The end of the marathon

As it turns out, buying this house with the intent of turning it into an airbnb definitely confirmed something I've always suspected about myself: that regarding my personal capabilities I'm often wildly optimistic.

WILDLY optimistic.

In the beginning, I imagined getting the house painted in a couple of months.  I mean, how long does it take to paint walls?

Well?  As it turns out, about two years!  (And that's with a little help from my son.)  What I didn't know?  That painting dark stained molding takes FOREVER.  The walls are the easy part.

Sometimes it's a real blessing the things we don't know, when we begin an endeavor.  I imagine I would have been pretty daunted had I begun this with the knowledge I have now.

Since we're really only doing a cosmetic redo of the inside of the house, I didn't expect to have the kind of delays and problems people run into with remodels.  But when we had to resurface the walls (after taking down wallpaper in the hall and bathroom that wrecked little parts of the wall, and discovering wallpapered-over holes), trying to locate ANYONE to do the work took months.  And my husband ended up doing it himself.

Then there's the outside (the actual remodeling part): we had no idea how complicated it would be having a dock built.  When we realized what we want to do will involve extensive excavation, it became obvious what a huge project this will be.  (I say "will be" because after two years, we still have not begun it.)

It took about a year to make the plan and wait for approval from the TVA.  Then we tried to locate a contractor, another dead end.

We had a quote that was so expensive (for the excavation alone) it was a no go.

The good news?  We believe we've found a reliable, affordable contractor who can do the excavation in March.  So it looks like a project that will be tackled in stages.  But our new potential excavator guy actually responds to texts and phone calls.  That's a first!

We are really hoping to have the house ready to rent by the beginning of summer.  So we'll have to wait to search for a dock builder till next year.

So here we are, the end of January, and I need to get this house done and ready by June.  Where are we at?

Well, I'm FINALLY down to the last little bit of painting:

This little area between the hall and living room that needs to be painted.

The walls and bathroom vanity still need to be done.

Figuring out the colors is the hard part.

I've got 3 little areas left of dark molding that needs to be deglossed and painted.

And then it's FINALLY done!

This little section in the hall was covered by the scaffolding my husband built so we could paint over the stairs.  We couldn't get to it till he took it down.

This is the inside of a closet that for some reason I didn't do when I did the molding in the rest of the room.

I know it's just the inside of the closet and maybe I'm being a bit of a perfectionist here, but I just want to know that ALL the molding in the house matches.

This bathroom window has been covered by a curtain since we bought the house, so it never hit me that there was a dark window hiding behind it.

Again, my perfectionist problem is kicking in a little.

But after these I will have no more dark molding anywhere!

This is currently the state of the "basement" room.

When I went to Florida unexpectedly in November, my son stepped up and painted this whole, huge room for me while I was gone.

It looks so fresh and nice!

As soon as the hinges are painted, we can put this vanity back together.

The hinges and cabinets to be painted so we can put the downstairs kitchen back together.

So, aside from finishing the painting, I just need to go room by room and organize, adding and deleting the final furniture and getting them fully set up finished.  This will help me figure out what I still need to find, furniture-wise.

I'm going to start in this bedroom, which, like all the rooms has been a repository for the "house stuff" I need to arrange and organize.

Time to get the kitchen table out of here that my husband's been using for a desk.

He's not real happy about this.

So, here's where we're at.  I know it will take some time to set the house up online, etc.  The sooner I can get this done, the better!

The finish line is in sight.

The greatest text I ever got? Definitely!

To return to the theme of goodwill (that is even better than the thrift store kind): I want to share an update today of a prior post, "Witness to a Miracle."  In that post I shared that my father had experienced a cardiac arrest in October, and was on the road to recovery.

God had showed me that he would recover through a photograph; that whole experience still comforts me.

My father had his cardiac arrest on Friday, October 22nd.  On Christmas Eve, barely two months later, he was released from the rehab facility to return home to be with my mom.

Wow!

The day of the cardiac arrest, my dad collapsed in their apartment.  Because my mom was present to witness it (and they live in a community for seniors), she pulled a cord in the apartment to call a nurse as soon as she realized what was happening.

According to my mom, a nurse appeared immediately, rushed passed her and checked for a pulse.  My mom thought she said something along the lines of, "he's gone."  She began CPR immediately anyway.

