I feel like I am living in an HGTV home reno episode*UPDATE*

You may remember my post from weeks ago that we are replacing all of the flooring on the main level of our house. We have ripped up carpet, ceramic tile and wood flooring and are replacing all of it with the same wood flooring throughout the whole downstairs. Taking up all of the floors, down to the subfloor, has been a dirty, GROSS, NASTY endeavor. We decided that if we were going to put down new flooring, we would also repaint the ceilings and walls and trim...and kitchen cabinets, that I have wanted to paint for years. Then, of course, we will need a new countertop since the one we have now is white, not in good shape at all, and I am painting the cabinets white. It has turned into one of those "if you give a mouse a cookie" situations.

I have been living with dirty chaos for over a month now because my husband and I are doing the work ourselves. He is a very handy guy, who can do just about anything.

However, things have been complicated. Aren't they always? We had a storm a few weeks ago, and the roof on our porch leaked and damaged some dry wall in our dining room. He started patching/repairing that. It was a pretty large area, so he worked on it over a couple of days, and was close to getting it to the point where I could primer over it and paint the room.

And then, last Sunday, he broke his elbow and a bone in his hand.

And, he is a stubborn person who will not pay anyone to do anything he can do himself.

And, he will be unable to do much of anything for 12 weeks. Well, 11 now.

So, our whole first floor and the stairs are down to the subfloor, that is still so dirty and gross even though I sweep it every day. We can't walk on it without shoes because of splinters and nails and staples.

We regrouped this week, and my husband, who doesn't let much get him down, has been doing little things as he can with his left hand (he is right handed). It has taken him longer than it normally would have to finish the drywall repairs so that I can paint, but we were feeling like, "Okay, it's a set back, it will take longer, but we will get it done, and it will be lovely."

And then, two days ago, my daughter was upstairs taking a shower, and water started pouring from the ceiling into the kitchen.

Today, my husband, with the help of my other daughter's boyfriend, cut a huge chunk of ceiling from the kitchen to expose the upstairs bathroom plumbing. He eventually discovered the problem, was trying to remove the offending piece of pipe (on a ladder, using one arm!), and he accidentally broke the main pipe.

Are you still with me?

If you are...he went to Home Depot to buy the pieces he needs to fix it, and they don't sell that stuff there. He will have to go to a plumbing supply store.

It's a holiday weekend, so none will be open until Tuesday.

That bathroom, that both of my daughters use, cannot be used at all now, not even the sink.

He is probably going to have to call a plumber, and he is having a fit about that and saying he is not going to.

I can't help but wonder how a one-armed man is going to be able to fix this. He has no doubt that he will be able to.

In the meantime, I am drinking some wine and feeling a bit thankful that I am going to be out of town Tuesday through Thursday for a work trip.

**UPDATE** 6/11

Since I know some of you have been anxiously awaiting an update, I thought I’d give one.

Not much has been happening in my house. Not much good anyway, other than a good deal of wine consumption. Well, my husband, daughter and I did manage to fix the broken water pipe last weekend, so there is that.

My crappy back decided to be crappier than normal to me this past week, so I got virtually nothing accomplished. About the only thing I did do was paint part of the downstairs hallway, but I had to stop when I was in so much pain I was in tears. I am loving the colors of the rooms I have painted so far, and I am hoping this weekend is more productive than the last one. I took vacation days next week to HOPEFULLY start painting my kitchen cabinets. I hate to even make plans at this point because every time I overcome one hurdle, something else knocks me down. But, I am still glad we are doing all of this, even though I have been in tears more than once. I try to keep my mind focused on how lovely my house is going when it is finished. I only hope that will be sometime this year.

For those who enjoy seeing pics of things like this, I started blogging about it a few weeks ago.
ramblinrose-rose.blogspot.com/