Ugh! But I found a new motto

I started the day on a pretty good note. The electrician started today, which feels like a big milestone. As soon as he is done his rough work, I'll be ready for my first inspection. I wanted the electric and plumbing rough work to be inspected together to save me from scheduling separate inspections.

Sometimes it pays to procrastinate. I was gradually working on demolition this last week, and planned to take the drywall out in the kitchen up to about shoulder height due to water damage. I also was taking the floor out down to the subfloor. When the framer comes in, I want him to really be able to see what's bad and do a good fix on it. When the electrician started today, he took out about half the drywall I wanted to remove just to run his wires. Yay!

OK, I may really need a hard hat! It's a good thing my ancestors were Calabraise (a region in southern Italy known for hard heads, both literally and figuratively). I was loading the dumpster today (it's dumpster #4!) and the lid fell on me twice! Ow! I thought it was going to draw blood. I just had a big swollen lump on my head a week or so ago. Even without the hardhat, people think I'm a contractor. As I was cleaning up, a contractor working on the street approached me and asked if "you guys" do construction site cleanup (nice to know I'm good enough at it to get noticed by a pro!). I told him I was the homeowner (aka "the lady of the house") and he responded "right on sister!"

Yesterday was kind of a bummer. The framer backed out on me after giving me a verbal agreement that he would do the job. He's someone my plumber has worked with for years, so I was looking forward to an easy time as they worked together. He was supposed to start this week. The good news is that a contractor I talked to about doing the architectural drawings for the bathroom window may be able to take the job on. He worked with an architecture firm for serveral years doing technical drawings (they referred him to me since it's a small job) and now he's a licensed general contractor. This would be great if it works out because he can handle the drawing, do all the framing work the framer was going to do and he can do other things like tile and drywall. I may not need to hire anyone else (except insulation and landscape). I really liked him too - everyone else had me panicked that these drawings would be a huge undertaking, very expensive, etc. His attitude was positive and problem-solving oriented from the beginning. He took it on himself to call the city and find out exactly what drawings were needed before we even had a contract. Nobody else offered to do that. Everyone I've hired so far has that mindset/attitude, and it's been a godsend. It's saved me a lot of headaches.

And finally, my new but not original motto: "This too shall pass."

This remodel has been such a roller coaster. One day, I'm so discouraged I can't imagine it will ever come together. It just seems to be unsolvable problem after unsolvable problem. The next day, I'm flying high, thinking this is the greatest, it's going so smooth, aren't I awesome. In both cases, I'm learning it's important to remind myself that this too shall pass. When I'm down it's important so I keep going. As long as I keep looking, working and talking to people, the answer emerges (often after a good night's sleep and a proper meal). When things are good, it's important to remind myself that things will be bad again so that I don't crash when (not if) it happens.