My in-laws came by to see Susie and me today, and asked me, “Are you still liking your house?”

I had to think before I answered that.

I’m grateful for this house, really I am. But I’ll be honest… it’s overwhelming living in a house where every single inch of it needs work. And sometimes, just flat depressing, because you can see the potential of all this house could be… but you know there’s no time OR money to make it happen, and you’re going to have to live with this dadgum 1970s shag carpet and metallic wallpaper for the rest of your life. *breathes into a paper bag

I’ve spent today trying to make some headway SOMEWHERE, and ended up where I always do: smoking cigarettes, drinking heavily and threatening to set fire to this house  breathing deeply, and calmly taking a coffee break to look back through before and after pictures of my last house to remind myself that I can do this. 

This was the entry of my second house, a 1928 Colonial that looked like THIS when I found it….



And after:




And here’s the front of our house, before: (Think those might be orbs?? Remind me to tell you the ghost stories of this house someday).






And after:



So if I can do that last one, I can do this one, right?

But just to be on the safe side, somebody better come and take these matches away…