So frustrated I want to cry in defeat

Today my plan was to install the trim on the one living room window that is ready for it, and then do a coat of shellac tomorrow. That would have meant the front door was done and we could remove the blue tape and plastic bags that have covered the glass for 2 1/2 years and put up a privacy film. The one window in the living room would be very close to ready for a shade, and I was going to work on ordering a shade. I so wanted some progress! I could taste it!

The miter saw was all ready to go, or so I thought. I build a bench, bolted the saw to it, cleaned up all the tools I used and assembled the tools I'd need for the trim (square, work light, pencil, tape measure, etc). I grabbed a piece of trim and started to make some practice cuts and .......

the laser cutting guide didn't work. Yes, I should have checked this, and I did check that the saw worked but didn't think to check the laser. I did think it was strange that the laser required batteries even thought the saw is electric. I put in brand new batteries so I didn't think that was the problem. I really wanted to just throw the towel in and keep the defective saw, but the laser is a really nice feature that would make accurate cuts much easier. I dug through my filed receipts and found the receipt so I can return the saw. Not fun. I spent 1.5 hours today with no visible progress. So far the windows have taken 215.75 hours.

Due to scheduling issues, I won't be able to do the trim till at least Monday. Assuming I finish the trim on Monday, I hope to get another coat of shellac on Wednesday. That's almost a week's delay, and is a full week on getting finshing the front door since I need C to help with that and it can only be done on weekends.

This remodel is becoming and endurance test. I worked so hard the first two years - there were many 15 hour days and 7 day weeks. I just can't continue that pace any longer and also now have some work-at-home business activities so my time is much more limited.

Add to this the general scheduling difficulty of the widows it gets hard to make progress. The windows have to be done during the day because I need daylight to see properly. A coat of shellac requires a large chunk of uninterrupted time to do, usually 23 hours. The windows have to stay open for 3-5 hours to let shellac dry, which means I have to do a coat on a day that has nice weather and I can do a coat in the morning and stay home all day . We have a one-story house so I am not comfortable leaving the windows open while nobody is home.

I really need some visible progress or I feel like I'll just collapse. We've lived in an uncomfortable house for so long and there is no end in sight. I really feel like home improvement is a way of life now, not a task that can be done.

I did finish installing drawer bumpers in kitchen, which is great because the drawers not so loud anymore. We bought our cabinets at Ikea, and the price and look is great but because of the use of particle board, the drawers and cabinet doors close with a loud bang. The bumpers are small stick-on pads that you put at the point of contact that soften the blow. It's so much better to not hear a loud bang every time you close a door or drawer. When I put this on my list, I thought I'd be done in May 2008, so I only missed my estimate by 8 months! That's much better than usual.