Mom is having new floors put into her home, which is exciting and fun… and a whole lot of work! She’s been slaving away for a couple of weeks, boxing up knick-knacks and china, moving furniture, hauling stuff out to the deck or down to the basement. I’ve helped here and there, but it’s mostly fallen on her shoulders. Dad helped some, but he just had some outpatient surgery and can’t lift anything over 10 pounds. It’s frustrating for Mom to do it alone, but almost as hard on Dad to have to watch and not be able to help.
I used to be really poor, and I would watch shows like Trading Spaces and dream of having a home of my own and the funds to improve and upgrade that home. What I have learned is that having enough cash for the work to be done isn’t enough. You have to have the energy to get it all done.
I suppose there is a level of income where you just write a check and then go on vacation for a couple of months while everything gets taken care of for you. But, how many of us ever can hope to reach those heights? For the rest of us, having it all means doing it all (or most of it) ourselves.
Of course, it’s not just the floors. Mom’s got some other tasks lined up, along with the plumbers, electricians and and builders to help her with them.
We’ll get through this and my parents will have beautiful hardwood floors and a much improved home, hopefully without any serious injury to my hardworking mom. It will take some time, but it will be worth it.
Then, just as we get theirs done… it will be time to start on mine.
We're hoping to make major changes to our kitchen soon. I am not looking forward to the process.
It's so much work, I don't want to do it unless it's a big enough change to make it worthwhile.
We replaced every single floor in our house in January. We paid to have the work done, but even still, it was exhausting just to move around everything we own.
It's come out beautifully and was worth it, but getting through it was a gigantic pain.