Long Term Projects

As if from a squirt gun dipped in a tea pot, the tiny stream of hot water unsuspectingly sprayed me right  in the middle of my left eye.  "Gahd!" I yelled, and shook my head as I grabbed the dish towel from the counter-top next to me and wiped off my face.

I should have known it was coming.  After all it has been an annoyance for a while now.  There is a microscopic hole in the top of our kitchen faucet.  And when I turn the water pressure up high enough, it sprays out its steady stream about 8 inches into the air.  This, the spray that is, only happens when I am using the sink for specific tasks that require a steady stream of water.

Like the dishes.

Okay, as you may have guessed this is becoming a major nuisance.  You might even think I would have done something about it by now.  But alas I have not.

Neither have I replaced the porcelain sink bowl of our main floor bathroom.  That cracked a few months ago when a thick glass container fell off a shelf above and smacked it hard enough to take a chunk out of the outer ring which is where the approximately 7" break begins.  Then, of course, there is the paint that is peeling away from the north side of our house, and the deck boards out back that are beginning to rot away.

I had hoped to get to those jobs before the rainy season began. But we live in Seattle where we have a saying that we have two seasons.  Winter and August.

Yes, as funny as that sounds, it's a fallacy. Really.  The truth is we had plenty of great weather this Spring and Summer when I could have worked on those house projects.  Those, and the multitude of other house projects that Mrs. LIAYF and I would love to get to.

There's the bathroom light switch that resides in back of the open door, the dining room light that hangs seriously off center, the bedroom closets that lack any semblance of insulation - resulting in icy wood floors each winter, the curtain rods that need rehung, and the painting.  Seriously, everything could stand a fresh coat of paint around our house.  And that's just scratching the surface of what we want to do.

But to say it's difficult to get many of these projects done these days is an understatement.  Hell, I can't even bring myself right now to fix that annoying kitchen faucet.   The reason?  I know it will take a block of time to replace the whole thing.  A block of time that, to this point, I haven't been willing to sacrifice.  It's even more difficult to imagine getting to the larger projects I mentioned above, much less any of the serious remodeling that Mrs. LIAYF will occasionally propose.

With both Mrs. LIAYF and I working full time, and with young kids (Annabelle just turned 1), what little free time we do have is spent nurturing them, cleaning up after them, and making sure they are safe, happy, & most of all well loved.

So, as I write this it is Sunday night.  Another weekend has passed without the curtain rods being rehung. Without the closets being insulated.  Without a fresh coat of paint being slapped on any surface of our house, inside or out.

And most of all, without that insanely annoying faucet being replaced.

You'll miss certain things if you are otherwise
engaged on house projects

However, and thankfully there is a however.  However, I did have a productive weekend. Yes I did.  I had the opportunity to follow Annabelle up the stairs several times, making sure she was safe and not tumbling backwards down them.  I was also able to spend many hours of quality time with her during this critical juncture in her development.  If I hadn't I wouldn't have watched as, for the first time today, she stood on her own for a few moments after letting go of the gate she was holding onto for support.  She is so close to walking.

I also had the opportunity, along with Mrs. LIAYF, to take Lukas to a local Lego Robotics competition.  He is an amazing Lego engineer in his own right, just from his own devices around the house, and it was a very cool opportunity for him to see what other kids his own age are making as well.  He is set to start a Lego Robotics class in the new year.

I also read to him, played with him on the playground, and watched a classic Fred Astaire movie with him and his mother.  He really enjoyed that.

The point is that while, once again, I didn't take the time to tackle a few of the little annoying projects around the house this weekend, I still had a very productive weekend.

There were a couple of small, and definitely not annoying, large projects that I think I made amazing progress on.  Those were unbelievably fun projects, I have to say.

So, I suppose the house has been here for over a hundred years.  And I guess it'll still be here when I have more time to devote to it after a few more.