Slow and Slightly Unsteady

One Year ago, plus eleven days, I began the biggest transformation my home has ever experienced. Dehoarding doesn’t happen in just an hour like on TV.  It takes a while.  My mentor, Mrs. Passion, warned that it would take 6-9 months.  I’m at the year mark and still not done.  I blame it on life.  Six kids and a crazy schedule tends to shoot the best laid plans out of the water.  You know the whole two steps forward, one back. 

However, I am still progressing – in the right direction as well.  I’ve been itching to show you progress, but I’m such a fruity-tootie perfectionist that I want to wait until everything’s done.  Then you’ll get the WOW effect to the oomph degree.  Now I’m kicking myself, because makeovers don’t happen in one post.  Unlike ‘Hoarding, Buried Alive’ on TV, the work to declutter can take weeks, and sometimes months, and in my case I’m now in it a whole year.  One of my biggest lessons:  Procrastination equals Pain… and anxiety.  Neither of which is fun to deal with.  In the past I’d bury them with more projects and stuff.  Now I’m confronting them head on.  I still don’t like pain.  But getting through it is finally worth more than letting it fester.

Case in Point:  Never, and I mean never let your house scream at you for a paint job like this.

Twelve years ago we paid an arm and a leg to have a professional paint it.  Within 5 years we noticed the paint bubbling, and three years ago we really knew it needed to be done.  But the unbloggable happened and stuff like painting the home retreats to the back of your mind.  When we started the whole transformation process a year ago we knew that our first outside order of business was to paint the home.  This summer we realized that if we didn’t tackle the project now we would be forking over thousands to replace the siding as well.

So began the most painful home improvement project we’ve tackled to date.  Believe it or not twice as stressful as retiling the kitchen floor.  What we thought would take a week has turned into four weeks of nightmarish adventure.  Add in the fact that we’ve never attempted a project to this magnitude which played into the tension as well.  We helped a friend paint her home and it only took 6 1/2 hours from start to finish.  Yes, a lot of people showed up to help.  It gave us a false sense of confidence that it would be easy-peasy.

We pressure washed our home for nearly three days trying to knock off all the chipped paint and not tear up the siding.  The results were disappointing.

Sure we got a lot of paint off but there was still too much chipped paint hanging on by a thread waiting to be scrapped.

  Some of the siding didn’t survive and had to be replaced.  In replacing some of the siding we also discovered shortcuts taken by the original builders where they had cut corners, not laid down the vapor-barrier in full which led to rotten wood underneath the trim and siding near the bottom.  So some lower trim had to be totally ripped off.  Our efforts to save money by doing the job ourselves ended up costing us as much as paying someone else to do it.   But only because we had to replace damaged sections caused by our procrastination. The only redeeming note of comfort is that I don’t think a professional would have fixed the damage, just covered it up.

Abner, my boy, was my rock.  He and his friend Chet put in hours daily for nearly two weeks scrapping the paint down to this.

Our favorite tool of choice was an angle grinder with a steel wool bristle brush.  The paint sander attachments made for chipping off paint didn’t last nearly as long.  So we were thrilled with the recommendation of the steel wool attachment. 

Another hard lessons to learn was don’t buy cheap tools.  We burnt through the motors on two angle grinders and even a paint sprayer before we bit the bullet and bought the proper equipment.

Poor Abner had to also deal with the nasty heights.  Our home sits on a hill which makes two stories nearly three on the backside.  Thankfully we’ve the best friends in the world who loaned us scaffolding and ladders, ropes and harnesses.  Friends are the best.  So glad I’m not a recluse.

Triple glad I’ve got a son willing to help.

Then there was another couple of days spent caulking every corner, window, door,  and siding seam.

Since we were down to bare wood on two sides of our home it only made sense to prime before we painted.

We were blessed with some more wonderful help our first day of priming.  Our church was wrapping up a community service project for Northwest Day of Service and many members stopped by after the community project to give us a hand with our adventure.  It’s amazing how many hands can make quick work of taping up and priming.

And another lessons learned was…

Teenagers all will volunteer for any work if they get to be on a roof.  I had to pray like crazy that no one would get hurt.  I think I drove a couple people bonkers with my worry.  Sorry Prince Erik.

Here’s my manly men priming the back side of our home, while dancing on boards in the effort of trying to give me a heart attack.  I am not a fun person to be around when I’m worried.  Yet they survived me.

