Or at least our kind of normal. 😉

Things have been in disarray to say the least. I truly had no idea just how disconcerting it would be to get new flooring in the entire lower level of our home. I figured it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. We’re not doing a remodel. Just getting some flooring. I was wrong.

I am bruised everywhere. We ripped out the flooring ourselves as we wanted to save money. We discussed it at length. Normally I am all for the spending of large sums of money and the spouse is the thrifty one. Somehow our roles were reversed and I instead became the savior of our finances. We are in need of a new range. The stovetop works well enough but my boys are serious depressed over the lack of fresh baked bread these days due to our inability to bake anything. I triumphed as sense prevailed and we began to rip out the floors.

Scott & I work well as a team. Whenever it comes down to it (be us in good spirits or not) he and I can get anything accomplished when we get going. My need to outdo him in most manly tasks makes it a fun bit of competition as well. We tore things up and broke things apart until we were sore and tired. The boys even jumped in and helped. Ryan is quite adept at pulling up hardwood flooring and we will be leasing him out to anyone in need. You can see him at work by clicking on the following link.

http://www.facebook.com/v/10150208364777960

Bone tired and well abused (I had all sorts of cuts & knicks to keep my bruises company) we finally got as much of it all finished as we possibly could. We had to admit to ourselves after surveying the damage, it might have been better to have to just let someone else do the work and spend the money. Much to our dismay, we found our cabinets were standing on the hardwood floors and we would need to cut around them. We also found that our dishwasher was cobbled together in an odd fashion and a huge hole that someone punched (literally … with their fist) served as the burrow for the wiring. Fun times.  We also found that the our living room floors were not entirely flat. Our super awesome & amazing contractor had to pull up quite a bit of sub-flooring and shaved down the beams.  Each room in the upper portion of our home was/is overflowing with the many things from the lower level. I continuously trip over books, boxes and the like because there is just no place to put it.

In the midst of all of this, a lot of things happened. The end of the year came to a close for my youngest. My oldest was allowed to participate in events at the school for the 5th graders as up until last year, he had always been part of that group. An awesome friend showed up (almost) on my doorstep and never one to pass up an opportunity to see her, I had to make changes to my schedule. We had a sleepover with my friend’s two boys. The floors were gloriously put down. Aside from that many other obligations, chores and requirements were to be taken care of.

I am exhausted. My night owl tendencies seem to have disappeared. I think I passed out on the couch somewhere around 6:30 pm yesterday. Waking up later in the night long enough to eat a bit, shower and find my nice warm bed.

I woke up this morning around 11am. It has been so long since I’ve truly slept. Now I have to get back into the swing of things. We haven’t moved in all of our furniture. I doubt we will. The clean organized way things are currently seem truly appealing. We’re slip sliding all over the place as we are no longer allowed to wear shoes on our floors (husband’s silly demands) to avoid destroying the brand new floors with copious amounts of dirt I suppose. Every time our dog scrabbles over the floor I can see Scott flinch. I can’t help but laugh. The office is still waiting patiently for it’s new owner (ME!!!!) but until I can figure out just how I want to lay it out, it will be a while until I’m finally at home in it. For now, the desk sits amidst the random artifacts of our former life. Life before the new floors.

I figure by the end of the week our home will be what it should (until the next bout inspiration hits that is) and we’ll be well on our way to what my family considers normal.