The nurse who performed CPR that day saved my father's life.

"Who was she?"  I later asked my mom.  "I don't know.  I've never seen her before.  But I'm going to find out," she replied.

A few days ago I was getting ready for bed when I got this text from my mom:

Above is my dad with the nurse, I guess they found her!  When my dad was still in the ICU in the very early stage of recovery, my mom was telling my dad the story of why he was in the hospital.  (He could never remember from day to day.)  "You collapsed and I called a nurse who had to do mouth-to-mouth," she informed him.  "Was it a cute nurse?" my dad asked.

And my dad was back.

Yes, she is a cute nurse!  We can officially confirm that.  But more than that, she did a beautiful thing.  This whole episode has encouraged me to want to renew my CPR training.  I'd hate to be the only option for someone who needs it and not be prepared.

It's got to be a great day at work when you save someone's life!

Two weeks before the collapse, my parents were at their home in Pennsylvania, an isolated place at least twenty minutes from the hospital.  The day of the collapse, they were planning to leave town a few days later.

But at the time of the cardiac arrest they were in an apartment where my mom could pull a cord.  And the nurse showed up immediately.  Had they been anywhere else, my dad wouldn't be here.  God's hand was clearly over this whole experience.

There are many aspects of this story that are miraculous.  

James 1:17 tells us that every good thing is a gift from God.  I don't know why my father survived, but God has a reason.  This nurse was a gift from God.  My father's second chance at life is a gift from God.  It's so easy to focus on the darkness and the losses and the hard things, that it's especially important to give thanks to God for the good things, for all the blessings.

Thank you God, for the best text I've ever received!

Now I love them even more!

I have posted before about how much I love vintage "Ideals" magazines.  I discovered some old copies years ago at a thrift store, and loved them.  As my piles grew, I realized I have another collection.  But this is not a collection of something that merely sits on a shelf, I read them!

If you are not familiar with "Ideals," they are magazines that were published for years that feature content that is nostalgic, sentimental and historic, in the form of poetry, short biographies, inspirational quotes, recipes, book excerpts and beautiful, beautiful photographs.  The magazine celebrated values that were a throwback to the turn of the century (like family, God and virtuousness), so the content was "vintage" when they were published fifty years ago.  

Anyway, most of them were holiday-themed, so I always pull them out seasonally.  Here's what I was reading at Thanksgiving (for $1.50 from a thrift store):

As I was reading this, one illustration in particular caught my eye:

What was it about the illustration that I noticed?  Well, the name of the illustrator in the bottom right corner looked very familiar.  "PAT THOMPSON" (in all caps) it read.

Pat Thompson?  I know someone with that name!  And she's a painter, too!

Years ago I was walking my dog through my neighborhood when I had a conversation with a neighbor who had started oil painting.  He took painting classes in the next town, and told me the studio was always looking for new models to paint.  He knew I did a lot of gig work, and suggested I contact the studio.

I did, and this led to years of my sitting as a portrait model for different classes.  I really enjoyed it, and got to know many of the students, as well as one of the owners, Pat Thompson.

Could this be the same Pat Thompson?

Well, I knew "Ideals" had been published in Nashville (where I live), and the particular issue I was reading had been published in the 1990s.  Then I remembered that a few years ago, Pat gifted me one of the portraits she had done of me in a three-week session.

I was at the studio to sit (yet again), when she pulled out the portrait she'd done.  She had had it framed to give me as a gift, which was so thoughtful.

I loved it.  It was (and is) a great memory of all my years of portrait modeling.

So I jumped up and went to check out the signature on the painting.

There it was!  The same signature, in all capital letters.

My portrait sitting wrapped up around the time Covid entered the world, so I haven't been to the studio in a few years.  I sent Pat an email.  "Just curious," I wrote, "did you ever do any illustrations for Ideals magazine?"

"Wow, thanks Phoebe!" she responded.  She was a bit surprised to be asked that twenty-five years later!

She also informed me that she is a "different artist now" which is "the point of the art journey." 🙂

She added that it was a "fun experience" that taught her a lot about illustrating, and that her niece was the model for this particular picture.

Who knew?

One of my favorite people in one of my favorite magazines.  Now I have something fun to pay attention to as I keep reading.

I wonder how many other contributors would be surprised to know they're still being read and enjoyed, decades after they were published?  (Especially in a magazine.)

It's the delightful little twists and surprises in life that make it fun, don't you think?

And it's done!

Ok, remember that Goodwill puzzle I started (for $2.99) that promised "hours of fun"?

Well, what turned into kind of a nightmare (due to my obsession with completing it) ended up lasting approximately three weeks.

But, it's finally done! Thank goodness.  Time to move on with my life.

Unfortunately, this puzzle took EVEN LONGER than it should have.  Why?  Well, here's the completed puzzle:

Notice anything different about this puzzle?  Like maybe, SIX pieces missing??

Now, before you go blaming the Goodwill puzzle, here's a little story: at some point during the nightmare of this puzzle experience, I was working on it while my four-year-old dog lay at my feet.  (Note his age - he is no longer a puppy.)  My son walked in.  "What's Wizard chewing?" he asked.  

My heart stopped for a second, as I ascertained that my dog (NOT puppy) was indeed chewing something.  A moment later, a puzzle piece fell out of his mouth.  I found two pieces with bite marks on the floor that ended up in the completed puzzle.

But of course, that begged the question, did he eat any more?

Well, a day or two later I noticed what looked like a wad of gum on the floor:

Can you see the faint candy cane color on this chewed up piece?

I have to say, continuing the puzzle with no idea how many pieces it would ultimately end up with was pretty disheartening.  And whenever I would get really stuck looking for one in particular, I was always afraid I was spending thirty minutes (or more) trying to locate something that wasn't even there, which was very frustrating.

This happened multiple times.

Does this face look guilty to you?

I was really tempted to title this post "When your dog is a loser" or "Great Deal on free dog!" but I refrained.  After all, he IS very cute, and he does keep my lap very warm on cold days, even if he did cost me a half a day of my life trying to finish the dumb puzzle.

And one more note (for which I cannot blame the dog): in spite of my attempts to vigilantly check the floor for dropped pieces, after my son finished vacuuming yesterday, he announced that he found two more puzzle pieces underneath the table.

But I looked!

I guess I can only blame myself for those.

But like I said, when you know your dog's been dining on puzzle pieces, you don't really expect to find camouflaged, hidden pieces when they're missing.

The only problem now?  Well, Wizard destroyed my fantasy of donating this puzzle back to Goodwill.  When I was feeling suicidal over spending an entire day to insert fifteen pieces, the only thing that made me feel better was the thought of destroying some other innocent, "fun"-seeking person's life.

But I cannot donate a puzzle with four missing pieces in good conscience.  Alas, it's time for this nightmare to be recycled.

As for my son, he found it all very entertaining, and has been threatening to give me a puzzle that is only "blue sky pieces" for my birthday.  "Ha, ha, you'll never get it done," he loves to exclaim, rubbing his hands together with a look of utter happiness.  I was forced to make an announcement that I will never again open a present if I shake it and it sounds like a puzzle.

There seems to be no goodwill in his intentions, nor mine in formerly wishing to pass this puzzle to someone else.  As for the person who donated it to Goodwill before I bought it?  You got me!  Somewhere, someone is laughing at the sucker who bought it.  (Me.)

The House of Goodwill will now officially try to begin living up to it's name once more.

The only positive thing that came from this (other than getting it done)?  I really couldn't think of anyone I hated enough to give this puzzle to.  'Cause if I could, the only thing better than giving them this puzzle, would be giving them this puzzle with four pieces missing.

And not even I am mean enough to do that.

I guess that's good to know.

Some new Christmas finds for less than $50

Here's a belated Christmas post, since I've been a bit behind.

I have a lot of fun changing up my Christmas dinner table every year, as well as the decorations elsewhere, so here is what was new this year: (All from thrift stores, of course!)

I found these Norman Rockwell plates at a thrift store in New York last summer for a dollar or two each.  He's one of my favorite painters; his vintage American style is so out of style right now, I think it makes him appeal to me more.

I see these green juice glasses a lot at thrift stores; when I bought this one the lady behind the counter told me they used to come free in Oatmeal (?) canisters.

I thought it made a great little candle.

