Writing in the Midst of a Home Remodel

Why my output is a little low lately

Hello everyone!

I’ve been feeling a little frazzled. I’ve been in the middle of a room remodel for the last month and a half. I’m converting what the girls used to call “the art room” into my eldest daughter’s bedroom.

Prior to becoming “the art room,” that room was known as “the kitchen.” You see, when my wife and I first moved to the US from Peru, we purchased an old farmhouse that had been converted into a duplex. The house came with a renter on the first floor. This was during a massive housing dip, so we got the place at a good price. With the contribution from the renter, our mortgage was only $150 a month.

Our renter was a retired woman who lived with us for about 7 years. It was a good situation as we were finding our way. She went to live with her family after a minor health issue, so it’s a good story all around. We were up to two kids by the time she moved out, and we were happy to take over the space.

Thus began my second career as a DIYer (Do It Yourself). My mantra is, “It’s just got to be better than it was.”

The thing about writing is that your earnings are never consistent. Therefore, I’m always nervous about hiring people to do work (because I don’t have any money). Fortunately there’s YouTube, and I’m not too proud to watch the same video over and over and over until I understand.

At this point, I’ve done everything except the electricity. I figure the electricity is serious enough that I should hire somebody for that. You can ruin your house if you get the plumbing wrong, but you aren’t likely to die on the spot.

I’ve always thought that homes look better if they have some tile work, so I’ve gotten pretty good at that. I’ve done six different tiling projects so far. That brings me back to renovating the art room that used to be the kitchen. It has a sink, so I decided to install a nice tile backsplash.

Of course, once I got doing that, I realized the whole P-trap set up was awful (it always is, those cheap P-traps with the compression fittings are completely worthless). So, that got ripped out. Installing a tile backsplash meant I had to put cement board on the wall, so that meant I had to rip off the plaster and lath... The point I’m trying to make is that these jobs spiral out of control.

Oh, I also had to put in shut off valves for the water because, for whatever reason, whoever put in the plumbing didn’t bother to put in shut off valves anywhere in this house. Every sink has them now. That, in itself, is a big job.

The good news is that I do a lot of product reviews, so I can keep the price of a remodel down by requesting a lot of the stuff I need. I’ve got a really nice sink and faucet to put in, I’m excited about that.

Yesterday my wife and I spent the evening painting the trim and windows white. I’d already painted the walls a nice baby blue (that was the color my daughter picked). It was fun painting with my wife. We’ve been together long enough that we’ve painted quite a few rooms. Those are agreeable times. The space between you becomes filled with things you might not otherwise have thought to tell each other. It’s similar to a long drive, when you have prolonged periods of time together, you start to communicate in a different way.

I think it’s good for families to go on a long drive at least once a year. You get different communication in a two hour drive versus a ten hour drive.

But I’m getting off topic...

The point of all this is that I’ve been absurdly busy the last month. Even when I’ve been writing, the remodel has constantly been on my mind. Finally, I just resolved to stop thinking about ever actually finishing the project. Instead, I focus on doing a couple of hours of work each day. In that way, I can’t see the end, but I can see the project advancing.

This week, the job is to install the new flooring and to throw as much junk away as possible. I just got a mini-dumpster, and that’s here until Friday. It’s nice getting the yard cleaned up and ready for winter.

Fortunately, on the writing side of things, I’ve had a couple articles perform really well each of the last two months. I think it’s important to respond to everyone who leaves a message. However, the digital age offers an infinite number of ways to trick us.

There are times when I answer a comment on my phone, but I don’t like doing that because I’m not able to write as much (there’s also a higher chance of embarrassing typos). Also, sometimes when I’m scrolling through responses on my phone, I lose the “new response” highlight.

Most mornings, the first thing I do is go through and read all my comments, but I’m fearful I don’t get them all. If you’ve left me a comment and I didn’t reply, rest assured it’s because of some digital shenanigans and not because it wasn’t my intent to answer. There are some notes and comments and even emails that simply never make it to my eyes. I’m doing my best.

When I manage to write a really popular article, the comment obligation generally means I end up writing one or two fewer articles that month. That’s not a complaint, I appreciate the comments more than I can say. The comments I’ve received on my last two popular articles have been particularly insightful. They’ve given me a lot of ideas for future writing.

The interaction with readers really is the most amazing part about the modern writing era. It’s fascinating to write a story in the morning, hit publish, and have responses in the afternoon. This is so convenient, and it helps writers improve by leaps and bounds.

I was laughing with my wife about how occupied our weeks have become. My daughters are in sports, so we’re always driving them to games or practice or piano lessons. Sunday was supposed to be the rest day, but I worked from 6-12, then I watched the Packers (that was my break), before moving on to painting in the evening.

I’m not complaining, these are good days. It is nice to be busy! It’s nice to feel productive. I’m learning to do multiple tasks at once, for example, I brush my teeth as I put out the dog for the last time at night. The dog has learned that the sound of my sonic toothbrush means it’s time to get up and go out.

It’s comical how we fall into patterns.

The days are full and the leaves are falling. I always do all my major house projects in autumn because the cool weather is comfortable for working. We’re in the middle of soccer season, then comes basketball season, then swimming, then skiing. Somewhere between then and now, my daughter’s room will be finished, but I expect something else will arise to fill up my time.

Again, these are the good days.