Making a House, our Home
It’s been exactly one week since ALL of our things arrived. Beyond underestimating the weight of our “stuff” by 1 ton, United must have forgotten how much space our things actually take up - or it grew while in their possession because they had to send two trucks to get it all here to CT. Beyond some damaged tables and scuffed couches, almost everything arrived safe and sound. And boy - do we- uh… I have a LOT of stuff. I thought selling off my vinyl collection would help, but I’m just obsessive about music things, I guess. Still not ready to admit I actually have a problem, so we’ll save step one for later! See, procrastination does have some benefits.
One week in we have, or more accurately, Aimee has about 90% of the boxes unloaded and put away. The remaining 10% are mine, of course, and still need to find some reasonable landing. You don’t realize how much you liked your old home until you move into someone elses. At this point, while our stuff is here, this doesn’t feel like our “home” yet. What makes a “home”? Glad you asked:
1. Your bed and your pillows. After three months sleeping in other beds its amazing the difference that your sheets, pillows and blankies make to that third of your life you spend horizontal.
2. Reasonable water pressure/temperature. The family who lived here before us must have had that disease like that little girl on Grey’s Anatomy where they couldn’t feel pain. The water goes from normal to scorching in less than a minute and reducing the temprature to a tolerable level reduces the water pressure to the point where it feels like someone is… Well. You get the idea.
3. Functioning, Air & Water Tight Windows and Doors: Within our first day in the home, we discovered that the cellar door not only wasn’t sealed properly but that if enough water pools in front of those doors, it will make its way down the stairs and right into our basement. We’ve also learned that if you paint your window trim/casings a hideous shade of lime green or purple (yes, they’ve used both - I’ve got pictures!) that you should really make sure they still slide afterward! We spent an hour yesterday just unsticking two garage windows so we could close them for the winter.
This all boils down to a motto I’ve had for nearly my entire adult life: If you want something done right, hire a professional. Just because you can do something yourself, doesn’t mean you should, especially when it comes to your home. At some point in the future another family will be looking to buy your home and if its clear that you:
A. Really don’t know how to hang a garage door
B. Really don’t know how to do faux painting
C. Really don’t know how to hang a counter top microwave in a makeshift box
D. Really don’t know how to paint windows/walls/doors/closets/outlets/switches..
E. Really don’t know how to install laminant floors
F. Really don’t know how to install a ceiling fan
G. Really don’t know how to landscape
H. Really don’t know how to take care of your above ground pool
THEN HIRE SOMEONE!
Or, expect your home to sit on the market for six to eight months waiting around for an idiot like me to come along, miss most of these details and buy your damn house and then hire all the people you should have hired in the fucking first place. Sleep well Mr. Bob Villa wanna-be and Ms. Martha Stewart you ain’t. At least you got to keep your own bed & pillows.
-pjc