And as for the what our home looks like now…

Well, it’s painted…

mostly, except for the trim…

however… it’s raining…

but we beat the rain.  Our home is safe and protected and we learned some valuable lessons.

*  If you want something done right – do it yourself or find someone you really trust to do the job correctly.

*  Plan on it costing more than you thought.

*  Don’t skimp on tools.

*  Plan on it taking three times as long as you thought it would.

*  You’ll also be amazed at how many wonderful people there are that are angels on earth.  To the S.V.’s of the earth and especially to Abner’s friend Chet and his family.  They are the best sort of friends one can every hope for.   

*Abner learned he wants to get a great education to land a great job, earn some big bucks to pay someone else to do the work so that he will never have to ever do something like this again.  That’s my boy – he’s a dreamer like me after all.

There, now you know the before and during part.  I’m praying the liquid sunshine lets up so that I can show you the after pictures by Wednesday or Thursday.  Until then I’ve got to tackle the housework and laundry that’s been piling up while I was distracted outside.

Tootles,

FawnDear

Crud, Sweat and Tears – Worth It?

So a week and a half after Ms. Passion helped me start on room number one…  The Family Room/Library/Music Room… well I’m proud to report that it is 99% done.  Remember the beginning of our room?

It involved a lot of Crud removal, Some good old-fashioned elbow grease, and I’m proud to say I bawled like a baby nearly every day.

Saying good-bye to bad habits is painful, but worth it.  Remember this wasn’t my worst room but a very packed room.  

Out of this room went three bookcases full of books, a piano, 6 bags of trash, and probably another 10 boxes of thrift items.

And after that it looked a whole lot like this…

And this… with the couches taking up the majority of the center of the room.

Do ya like all the electronic cables hanging around?

Ms. Passion is a genius – I might add.  Before she became a professional organizer she was a home stager.  You know, someone who goes into homes and stages it for a quick sale.  She knows her stuff.  So not only was she helping me organize but she also is staging my home so that it is not only functional but beautiful.  We spent around $55 on paint, electrical parts so my husband could rewire the entertainment center, and a art piece and lamp from the thrift store.

Ready for the reveal…

Introducing our ‘Family Room’!

We moved the entertainment center to a different wall.  Then Ms Passion found a way to make some of my more treasured stuff and arrange it in a way to make my husband say, ‘Wow.’ at least 5 times when he finally saw the room put together.  Wow is right.

The best part was she involved the whole family.  Everyone had homework.   From sanding…

 

To painting the trim white (which I’ve always wanted to do).

To rewiring…

Washing…

And a ton of dusting and cleaning and re-dusting, and re-cleaning.  The whole process was messy.  

 

But so rewarding… 

I cheated early on, and tried to do some of the kids homework for them.  Cause I could just envision the trim paint slapped all over the walls, etc.  However Ms. Passion chewed me out good about that one and she was right.  The kids need to invest part of themselves into making this room functional and beautiful.   They are more likely to take care of items they worked so hard to make that way.

Ms. Passion even found some fabric in my stash that complimented the couches.  So we turned that swatch into some curtains.

The only homework we have left?  Well, we are going to repurpose some left-over small matching cubbies into a desk for this corner.  And that’s going to allow us to pull the computer out of the dining room and put it here where the whole family can use it.

So that’s it – One room Done!  Guess which room everyone wants to spend time in now?  We all love it and can’t wait to see the magic Ms. Passion works on the rest of our home.  And the rest of the house, – well it’s desperate for the same treatment.

So for those who want to follow along I thought I’d post the steps I’m going through to overcome this Hoarding Addiction as well as Ms. Passions lessons that she’s giving me. 

*  Step 1:  First you have to ACKNOWLEDGE YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.  Yes, I know I’m a hoarder and I’m SO ready to be in the recovery phase of that illness.  Then  HAVE A DESIRE TO MAKE A CHANGE and have the courage to realize that you need to ask others for help.  Without the Acknowledgement or the Desire you are basically stuck on step one. 

*  Step 2:   ENLIST THOSE WILLING TO HELP ~ family, friends, counselors, organizers, blog buddies, etc.  Make sure they are committed, and will hold you accountable if you flub-up.

*  Step 3: EVERY ROOM HAS A PURPOSE!  If some item is in the room that doesn’t fit the room’s purpose it needs to leave.  You wouldn’t cook your food in a bathroom, or do your laundry in the front room.  Bring the Purpose back to your rooms.  What is the Vision for your home?  Both in looks, and how it makes you feel.

