We are still not living at our house. We “moved out” last Friday so that the construction crew could essentially “move in.” The dust was getting to us, the chaos was getting to us and Kenny was starting to become a little too attached to the vacuum in my desperate efforts to keep things clean.
You have to understand, this was supposed to be a quick and easy minor renovation. This was supposed to take a few weeks, maybe two months tops. But it’s been going on since September, and last time I checked, it was already December. It’s not our foreman’s fault; he is a gem of a contractor, kind and considerate, hardworking and attentive to detail. The fault lies in the fact that our house was once a summer cottage, and through the years has been added on and altered by at least a dozen different owners. Not all of them were apparently eqipped for this, as is evidenced by this artifact we found buried in a cinderblock wall in the bathroom we gutted:
(Do you think we could put this up on Ebay??)
All complaining aside, we have been amazingly blessed with the generosity of our families in taking us in. We stayed for three nights with my parents (who are also housing my sister’s family during their renovation) and we are currently staying with Casey’s Aunt and Uncle, Dorrie and Charlie. Not only did Dorrie and Charlie take us in, crazy weimaraner and all, but yesterday morning, Dorrie spent some five hours taking care of Kenny while I snored in bed, trying to get rid of the sinus infection / flu / laryngitis that has overtaken me. And Kenny was happy as a clam when I finally pulled myself together enough to venture into the living room. She taught him new songs, as well as how to march! Thank God for sweet Aunts like Dorrie! Kenny is also quite taken with Charlie, and can say his name quite clearly. The biggest treat of all, though, was that yesterday his Gramma Ruby and Papa George showed up, on their way up the coast from Florida! Kenny practically shivered with excitement when he saw his “PAPA!” walk through the door.
So life as a nomad isn’t that bad. We will definitely be glad to be back at our house tomorrow, but it has been fun to spend extra time with family. Kind of like an extended Thanksgiving, right?