I always pick up pretty little saucers at Goodwill, because they're so cheap and perfect to put under candles or plants.

These were just a dollar or two each as well.

I see old Teleflora planters at Goodwill quite often.  After seeing this one a million times, I finally bought it as the price was right at $4.  (It has a pretty Charles Wysocki folk art design.)  I put a couple of $1.50 (Black Friday deal at Lowes) poinsettias in it and covered the dirt with a little moss from my yard.  It made a beautiful arrangement at a total cost of $7.

This little deer was $3, he joined my thrift store Christmas trees on the table.

I noticed the brass and glass menagerie in the center of the table is getting just a bit expansive.

I wavered a little before I bought this great candelabrum because it was just a bit more than what I usually pay for things at $20.  But I really wanted a new centerpiece for the table this year.

I hate forgetting to take "before" pics; when I bought this, the black parts were a tarnished metal, and the whole thing looked pretty dingy.

The other reason I bought it; I thought it would be a fun project.

And it was, for my son, who ended up painting it for me when I ran out of time.

I thought the black metallic paint would look elegant, so we unscrewed it, cleaned all the parts and painted it.

I love how it turned out!

I try to make the most of my dining room during the holidays; I love to use it and and my grandmother's silver, etc.  We invited some new friends over for dinner and the paint was dry just in time. 😉

How to waste your life (when you have a million things you NEED to do)

I have a little Christmas tradition that I enjoy, and do almost every year.  Inevitably, December is always a really busy month, full of lots of fun stuff, just busy.

So I really like December 26th.  Why?  The week leading to Christmas Day is always the busiest of all, and beginning December 26th, it is followed by absolutely nothing.  No more commitments, no more food to make or presents to wrap.  When I was a kid, I remember feeling sadness when Christmas Day was done.  As an adult, I absolutely love the quiet week between Christmas and New Year's.  There's always leftover food (so no cooking to do), the tree is still up, and once Santa comes there are usually new books to read.

So most years on December 26th I start a puzzle.  I love puzzles; they are one of the best ways to relax I can think of.  Listening to music and putting in puzzle pieces...it's a couple of days of peace.

I also never start a puzzle unless I have a little window of time to devote to it; Christmas week is perfect.

So when I went to pick out this year's puzzle, I took one from my shelf that I found at Goodwill a few years ago, but was saving for the right time.

Here it is:

Doesn't this look fun??

And it was only $2.99!

Here is my progress after day 1 (This is the first puzzle I've ever done, when after connecting the the frame, had no idea if the top was on the bottom, or vice versa):

I'm feeling stressed just looking at ALL those pieces now...

Here is my progress after maybe four or five days (the amount of time it usually takes me to COMPLETE a puzzle):

Ironically, I couldn't wait to start this puzzle.

"This will give me a fun couple of days," I said to myself.

So here is the progress after just over three weeks (note that I have worked on the puzzle ALL day, most days, with just a few breaks here and there):

Once I got the frame and giant candy cane done, there was absolutely nothing remarkable about the other (roughly) 700 pieces.

I averaged 15 pieces a day for the first week.

So this is where I'm at now.  And how's it going?  Well, I pretty much hate my life, hate myself and absolutely HATE the puzzle.  I'm obsessed with getting it done, and I chip away at it all day long.

I'm not working out, my house is not clean, and I should have been back at The House of Goodwill (to start work again) two weeks ago!  But no, I'm still trying to finish this ridiculous puzzle.  (I DO NOT want this half done on my table in March...)

At least I brush my teeth every day.  And walk my dogs.  But that's about it.

Meanwhile, the puzzle box sits on my table, mocking me:

Oh, so this is what I'm having?

So now you know why I haven't posted in a while...Though there is one other really good reason.  Our whole family tested positive for Covid right after Christmas.  So if there's a silver lining here at all, I really wasn't able to do much else anyway, and after a week of Covid and a week of quarantine following, I really couldn't have been doing much or gone anywhere anyway.  So I guess the timing was good...?

So I'm about to return to the table and start on the puzzle today, at least it's going a little faster now that I'm nearing the end.

I just CANNOT WAIT to get this thing done, so I can give it back to Goodwill and ruin someone else's life.

And since I forgot to mention it (due to the dumb puzzle), Happy New Year! 🙂🙄