I don't need to go into the construction zone.  Leigh picked me up an electric tea kettle (many thanks, Rose, for that brilliant suggestion!), so that I can have tea in my bedroom whenever I want.


Clean-up will happen at least once a day and maybe at lunch as well.  Leigh got clean tarps which we will put down at the end of the day once everything is cleaned so that the dogs, especially, have a clean surface to walk on.  Chauncey is getting very old and he thinks he has to come in the front door and I can't chase him, especially in the dark, so this way he can walk through the construction area without bringing tons of dust with him.  And Thackeray, who was very quick to make his complaints known to Leigh this morning, will be able to wander at least on nights when the dust has settled a bit.  I kept all of us in the bedroom with a closed door last night because the air was thick with dust, but today it is much improved.

Broom closet on left, then 1/2 bath, and of course laundry

And we are going to try one round of mudding (and yes, Laurie, it is the hot mud you mentioned) and see how things look and how much sanding is needed.  I was having a massage today and noticed that in that building the walls actually have bumps or globs which I guess was the style in the past, and honestly, it looked kinda cool!  I like texture and swirls and I am not wedded to a totally smooth surface, so that will help also.  And I will be taping my door on my side so if I need to go out I can simply un-tape the door, go out, get whatever I need, return, and re-tape the door.  Leigh also put hooks on both sides of the door (there is no latch) so that I can latch it from either side to keep Chauncey especially from charging through when he shouldn't. 

Kitchen area, closet, bedroom hallway, utility closet

In addition, Leigh got me fixed up with a three-way plug (I have tons of them, of course, but in storage!), so I now have two lamps and my toaster oven plugged in and I'm really looking forward to making my Sunshine Burger for dinner tonight--it isn't fancy cooking, but I am taking care of myself, and I am fixing my own food, having taken back that "power" from swaneagle, and it is comforting and my colon likes it, so that makes it wonderful in my eyes.


Tomorrow is the start of another week and I am sure that it will be a much better week and I know I will get a break at the end of the week for my weekend, and that will help bunches.  So that is the update on this end.  Life is definitely looking much more possible!