May 24th - Waiting will be the death of me

May 24th

We had a bit of an emotional break from thinking about the house this last weekend when we went to the Victoria Kite Festival. If only for a few minutes, flying kites helped us keep a level head and not succumb to the mounting stress. We don’t even have the house yet, let alone the assurance that we are getting the house, and already our stress levels are starting to rise. Of course, this means that there are the inevitable doubts rising to the surface. Those doubts that were there in the beginning, drifting about as passing thoughts. Perhaps a little to easy to dismiss then. Now, they seem to be sitting on the surface and we are unable to look away from them. Are we making the right decision? Are we getting into something that is over our heads? Will this bankrupt us? Should we just walk away after all of the back and forth, and confusion?  

By tomorrow the Appraiser will have submitted his report, and then we have some real choices to make. If the appraisal comes in over what we are offering we will immediately jump on the next step, and could see ourselves closing on the house before the start of June!  If he comes in under, then we are forced to deal with yet another round table negotiation that we already can foresee as being the reason we walk away from the deal.

Add on top of this, there are the comments (usually subtle and indirect) regarding our capacity to take on this house and the yard. We listen closely to those that have done something similar and they say it is a lot of work. Without a doubt we fully appreciate that this won’t be easy. The hardest part is when folks then look at us, tilt their head slightly and ask us if we are up for it. I can hear the doubt in their words. I understand that doubt, I really do, in fact Paul and I have sat and discussed it ad nauseum. We have talked about our own capacity, and whether or not we are ready to step up to the challenge. When we ask ourselves these questions we don’t find our character wanting, we feel that we want this challenge. It’s hard tho, to not take it personally. It’s hard to not hear what may or may not be veiled in their words. It’s hard to not hear “I don’t think you can do this”.

When these feelings are mixed in with the sometimes well intentioned but frustrating comments that end with “...once i see it, then I will decide what you need”, it leaves us (okay just me) feeling like I am being coddled. That people don’t think I am capable enough to take on this project.  Why must the decision be made by someone that is not Paul or I, why must our decision making privileges be revoked? Are we not capable of taking care of ourselves, or of dealing with the consequences? In some instances I know it is well intentioned, and I am trying to take a moment to understand why it is being said. In other cases it is above and beyond frustrating. I have a lot more leniency for family and friends saying it, and no latitude for strangers that somehow are wrapped up in the finances of this deal.

Live Edge Slab - RAW!!

When it starts to get frustrating, I start thinking about all of the potential and the good things that we are thinking about doing with the house. Among all of the other projects, one of the things that has been on my mind is to use live edge slab wood throughout the house. When we get around to taking out the kitchen wall, the thought is that we will find and refinish a large live edge slab as a breakfast bar. This will tie in with some other live edge slab finished pieces and the all around natural wood elements of the house. While we could purchase these items, and have them professionally installed, the thought of picking our own roughed out slab, and spending the time during the fall to plane and true the board as a project for the both of us, really helps to highlight what makes our relationship so wonderful.

Yesterday we pulled more free samples from bamboo suppliers, still hoping to find that elusive $2 solid bamboo. Or as near to solid as we can get. If everything goes right, we close on the house in the next few days, place the order for the flooring, and potentially have it at the house acclimating while we are in Europe. In the ridiculous amount of researching I did regarding the floors I came across a product that we are interested to use as a part of our floor; Elastilon. The reviews of it here in the states seem to be all over the place, with people complaining it doesn’t have enough history behind it. Yet, the product was developed in the Netherlands, and has a roughly 20 year successful history. It should make a glue down floor fairly easily. All we need to do is prep the slab, lay down a 6mm moisture barrier, then the Elastilon product. To install the bamboo planks you peel back the top and expose the adhesive and lay down the flooring. (for more information http://www.elastilon.com/en/recommendations-elastilon)

Salvage Yard Finds

When there are slow moments at work, I look over the work list, fix some of the numbers, add more items to the list, and round out the details in some of the steps. It is both fun and frustrating. This logistical planning ahead of time helps calm some of my fears about the timeline, and helps me provide complete comprehensive plans to Paul when he asks ‘what do you think we should look for as far as time/budget/difficulty when we tackle ___________?’. Keeping all of this information available in a Google Spreadsheet really makes this whole thing super easy. It means that no matter what, no matter where I am, as long as I have my phone or access to a computer, I have the numbers and lists available. This has proven particularly helpful in remembering to add things to the list that we may think of because of some obscure reference in a random place. Oh, guess we should add shoe rack for front entry, and another dresser for the bedroom. It seems silly that we wouldn’t think about a dresser, but we currently have a built in dresser for my things and Paul has his own dresser. I didn’t even think about purchasing a dresser till I happened to be at the deli picking up lunches for work and was looking over the cookies and brownies in the display case. What the sweets have to do with purchasing another dresser is beyond me, but thank goodness I was able to add it to the list before completely forgetting to discuss it with Paul that evening.

May 25th

Woo hoo!!! Around 9:45pm last night we get an email message from the agents…. The appraisal came in satisfactory!! Man it felt so great to have that come in, one less hurdle we have to jump over.  Now there is just a few more steps and we close on the house. We are crossing our fingers that things go smoothly with the roof replacement, and that we can continue to ride this good karma wave. With the long weekend coming up we will be spending some of our time packing and cleaning the current home.  It may be wishful thinking, but it would be great if we could make use of the holiday weekend sales that many material companies are hosting.