Triage

     During these weeks of house repairs, I'm reminded that  I said that I never want to remodel a house while living in it. It turns out that I know myself well. What I'm doing now is small potatoes compared to a real remodel, but the upheaval and lack of order in my surroundings is not something I enjoy. Basically, I want my kitchen to quit looking like this:

     And soon it will, I know. The living room floor is coming along nicely and I've decided I don't need to do anything to the bedroom floor that I uncovered. I should have a living room before next weekend.

     In the meantime, I'm starting to make a list of all the other projects that need doing. This house was well cared for by its previous owners, but the last owner was in his 90s when he moved out, so I'm pretty sure he didn't bother fixing every little thing. Back gate not fixing properly? Prop it shut with a 2'x4'. Bulb burned out in the light fixture? Well, there's two in there and you really only need one working to have light. 

     Along with that, there are the projects that don't fix things, but make the house more usable for you. As I've started making the project list, I triage, because something becomes suddenly urgent. For example, last weekend I decided I couldn't keep accidentally locking Phi in the basement. Her litter box might be down there, but her water was up here. So now the basement door has a Phi-sized hole.

And this week, Ada escaped from the backyard twice (remember that broken gate?), so that repair moved up in priority. I can't WAIT until my parents come for Christmas. We have so many projects to do...