12:45 am

I never stay up this late. Well, rarely.
The only reason I stay up this late is if I'm having stomach pain or if I'm stressed about something and can't turn my mind off.
Today it's both!
Curse that ice cream I had as a snack this evening.  Although, I know it's not really the ice cream's fault since I had total control over having it or not. Sigh.

I'm stressing/worrying/thinking about my kids.

I know! It's a little ridiculous. They are all adults. 3/4 married and 1/4 engaged. So, ya know, on their own and all that.

But I think about them. I wonder how they are doing. I hope their relationships are good. I worry about their schoolwork. And on and on.

If I had a daughter she would probably call me more regularly and tell me what's going on in her life. At least that's what I hear about daughters.  And I used to call my mom to talk about the kids or ask about a recipe or whatever.

But I have sons. Sons don't do this. At least not my sons.

They are independent which is exactly what they should be. They handle their own problems and, if they cook, they don't ask me for recipes, they probably ask google. Which is what I do.

So all I'm left with is my ability to manufacture imagined problems they might be experiencing and to worry about them at 12:45 am.

Doesn't that sound fun?

Little house

That is the name I use when I refer to the rental we are working on. The little house.

We bought the little house right before the world fell apart from the Corona Virus Pandemic.

It's a bit stressful at times. Though Frank and I are both still employed, we are worried. He's worried about layoffs at his work and I'm worried that my job would never pay the bills if that happened.

Today we were bemoaning the timing of our big risky purchase.

Frank said that in some ways it was good because while other people are cooped up in their homes while they practice social distancing, we are able to be completely socially distant while also having a project to work on. We aren't stuck at home getting on each other's nerves! We are actively working and accomplishing things, which has been good.

I said that if we were stuck in our house together I would probably have to leave because he would be in a foul mood, no doubt. That man doesn't like being cooped up and he is always busy doing something. Quarantine would be rough.

He laughed and said, "This house is saving our marriage!"

He decided that even if we can't rent it right away and no matter how much it ends up costing us, it is worth it because it saved our marriage. HA!

But I really hope we can get the house done and rented soon.

I will feel less stressed when that happens. I mean, less stressed about one thing at least.

Botox

Today was my scheduled day for my Botox injections that I get as treatment for my migraines.
It's also day who-knows-what of the COVID-19 Pandemic which is causing closures and cancellations around the world.

It's been a rough few weeks for headaches for me. Sometimes the Botox wears off and the headaches come roaring back before it's time for the next injection. Stress or illness seem to make that worse.
Well, I can tell you that the stress has been high. And the headaches have been plentiful.  So I was very much looking forward to getting my injections and hopefully some relief.

A few days ago I got an email from the Neurology department saying they were rescheduling most appointments and gave a link to reschedule my appointment. It said that if I didn't reschedule on my own, someone from the office would call.

Well, I did not click the link! Heck no. I figured once someone called, I would beg if needed to be able to get my shots. I was imagining what my life would be like if I had to wait weeks or months for my injections (when will the COVID crisis be over? No idea.) and it seemed bad.

Some time went by and no one called. Then we had an earthquake. I figured I better call.

I called the office and the girl who answered said that everything was down from the earthquake and that someone would call me.

No one called.

Another day went by.

This morning, the day of my appointment, I tried to call again. This time I got someone and she said that I did indeed have an appointment and it wasn't being rescheduled!

I was elated!

The office was a little fortress. Doors locked and only let in after answering questions about health and travel and getting a squirt of hand sanitizer (from a distance).

I sure am grateful for my doctor who is working when other people aren't.
I sure am glad I didn't click that link.

COVID-19

Obviously, it's an unusual time.  Stress levels are high all over the place.

The novel coronavirus is spreading across the world and in an attempt to slow the spread or "flatten the curve" we are all trying "social distancing" and staying home while at the same time supporting small business and being helpful to one another. The death toll at this moment is not that high but the economic repercussions from the virus are staggering.

It's all quite confusing and hard to do, to be honest.

People have panic-shopped and there is no toilet paper, milk, meat or bread to be found on store shelves. No pain relievers. No formula for babies.

Frank already worked from home so his business life hasn't changed much at first glance.  But all of his travel has been cancelled and, with the economic effects of the coronavirus spread, business everywhere is suffering. Everyone is worried about their jobs. Frank is too.

My work has not closed. So, though people are trying to work from home, I still go into work. I feel mixed feelings about this. I feel bad for going out and possibly coming in contact with the virus that could hurt my husband or myself. I feel obligated to go to work to help the people who are coming to the chiropractor because they have pain or have been in a car accident.  Our daily numbers are obviously going down as people decide not to go out but still, someone has to be there when people do come in.  We are a small business so I worry about weeks or months with not enough money coming in.

We are also working on the rental house we purchased 6 weeks ago. When we bought it, we knew nothing of the coronavirus and life was normal. We did the demo ourselves and then got some contractors for some of the things we need done: stucco, framing/drywall, mudding, electrical and plumbing. As one might expect, we've had glitches along the way. Miscommunications. Mind changing. Poor planning. And, of course, unexpected world events.

