Leg Two: Reconstruction

We are presently in the second phase of our triathlon... the reconstruction phase. As many of you know, I like to create lofty goals.... someone wise once told me that when you create goals they should be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, & have some sort of timeline). I'm great at making SMAT goals. In other words, I can be really specific about what I want to happen, create some way to measure that goal, attain it eventually & give it a time.... but realistic? Hmm, I've got some work to do on that one.

Usually my bathroom goals go something like this: Tonight we will measure the walls for new trim, return the sink that is too big & buy a new one (we won't buy anything else), return all of the other materials that we thought we needed but don't, put the grout on the tile floor, finish sanding the walls, & paint them. Be in bed before 11pm.

The reality: Spend 2 hours at Menards, spend $125 more dollars on things we think we need, order the sink because there aren't any in stock, come home & realize we forgot to measure the walls for the new trim, measure the walls for new trim, go back to Menards, spend more money, come home again & realize we should eat dinner, eat s frozen pizza (does not equal dinner), realize it's too late to start grouting, take 1 hour to clean up & shower, fall into bed well past midnight.

Well this might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it's not far off. As any one who ever has remodeled or has built a house understands, there is always WAY more to do that you realize. There will always be unexpected things you need to replace. It will always cost you way more than you think.

For me, I know that I need to be more OK with what we get done. Sure it's great to create goals-- I just need to be more realistic with what we can get done (& still go to our jobs during the day, take time out to feed ourselves real food, do ministry, & make sure our dog isn't getting into all of our garbage cans because he's retaliating from lack of attention).

That being said, enjoy some "reconstruction" photos!

Here is John with his very first window that he installed all by himself! I'm so proud of him! (& he's very proud too)

Finally! We get a glimpse of what it's going to look like. I love this tile...

Here is the corner by the bathtub.

And this is the view into the bathroom from the hallway.

And the view of the hallway from the bathroom. Poor Hartley wants us to be done with this bathroom & bring him on a walk already! If only he could help us grout...