Non-union work force - you don't get breaks!

So, my mom has been here all week ... and boy, has she been a HUGE help!  She worked hard all day, each day she was here, to help us get this house in order!  And, it looks like we are on task to finish all of the necessary items before we move in, which included:

1. Dig out and fill all of the ceiling cracks & wall imperfections (won't be perfect, but for first-timers, I think we did a pretty good job!).
2. Painting the ceilings and walls
3. Painting the trim (at the very minimum the baseboards and door trim - if the windows and actual doors have to wait, it's not too terrible.)
4. Cleaning the ducts.
5. Refinishing the hardwood floors.

Then, there is stuff that if we don't get done before we move in, well, it just is going to have to be done less conveniently while we live there.  This list includes:

1. Painting the kitchen cabinets and walls.
2. Painting the back hallway.
3. Painting the guest bedroom.
4. Repair pulley systems on all windows.
5. Paint & install shutters in the living/dining room.
6. Installing new countertops and sink in the kitchen.
7. Contractor to repair & build box around kitchen ceiling.
8. Contractor to remodel both bathrooms.
9. Clean up the basement, paint, and repair windows.

and much more that I'm sure I'm just not thinking of right now!

But, I regress.  BOY, has my mom just gotten things done this week!  She washed all of the walls, including scrubbing the glue and paper bits off those that had wallpaper.  She removed all of the bits of carpet and nails that were left around the baseboards in the living/dining rooms.  She removed all of the kitchen cabinets and cleaned them all out (scrubbing most of our kitchen down).  She spackled and sanded some of the walls.  And, then she painted some of the rooms for us!  And, since she got all that done while we were at work every day ... we let the fact that she took some unscheduled, un-approved breaks just slide!

It's finally coming along to the point where we can visibly see progress - which I can now say is HUGE in home-ownership.  Because when you are doing all of this work, day in and day out, and all you see are ugly yellow walls with lots of spackling and a kitchen that still has mold growing on the dishwasher ... you can tend to get a little discouraged that you're not getting anywhere. And, you start thinking ... why did we buy a house that needed this much work?  And, yep, the price was higher, but we could already be sitting in our new living room watching TV right now if we had bought that house - probably playing golf this weekend and maybe making it to the driving range tomorrow night!?!?  But, it will all be worth it when we are finished doing all this work ... our house is going to be super cute and I'm getting excited!

And ... this is what we got to walk in and see on Thursday night!

So, then we ate some Thai food ... delicious, as always ... and my mom & I went back to paint the fireplace.  I was a bit skeptical at first because it was making the walls look too blue (they are sliver/grey), but after we were finished, it looks AMAZING!!!  My mom leaves tomorrow; so we'll be back at it by ourselves, but thankfully since we've gotten so much GREAT help over the past week from all of our parents ... we're on task to finish everything we have to get done before we move it!!  So freakin' exciting!

 

A BIG thanks to our parents and families for helping out and being so excited with us ... hopefully next time you come to visit, we'll have an actual bed, in an actual guest bedroom, for you to sleep on/in after we put you to work with the unfinished list (outlined above)!! 

Seriously, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!