Quick Update

Not too terribly much to report so far, but I'll skim the highlights....

Home
Still in the process of emptying out tons of 'stuff'. Getting significantly closer to getting the house renovations kicked off. Still lots of stuff to get sorted through and rooms to get emptied out.

My original plan was to move into the back bedroom temporarily while I work on the master bath/bedroom, but that decision didn't last long. Because I've decided to take down the horrible popcorn ceilings, I've found it will be far easier/cheaper to do all the bedroom/hallway ceilings at once and then the rest of the house later on. So to do that I'll need to move into the living room or family room to live in while the demo work is going on. Then I can start on the master bathroom and make all the mess I need, and it will most definitely be a huge mess.

I'm really glad that I'm getting started now. Going through the list of work that needs to get completed before the house goes on the market and it's going to be very, very close to get all items completed in time.

The garage that I had so nicely cleaned out is now getting cluttered up again. The downer thought of today is that I completely forgot about all the 'stuff' that's up in the attic. Ugh, that many more things to go through.

BBQ Trailer
The guy who bought the trailer is supposed to be here early Thursday morning (8/7) to pick it up. I have gone over the paperwork several times to make absolutely sure that it's all in order and there's no last second snags. Bittersweet feelings about that hobby being over with. I won't miss it, but I will miss it.

One item that has unexpectedly popped up, now that I won't have the BBQ trailer any longer, I won't need the big truck any longer either. I'm toying with the idea of getting rid of the F-150 and buying a small very used truck. The gas mileage alone will make a huge difference. Wouldn't it be a hoot if it turned out to be an Isuzu truck like I used to have?? If I go that route then I'll use it while all the renovation are going on and for work, then buy the really big 5th wheel towing truck later on.

Can you imagine what that would look like? Hi! I would like to trade in this 199x beater toy pickup for a monster Ford F-450 turbo diesel with duel rear wheels and fifth wheel package? The salesperson would instantly break out laughing.

Future Plans
I've spent a good bit of time working on an extremely detailed timeline for the next few years. It started out as a rough idea of plans for jumping off on the 'big lap' and kind of morphed into a very detailed month to month timeline for what I need to do for house renovations, closing out the house, changing lifestyle, etc. If work has taught me nothing else, it taught me how to make very detailed plans for future operations. I'll continue to tweak at it but so far it's been pretty darn accurate.

Doll House
I just found out yesterday that the one who I am doing this for has a birthday coming up in the next few weeks. That means that it is going to be an all-out bash to get it completed before then. I'm very unsure if I can get it done by then. Every step is taking 10x the time that I thought it would. I just got the main roof work done but still have the turret roof to do, doors & windows, porch details, gingerbread (lots of gingerbread), and the list goes on and on.

Work
Big changes on the horizon. Details to follow. Sorry I can't be more specific but it's at 'that' stage.


So that's a rough idea of where I am. Some good stuff, some exciting stuff, some not so good stuff. But then, I guess that's what life is, a mix of the good/bad/ugly. Till next time