it's really not just "one little project"

Don't get me wrong, I love home improvements. I love my husband. I love that he is handy. I love that he is creative. I love that he loves to work. I love that he loves to work on our house.

With that being said...we are getting a new furnace and air conditioner. Not too bad. Or so I thought ( and I suppose I really shouldn't complain because this "one little project" is not nearly as invovled as other "little projects" have been). Now, in the middle of the project, not only are we getting a new furnace and air conditioner but a new gas dryer. apparently, it is cheaper to buy a new gas dryer that to run a new electric line. huh. but, i am proud of myself. i limited the new gas dryer to just a new gas dryer. i did not buy a matching washing machine to make it a set.

a wall has been removed and a new one put up (well, not yet, it is in progress). the new furnace is in place in the basement--well, it really is just crawl space--with the old one still down in the crawl space (and i don't know if that will ever move out). the air unit is on the south side of the house next to our wood pile for out wood stove stacked complete with wood that we never used last winter (i was always too hot). anyway, the electricity lines have been run to the air unit (thanks uncle steve) and shawn is working on the piping for the gas dryer tonight. i am a bit nervous, with gas and all. but a certified (or whatever you call it) gas man is coming tomorrow morning to do the real hookups.

i hope it all works out as planned now. i hope the furnace stays in the crawl space and that we won't have to make room for it upstairs somewhere. i don't think i can handle anymore knocking out of walls. although, i am sure shawn would have no problem with that. we have knocked out three walls now. remember, our house is not that big. we knock out anymore walls, we won't have a house. we have also ripped out a couple of closets, remodeling the entire closets. anna's room has been painted three times: purple, pink and now yellow. the master bathroom has been painted three times. our bedroom, twice. the front bathroom and bedroom, only once. the front room painted, then paneling torn out and new texture and painted again, then glazed. plus, we put in a wood stove. shawn built a big deck with patio. landscaped the yard a few times. our carport fell a couple years ago. he not only rebuilt the carport but added another shed. he has moved our back gate around a few times and still is not satisfied. he converted a back family room into a nice dining room. he built an island for our kitchen which has been painted a few times. the cabinets moved around to make room for a microwave stove hood thing. and added crown molding to the top of the cabinets. a pantry was added (knocking out a wall). crown molding has also been added to a few rooms. he also replaced our swamp cooler two summers ago.

as you can see, a little project to shawn turns out to be not so little. i always add on a few hundred dollars to his given estimate--he is always under. funny because he is an estimator for a construction company. huh.

anyway, if all goes as planned i will have cool air running through my house by the end of the week. no more swampy. really, it isn't bad as long as it is not too hot and not at all humid. but i will be grateful that our food won't be soggy all the time, our floors won't be sticky all the time, and i won't have to be hot on those summer thunderstorm days (like today).