Sunday, June 22, 2008

Not an Early Bird

I worked in the yard Thursday evening, Friday evening, and Saturday morning. Despite forecasts of scattered thunderstorms, the weather looked fine this morning, but I just could not drag myself out there a fourth day in a row. The work will still be there tomorrow. (And it did rain in the afternoon, 0.25".)

The new room continues to morph. Now it is down to 18'x18', almost the same size as the deck, the deck that is going away. I was resting on the deck yesterday, eyeballing the warped boards, the cupped surfaces, the trellis coming loose, the wasps building nests under the benches, the rabbits nesting beneath it, etc. And usually it is too buggy/windy/hot/cold to spend much time on the deck. I will not be sad to see it go.

The estimates are starting to roll in, and that is affecting the plans as well. Can't afford the half-bath nor the cathedral ceiling with carsiding. Looking for other areas where I can trim some costs as well. Get that calculator out.

I run hot and cold on this whole deal. On the one hand, I get really excited about fixing up the house (finally!) Then I freak out about the expense. Then I try to convince myself that I deserve this. Then I wonder if it would be easier to just move. But I would have to fix up the house before I could sell it. Maybe I will wait until next year. But prices will only go up. Maybe I won't do anything. But the house needs a new roof. And if I am going to do the roof, I might as well do the room as well, rather than re-roof the flat roof. Round and round I go.

And having multiple bids is like having multiple boy friends that I have to choose among. All of them are perfectly adequate, but none outstanding. The bids are in line with each other as well. The inner people-pleaser is struggling with this issue. Do guys have this problem? What would Bob Vila do?

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