Clutter never feels good.

Ms. Passion helped us clear everything out of our family room except items that fit a basic vision for it’s purpose.  A room where our family could view movies, play board games, study scriptures, and have fun. 

All the extra stuff is temporarily being housed in my last room – the front room.

We are going to hit every room this way.  One room at a time.  Eliminate everything that doesn’t fit the room’s purpose.  I suspect that the hardest part will be seeing all the left over stuff I’ve accumulated in a embarrassingly large mountain of a pile.  That and after the last room is completed; knowing I will most likely have to part with that pile will be excruciatingly painful – but I suspect the beauty of having  a home where everything has a place and is in it’s place.   Well, I’m convinced that-soon-to-be place of peace and beauty will give me the courage to make those hard choices.  I’m ready to keep going.

Quick Reminder…

From this…

To This. 

And This…

To This.

It feels more Peaceful already.

Building Dreams – One Block at a Time!

So I’ve been keeping myself hauling over the past week or so. The energy is finally back and I’ve a lot of ground to make up after the silly bout with sickness.

I surprised myself on the big project I decided to undertake. Only because it seemed so big and out of my league. But what’s the point of having dreams if they are going to sit around waiting for you to do something about them. I decided to move!

I’ve always wanted a little patio off the house where I could sit and enjoy the yard and garden. Last year I was blessed with most of the stonework for the walls – free! A friend just needed me to haul them off. Then they became my pile, just sitting in my yard waiting for me to haul them into place. It finally happened.

Enough blabbing. I just can’t wait to show you what the kids and I did over the past day and a half. Prince Erik didn’t know about it. He’s not the yard type of person so we just had to keep the first half days work a secret and hope he wouldn’t go out back. Our luck held and today I’m ready for the big reveal.

Here’s my big boys helping me dig out the base.

The part that took the longest was the leveling, and leveling and shifting, leveling, pounding , oh and did I say leveling.

But I wanted to do it right the first time and not always look at the wall and think – darn I could have done better.

Of course the weather was perfect – upper 60’s low 70’s. And cloudy! Yeah! Great for taking little breaks with the kids and lay in the grass and look for shapes in the clouds.

It’s been way to long since I last did that and I’m going to make sure to do it more often it was too fun!

But the wall was calling so back to work. The boys even recruited some help. Wippie!

And finally I ran out of stone. I would have loved to have made it one level higher but I’m tickled pixie pink at how well it turned out. Using recycled stone made it look like the walls been in place for years and not hours. And those blasted time-consuming stairs – I LOVE!

Yes, Prince Erik was happily surprised. He didn’t even give me grief about how messy the house was.

I let Evo-man and his friend build a fire-pit (until I find something to lay out the patio portion with). And this evening was perfect, smores, tired achy muscles, and the satisfaction of a job well done! Wow if the kids and I can do this in a day and a half – just imagine how much more we can accomplish this summer. All it cost was a little good old honest labor. You know building dreams can be quite the rewarding adventure.

Slave to the Strawberry!

Every year around berry picking time I load the kids in the Gas-Guzzle Beast and head off for the nearby U-Pick Fields. This year the strawberries are a good three weeks, if not more, behind schedule. But we were there opening day. And so was everyone else and their grandparents, and neighbors, and kids, and moms, and a few reluctant teenagers (O.K. I guess I was the only one to bring teenagers) etc.

The pick director took one look at the six kids and myself and sent us to the far corner of the fields. I guessed we looked like trouble and the flag lady figured with us near the edge we would wreak less havoc.

This year the berries were a little smaller, and a little more expensive than last year. However, nothing compares to fresh strawberries, every one so juicy sweet, you can’t help but go back year after year. Store bought well I’ve never tasted store bought that tastes like fresh.
Even though I took six kids I probably only had two really good pickers.

Abner and Lea have some mad berry picking skills. T-rev would have been right there with them but I set him on Hope after she decided to start visiting the neighboring pickers and stepping on the berry bushes in an effort to make new friends. Princess would pick one here or there, but was more interested in talking about how they looked and asking questions about how the plants grow and why Abner was picking one row instead of another, and on and on. If only her hand worked as fast as her little mouth we would have had double the volume of berries picked. Evo-man picked about a handful of berries and decided he would rather go sit in the vehicle. I didn’t feel like fighting so I let him. Just wait the story gets better.

