Two years ago, in January, we moved from our master bedroom on the second floor to the guest room on our first floor. We were having a new shower installed in our bathroom upstairs, and thought that sleeping downstairs, next to another bathroom, would be smart during the work.
We also have a third bathroom off our family room. It is also downstairs and the furthest possible point inside our home from the upstairs bathroom.
So, two years ago, we moved to the downstairs bathroom for a week or so. The actual work took two full months, because the shower stall didn’t fit the first time, then the installer broke a pipe under the sink, and eventually, the drain came unseeded or unhinged or whatever…so anyway, a lot of work got done in that upstairs bathroom.
Meanwhile, we gradually moved many of our clothes downstairs. We found out that we could easily share a small closet and use one dresser drawer each. Of course, the close-down/lock-in of the pandemic helped, in that we didn’t have to go to work or dress up for anything. I think I wore one of three outfits on any given day for about a year.
But I digress. During that same time, the toilet in the bathroom next to our new master bedroom started to leak. So we could go upstairs, or if in a hurry, race to the family room, but we gradually started not using the bathroom off the spare room. Also, we got the brilliant idea to renovate (all those home remodeling shows we binged on!) both downstairs bathrooms.
So, in May, 2021, we contracted with a renovator. He said he would be able to start the first bathroom before Christmas.
When Christmas arrived and he hadn’t, we realized he hadn’t said which Christmas, exactly. In January, my husband and all-around problem solver contacted him and he said there had been material shipping delays and he’d start in February. We totally understood about delays, and prepared to have a bathroom and the spare room torn up.
We were moving upstairs! So, we had to clear out both bathrooms, the downstairs bedroom, and the linen closet and utility rooms that are attached to one of the bathrooms. I began to sift through cupboards and drawers and dressers and closets, filling trash cans, recycling bins, and donation boxes.
For an organized person, the state of my bathrooms was pretty awful. I mean, we’ve been in a pandemic for nearly two years now, and apparently, I have been stockpiling and/or not cleaning for way longer than that!
Among the masses of things I found included seven (7!) tubes of antibiotic cream. (Let me digress again to say that these are things I can’t seem to find when I actually need them!) There were three tubes in the downstairs bathroom, all three of which were hidden in various containers of other things – like bandaids and q-tips. One was current, but two had expirations dates of 2019 and 2020. The other four were upstairs. One was hidden behind an open, half-empty container of Tums. It had an expiration date of 2018. The second was behind another open, and also half-empty container of Tums. It expired in 2017. The third was okay, but was smooshed inside a container that held some loose Tums (clearly a makeshift travel package).
I also discovered eight hairbrushes, six combs, and an Afro-pick. There are only two heads in this house and neither of us has curly hair (okay, I had a perm that required the pick – but that was 30 years ago).
Good news! Our house is clean and organized and ready for remodeling. February has arrived, and the contractor has not. But then again, he didn’t say which February….
My husband and I watched a western movie, Monte Walsh (Tom Selleck) last night. Two and a half hours of precious time wasted! I will admit I fell asleep a couple of times. But the one thing I do remember was three outhouses standing side by side in the movie. I clearly remember those days. Our outhouse was almost a quarter of a mile from the main house. Not a fun time in the winter — or any time for that matter. You just be thankful if one bathroom is in operation, Susie.
See, I’m back among the living again and pestering you! I don’t know if I took the wrong boat or should have taken the helicopter, but missed out on Thanksgiving and Christmas, got over all that and Pharaoh’s Revenge socked me a good one because my immune system definitely was not up to par.
Anyway, I get to go and have a temporary crown replaced today. It did last three whole days! Now see, if I’m back complaining and bitchin’, I must not feel all that bad.
Take care, Sus, that beast is still out there raising it’s ugly head!
PS: Thinking about renting that movie, The Big Chill
well, thanks for the update on bathroom redo’s- we plan to do one to our downstairs bath – make it into a wall in shower and put a separate commode and sink in the master bedroom wall at the same time – plumber showed up for a look see to price – KNOW that we need to replumb some of the lines TO the bath area – and extra work involved- has NOT called to price it yet – told him we had two other projects to finish first – roof need finished with siding and trim upstairs and furnace needs redo of humidifier and UV light fixture – actually got that finished last week – waiting on weather to allow roofing guy to finish – should not take but 2 hours and then we can price solar panels later!! Oh what fun we are having with the old house – the kids want to RAISE the home and redo the basement to make living quarters for Wade later with parking, etc. – this should be quite a price point for sure – hope they have a big tax return for that deal – think that plan is down the road some when and if Scott get to work for the EMT folks full time – probably AFTER Wade graduates, in two years!! WHEW!!! what a relief that is to hear !!!