Stress levels are high at our house too.

Today we had an earthquake. It felt like the straw that broke the camel's back in a lot of ways!

One contractor got put back a day, one didn't show up. We had to cancel the electrical inspection because it wasn't ready. We are nervous that the city will shut down and we won't be able to get an inspection which means we won't be able to rent the house.  Two mortgages when jobs are in peril feels ominous. It's one thing after another.

Carter's wedding plans are in question too. It's unlikely that Katy and Austin will be able to come out.  Who knows if it will also affect travel for Branden and Amber as well.

Sigh.

I know we have it better than a lot of folks. We are currently both still employed. We were good about emergency planning so we didn't feel the need to panic shop and we have plenty of toilet paper and food. We have a home that is dry and warm.

Frank is generally keeping in good spirits but when he talks about all the things going wrong or potentially going wrong, I get super stressed out.

I still feel stressed and down when I go visit the rental house. It just needs so much work still. It's overwhelming.

The junk food is out. The carbs are back. The sweets are purchased. The soda is being consumed.
I'm not proud of my reaction really, but it is my reaction.  Bring on the comfort food!

These are the days of COVID-19

House update

I'm writing this post mid-march. Had I written it a few weeks ago it would be a completely different sort of post...more happy and full of optimism. As it is, I'm feeling a bit stressed about the whole thing.

Anyway, thank heaven one of the houses is currently rented!  I'm so glad we don't have two dilapidated houses to work on at the same time!

When we looked over the house that we are renovating, we went back and forth on just how much to do. We thought about gutting the place, then decided to just mainly paint and fix the bathrooms.  Then, after having several people come give their opinions, went back to gutting.

We pulled out a kitchen (mixed feelings about yanking out the solid wood cabinets), gutted two bathrooms. tore out almost all of the walls and reconfigured the space.  We learned that neither Frank nor I am very good at picturing a space different than it already is.  But luckily other people are.

We moved the laundry upstairs and opened up the main living space but lost one bedroom.  It will be so much nicer to live in but it is A LOT OF WORK.

We did the demo ourselves.  

At the beginning...so full of hope and vigor

Doneen helped

Frank worked long and hard for many days!

We hired out plumbing (all new water lines and many new drains), electrical (all new), framing and drywall and mudding. Also putting stucco on the exterior. The contractors have been both great and frustrating. The plumber quit his company after one day of working on our job so they had to send other plumbers out who weren't as familiar with the plan. Felt like we were constantly clarifying and fixing miscommunications.  Stucco guy is awesome but it's been snowing here and there and he has recently hurt his shoulder.  Framer has been great but, again, we make changes or we miscommunicate (often TOTALLY our fault and sometimes not) and things have to be changed or fixed.  Even after much planning, measuring and discussing-a door turns out to hit the ceiling where it is sloped. How did that happen??  The only option is to chop a corner off of the door and move on. It's a quirky house anyway.

Stucco looking good!

old bathroom/bedroom closet

New bathroom walls

We found weird stuff in the walls. Strange ductwork made from downspout, load bearing walls that had been cut out drastically. The framer said he would fix the fact that the house was currently held up by magic. Ha!

We found out after closing on the houses that their utilities are connected. We had no idea that was the case and it has added a level of annoyance and frustration for us.

We've always been the type of people to plan for emergencies so we've been buying all of the supplies we think we might need so that we can work on the house without interruption. Then we heard about the whole Coronavirus thing and started to worry about the supply chain for needs products. When other people were panic shopping for toilet paper, we were at Lowes and Home Depot buying up faucets and door knobs and trim work and paint!  Our garage is full of supplies and I'm sure we've forgotten some items. We've got a washer/dryer on the way (hopefully) and a refrigerator waiting to be brought to the house. 

The drywall just finished and next is the taping and mudding.  Then I will paint like crazy so we can get cabinets and floors in.

We are hoping that the electrical inspector can come sign off on the work to divide the electrical service before the city shuts down from coronavirus. Nerve wracking.

We really need to get the place rented so that we don't have two mortgages to pay.

Laundry

Some people hate doing laundry.
Some people hate folding or putting away clean laundry.
This has never been an issue for me. I quite enjoy doing laundry actually.

I have pretty much always folded or hung up my laundry right out of the dryer. When the kids were younger, I would fold the laundry and have them carry up their piles to their rooms where they would usually heap them on the floor or on their bed. That part annoyed me but, as a mother, there are things you just have to let go.

I'm lucky to have an area in my laundry room where I can hang laundry up easily and quickly straight from the dryer.  I will admit that I have been known to leave things hanging in the laundry room for some time before moving it to the proper closet.  But at least the clothes aren't sitting in a pile getting wrinkled. I despise wrinkled clothes and I'm not a fan of ironing...so I'm pretty careful not to let things sit in piles.

Lately though,  I have not been keeping up with the laundry. At all.