Less than an hour later we had a good 4 flats picked and decided to leave the rest for more serious pickers.

On the way home we dropped off some of our berries at a friends home so the kids could count one of their 1000 acts of service. And once we got home and sat the berries on the table – Wham!

I suddenly realized that I’d better do something with them. I couldn’t just pick and buy 36 lbs of strawberries and expect them to just sit there. So I pulled out of the cobwebs my old canning supplies. Haven’t touched much of it in the last 5 years but now was as good as time as any.

Freezer jam is my favorite but my old freezer is an ancient hand-me-down from my grandparents and since it could go any day I try not to put too many valuables in it. So I only made one batch of freezer jam and about 10 bags of whole frozen berries. That way if the food storage unit decides to self-destruct I can take the thawed berries and turn them into canned jam.

Since I had some little canning jars in storage I decided to can most of the strawberries instead. Regardless eight hours...

5 batches of jam later, another trip to the store to buy pectin and sugar, and around 12:30 a.m. I finished destroying my (just barely paid to be cleaned) kitchen with a sticky berry mess. Evo-man redeemed himself by being the official berry masher and mashing most of the berries I needed. He volunteered to help which about floored me because he never volunteers for anything.

Financially it would have been more practical to freeze all the berries whole and not bother with the whole time-consuming jam thing. It would definitely be cheaper to cut coupons and stock up on Smuckers when it’s on sale. But dang, it feels good to see 34 cute little ½ pint jars of canned jam, 7 containers of freezer jam and 10 bags of frozen berries done and finished. And to know that my biggest helper in the end was the one kid I expected to avoid helping at all costs. That whole one-on-one berry smashing talk session and the pride of accomplishment thing makes up for the extra cost. That and I know even though it’s been awhile, somewhere buried deep down, my mad canning skills that I inherited from my mom are still, kind of, functioning.

What's a Mom's work worth?

I saw an interesting article in the paper today saying that if a stay at home mom drew a paycheck it would be worth an average of $117,000 Buck-A-Roo's per year.

You can check out what your paycheck would be worth here. Mom's Paycheck

It even lets you personalize it. Once I'd added in some of my extra duties it said I could command $130,992 a year. Somehow I don't think Prince Erik could afford to keep me if I demanded that much.

I did find their list a bit lacking. No where on it did they have...

* Law Enforcement Officer - Think of how much money we save the judicial system by being the Cop, Lawyer, Judge and sometimes Jailer to our little kiddos.

* Hazardous Waste Removal Expert - Maybe they tried to hide this under the title of janitor. But sometimes I think a Haz-Mat suit would be a better fit for the kind of messes most mom's clean up. At least this would apply to the messes around my house.

* Personal Trainer - Who else would get their little tushes off the couch and out into the yard to play.

*Seamstress - I wonder why some of the oldie-but-goodie homemaking arts are not listed anymore. And with these blasted boat cushions that I've been sewing for 3 days straight I'd be garnering some serious overtime mullah. That and I know how much they would cost if I had to have someone else do them for me.

* Dictator - I've heard they make good bucks and I know my children would agree that I fall into this category. Not the making good bucks but acting the part.

*Professional Negotiator - Who else can resolve the conflicts that the family member's dredge up.

* Detective - Mom's have to be a good detective. Who else can solve the Who-Done-It-This-Time Mystery.

*Physic - I know exactly what consequences will happen to my children and gladly tell them their future if they continue to push certain buttons.

*Teacher - For their benefit the Salary Site did mention a Day Care Center Teacher but I found that title lacking since I home-school and what parent isn't the main life/coach teacher to their children.

*Actor - I should win an Oscar for my calm performances when other's are totally losing it. Should I also mention that my evil eye and menacing stare has no equal.

Other titles could include : Pest Controller, Construction Worker (Drywall specialist), Veterinarian, Gardener, Painter, Court Jester, Movie Theater and Arcade Operator, and so many more.

So as I see it I personally think I'm worth way more, and so are most mom's I know. We are lucky in a way that we don't see a paper paycheck. I can tell you every time Evo-man doesn't Sass back, Hope gives my neck a squeeze or crawls into my lap my heart melts and I wouldn't trade that experiance for all the money in the world.

So Happy Mother's Day all you underpaid Priceless mom's.