destructive

I'm fat a place where I want to get out a sledgehammer and stack whacking things around the house. Painting Eve's room, and now the trim in my bedroom, means looking very closely at the walls and trim and their intersections, and there's a whole lotta imperfection in there. I am fantasizing about moving the kids in to one room, sealing up the other with plastic, and whacking down the cracked and loose plaster ceiling, praying off the wallboard, removing the plaster that's under it, stripping umpteen layers of paint off the trim, and starting again. Preferably with a little more attention to the concept "square" and a little less use of silicone caulk as a cure for all ills.

Instead I am sitting on the porch on a lovely sunny afternoon, since I have not the time, energy, nor skills to undertake such a project.

On the flip, we recently acquired a Tivo, and it's letting me watch This Old House again (it's on a very odd times for our household schedule), and that's making me want to saving money like crazy for 5 years and then get the whole house done at once, as a This Old House project house! Athens GA would be a great location for a "winter" project for them - lots of historic architecture and local arts and music scene to play up. And then we could do everything - rip off the deck and build a screened porch in the back (Michael feels that screening in the front would lessen our relationship with the neighbors, and I do agree), vent the stove which means rearranging the kitchen, deal with the front porch, roof, insulate and seal up, and maybe even do some rearranging of walls in the kids's rooms and bathroom, to use the space better.

I need to find more projects that are manageable and will lead to overall improvement, and are actually within the scope of our abilities and budget. Because it's frustrating to be all pie in the sky all the time.