the last 50 days

August 9, 2012: We bought a duplex. We bought a 100-year old, foreclosed duplex. It’s our first home.  And we were really excited.

September 27, 2012, today: We are 2 weeks behind schedule to get this baby rented out, but still excited, and tired, stressed, a little handier, and (hopefully?) wiser. So what have we done in the past 50 days?

Cleaned, cleaned, and then cleaned some more. Once we thought we were finished cleaning, we started painting the first floor, only to find out there was still more grime and grease to be cleaned (seriously, how gross can people be- there was grease everywhere, including the living room ceiling).

Then we painted, then stopped to sand, then clean, then paint again.

Then we had a friend re-tile the basement bathroom.

Then we laid carpet (tiles) ourselves(!) in the basement and attic.

Then we started knocking lots of smallish jobs off the never-ending list- replacing trim, painting vents, fixing loose drawers, repairing screens etc.

And then, this week, we tackled the biggest job of all- moving the upstairs toilet to create our laundry room. And by “we tackled,” I mean, we finally got the plumber in to lay the pipes, followed by an electrician, followed by a friend to fix the walls and ceilings. With any luck we will have a working 2^nd floor bathroom and laundry room by the weekend.

And so I have started a blog to document this: to document two, very-unhandy people fixing up a literally, century-old house and becoming first time homeowners and first time landlords. But also to document the smaller details of our lives- our vending jobs, other DIY endeavors , new recipes, Winston, exercising, vacations, house decorating, coaching. Hopefully this blog will become not only a journal- something I can look back on fondly in the future, but also become something more- something to motivate me to try new and beautiful things in the present and something to remind me to enjoy the everyday things.

*A little disclaimer- the other "we's" used when discussing work done on the duplex were not merely referring to David and myself, but also to my parents and David’s, to Grandmas, aunts and uncles, cousins, friends and coworkers who donated their time, tools, and hand-me-downs to David and me.