It's probably the new rental house and all the time we spend over there.
Or my job and the fact that I'm super tired at the end of the day.
Or maybe the laundry is going the way of some other household tasks: dishes, bathroom cleaning, vacuuming.  All of them are taking a backseat lately.  To what, I cannot actually say.
Or maybe, with just the two of us, the laundry just doesn't seem like a priority.

With the empty nest thing that's going on here, I have started using the guest room in a new way.
As a place to pile laundry for days on end.

I do try to lay the shirts and things out in such a way that they don't get all wrinkled but in general, it's just a big pile. 

This is a new thing for me and when I see this pile of clothes I can't help but feel overwhelmed by it.

I'm understanding how people can dislike laundry. 

It's the PILE that is no fun.

I folded most of the pile today but for some reason I still haven't been able to get them put away.

Baby steps I suppose. 

Diving in again

We had planned a trip to Puerto Rico for January.  I can’t remember exactly when we planned it but it’s been on the calendar for awhile. For some reason, when we planned it, early January seemed like a good time for a vacation.  Then it turned out that by the time January rolled around with Christmas vacation and Frank’s birthday and my birthday and each of us having a few days off work…well, we were totally not in the mood for ANOTHER vacation. Or that’s how it felt.  We knew we would have fun once we got there but it just seemed like we needed to get back to normal life.  Anyway, the day before the trip (as I’m sure you’ve heard on the news) Puerto Rico had a big earthquake!  We called the AirBNB that we were going to stay at and they said they had no electricity and she was concerned that the stores had been cleared of most of the food. Ugh. Obviously the biggest concern is for the people dealing with this tragedy but it didn’t sound like a recipe for a relaxing vacation. So, the day before the trip, we cancelled.  Frank spent so much time getting it all arranged and places to stay and car rentals and flights…and it was all cancelled within an hour.  I was a bit surprised at how quickly he made the decision to be honest.  It was definitely for the best because they had lots of aftershocks and stuff and I’m sure it would have been a nightmare to be visiting during all of that.

Another reason it was good that we didn’t go was that we did something crazy only 2 days before the vacation was supposed to happen…we made an offer on a house.  It’s kind of a long story but with Frank getting some money from his Dad’s life insurance, he was looking for an investment.  Not super active looking…just in the back of his mind. We had a house come up for sale in our neighborhood so we went to look at it. It was a disaster inside so we decided it wasn’t for us but it did get the wheels turning in Frank's head and he started actively looking for a rental property.  We had a previous rental house in Provo for about a year. We worked like dogs getting it fixed up and then sold it a year later. I’m not sure what reasons Frank would give for the sale, but I think he was missing having a Jeep!  But since he now has a Jeep again, he’s ready for a new project I guess.

Anyway, a week or two after we saw that first house, I got an email from a realtor site that a new house was on the market that day. Somehow I started getting realtor emails, I don’t remember signing up for them!  I told Frank about it and we went right over. So it had been on the market for a few hours at this point. 

It’s actually an old house (1931) with a detached garage that was at some point remodeled to be another house. So two houses on one lot.  It’s considered by the town to be a duplex but it’s two separate houses.  The original house is occupied by renters and the garage house was unoccupied.  We were only able to tour the empty house.  Well, it’s such an unusual thing to find two houses on one lot that Frank decided to make an offer right then and so we did. It was only slightly more expensive than the piece of junk in our neighborhood…but it’s two pieces of junk! The owners were not comfortable with accepting our offer since we hadn’t seen inside the main house so they said they would accept it after we toured the house Monday (just remember…we are supposed to leave for Puerto Rico on Wednesday).  So they accepted our offer Monday morning after Frank had a tour (I was at work).  Turns out later that day they got 3 or 4 more offers!  Too late though since they had accepted ours.

Both houses are a bit dilapidated.  For some reason we love a project…and this is going to be a big project.

I don’t think the owners have done ANY upkeep. And we were surprised to find during the home inspection that the main house was at some point on fire!  The attic is charred. They say it’s structurally just fine though but that was a shock to find. The outsides both need painting badly and the kitchens and bathrooms are really old and probably need gutting.  I’ve never actually seen a bathroom as small as the one in the original house. You could shower, use the toilet and wash your hands all at the same time it seems! Good times.

So we will be fixing up the garage house first since it’s empty and then we will hopefully rent it out. Then later we’ll figure out what to do with the original house.  

There is also a small shed on the property as well as another building that we thought was a shed but turned out to be a root cellar. Frank’s pretty excited about that…no idea why! haha He just likes that it’s something weird and different. They both look like they are about to fall down, so that’s fun.

Anyway, we would have had to do all the financing and inspections and whatnot while in Puerto Rico which would have been so stressful. So that’s one more reason that we weren’t too sad to cancel the trip. 

We closed on the houses last Thursday and we have spent every possible moment over there ripping stuff out. We've gone back and forth (and back and forth) over how much to change/fix and what to leave. But both Frank and I are on the perfectionist side of things and it's hard for us to let things be subpar...so we're changing a whole lot.

It has already been SO MUCH WORK and we've really only just begun.

I'll probably keep updates here just for remembrance. Someday we will probably be amazed at all the work we were able to do!