So much stuff!

I don’t even know where to start. But maybe I’ll start with a lesson for my future self. (I pretty much expect that I’m the only one who ever reads the archives, but I do occasionally hit a random month from the past just to see what was happening back then. Maybe someday this will be the one I pick.)

Lesson learned: change is not always bad.

During this summer’s refrigerator disaster, my floors–my lovely looks-like-hardwood laminate floors–suffered minor damage. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to repair just the damaged bit. The entire floor, one of the nicest elements of the house in my opinion, needed to be replaced.

A moment on the elements of the house: I love the French doors, the overhead lights in my office/dining room, the window seat in the office/dining room, the layout of the kitchen, and the existence of the back porch. And I loved the floors in the family room and my bedroom.

I do not love the front door, the dryer, the cracked and broken surface of the patio, the peeling paint on the garage, the bathrooms (everything about them), and the pool’s desperate need for resurfacing. Or the overgrown trees, the size of the lawn, the aging air conditioner, the crumbling concrete in the garage, the ever questionable sprinkler system, the carpets in the bedrooms, or the desperate need for interior paint in some rooms. (I know I could paint but when I did, I discovered that I am seriously allergic to paint. It made for a miserable week and I’ve been reluctant to go through it again.) I also did not love the floors in the living room/dining room, even before they were damaged by the water.

So the floors: pro, replacing the living room floor with its squishy spot; con, replacing the family room floor, which I loved. Unfortunately–or fortunately, as it happens–the pros/cons didn’t matter. This house really belongs to a bank and between the insurance company and the bank, the floors were getting replaced.

I was grouchy about it.

But then the laminate guy–the lovely laminate guy, who deserves a very nice review, which I will write when I finish this–said, “you know, this laminate is in great shape. You should save it. Maybe you could use it in one of the bedrooms if you wanted to change out that carpet.” To which I said, “Um, yes, how much would you charge me to do that?” For an extra $300, I got rid of the ugly and frayed carpet in the bedroom, replacing it with the floor that I loved. Yay!

Plus, the new floor in the living room is wonderful. I should take a picture but it won’t be as revealing as it could be, because the huge difference is that the entire room is lighter. I liked the old floor, which was dark, and the way it contrasted with the white walls. It was sort of Tudor-ish feeling. But the new floor (called, technically, “earthy maple”) is warmer and sunnier, and it lightens the entire room.

So the change which has made me grouchy and irritable every time I thought about it for months has turned out to be delightful. Every time I walk through the house, I feel charmed by my gorgeous floors. So unexpected. And so good to remember. Change is not so bad. Admittedly, I wish the thing I could have changed had been either a need–like the need for the house to get painted–or a long-time yearning, like the resurfacing of the pool and/or replacing the cracked back patio. But still, this is a good change.

Other good changes: