One of those nights...

I can't sleep. It's 1:00 in the morning, and Eric went to bed at 9:15. I joined him at 10:30, tossed and turned for an hour, and I've been out here on the couch ever since, chilling in front of the A/C and wishing that the tiredness I feel deep in my bones would just travel up to my brain, which won't stop thinking about things like budgets, the move, new jobs, etc. Sigh. 

We'll see how long I last. Work is really going to stink tomorrow. 

So, we're selling a dresser on Craigslist, mainly because it's heavy and we don't want to carry it during the move. Kid claims it right away, and then shows up tonight to pick it up with a Dodge Intrepid. Yes, a sedan. He borrowed a tape measure and was thinking he could stuff it in the back seat. Not without tearing his door off, he couldn't. So he reneged. This dresser is a beast. Joey and Jayson tried to take it the other day, until we determined that it's too heavy to carry up 3 flights of stairs. I also got a request for someone to buy it if we deliver. Yeah, it's not fitting in the Golf. 

So, it's sitting in the hallway right now. I'm hoping that some muscleman with a pickup wants it. That would be great. 

In House news, we've determined through numerous conversations with our contractor that we're nearing the end of this first phase of home improvements. Here's what we've done:

• Plumbing - 100% fixed. We found nine leaks in the pipes. NINE. Stupid bank--even I know that you're supposed to flush the water out of the pipes...
  
• Wiring - 200 amp service restored to the house. Don't ask me how a 2700 sq. foot house was being serviced by 100 amps... 
  
• Wiring - All faulty/poorly installed wiring replaced. 
  
• New water heater
  
• AC Units moved and rehooked, and coils replaced. It's apparently working very well, and the workers really like coming to our house. 
  
• New venting for upstairs bathrooms. No joke, original vent in guest bathroom was being done through a piece of duct that was taped to a section of downspout (yes, downspout) and vented into the wall. At least they used duct tape. 
• Roughly 3 tons of drywall, plaster and blown insulation (GROSS!!!!!!) removed, along with a tub and a shower stall
  
• Exterior walls in half the house insulated 
  
• All drywall replaced
  
• Damaged drywall skimmed and mudded
  
• New shower stalls framed out
  
• 2 new windows
  
• New fence along the back of the House. Necessary. Alley is totally creepy. 
  
• New appliances for the kitchen
  
• Trim salvaged and replaced
  
• W/D hookup installed

Phase 2 will include:

• Interior paint
  
• Exterior paint (see below. We're going with the brown and green)
  
• New gutters and downspouts
  
• Rebuilding/tiling master bath and guest bath showers
• Fence around entire backyard, for our doggies
  
• Deck off the back door
• Sand, repaint the fence in the front yard
• Refinish floors
• New carpeting

Yes. And that, quite frankly, barely scrapes the surface. We don't have a kitchen or a garage! Daunting. 

But it could be worse. I've joined up with this network of people on www.houseblogs.com, and there's a guy who writes a blog about this old Queen Anne that they salvaged in rural Arkansas. They call it The Devil Queen. It's a riot to read, and the author should get a book deal out of it or something: www.thedevilqueen.blogspot.com. It definitely makes my little lists seem pretty easy. While I'm daunted, I do love our house and I'm confident that we're making the right move. It's not perfect right now, but it's not a Devil Queen. 

So, I've got that going for me. Which is nice.