This ol' house (Chapter 2)....

by northstar at 08:40 PM on April 23, 2002

I think the smell of carpet glue is making me delirious. I’ve been home all day while the old carpet was being ripped up and the new carpet being put down. When the workers pulled up the old carpet, I think they found Jimmy Hoffa. Methinks perhaps we should replace the carpet a little more frequently….

It sure has been a long time coming, and this means that a major part of our ongoing home-improvement program has been accomplished. Now, all we have to do is paint four more rooms and a hallway, finish painting the outside of the house (it’s been half-done for the past year), replace eight ceiling fans, clean and refinish the deck, etc., etc., etc. It seems as if it’s never done, because, well, it never is. I suppose that’s what we get for living in a 30+ year-old home. Welcome to the wonderful world of home ownership. Between the climate, the humidity, and the pests here in southeast Texas, it seems as if it’s a running battle to keep an older home together. Sometimes I feel as if we’re (just barely) one step ahead of the termites….

There are days like this when I miss the simplicity of apartment living. The faucet leaks? No problem; call the manager. Broken light switch? Same answer. It sure was a whole lot easier back then. Of course, it’s hard to feel as if you’re putting down any roots in an apartment complex. And you can’t very well add a deck to a one-bedroom walk-up, can you??

It’s nice to finally be making some progress, though. To a large degree, this whole process has been and will continue to be a 24-carat major pain in the ass. Still, the house is beginning to look better. I just wish it didn’t take so much work to get it that way….