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So many projects…
that my husband is completing! He’s on fire! I’m looking very, very lazy in comparison.
We started this summer break (JF is also a teacher) insulating the other half of our manufactured home’s attic space. Or not a real attic but you get the picture. I feel like I was a pretty decent sidekick on this job. I fed the insulation machine, while JF was up on the roof blowing in the insulation. Best laid plans to do it in early June to beat the Texas heat didn’t work well with the record high temps we’ve been having, but it got did! 🙂
Next up, JF painted the outside of the house. After painting the shop a few years ago, we decided the house (now 21 years old) needed a sprucing up with paint to match the shop. But, due to several things, painting the house was pushed off and off. Paying others to do the job was/is not in our budget. I tried to talk my husband out of doing this right now based solely on the ridiculous temperatures we’ve been having since the end of May.
However, he was not dissuaded. He’s been working on it for weeks, finishing up just a few days ago. It looks great! I’ll get some pics and post soon. On this project, I was not really helpful at all. I was out one morning for an hour or so painting seams, but I just can’t handle the heat. For my part, I supplied lots of ice cold lemon water, fetched the ladder and supplies as needed, and made sure there was food to eat!
What else? JF replaced a side door we use to access our home. I honestly was dreading this even though it really was needed (the original door was bent and not closing right at all). On this one, I just stayed out of the way. The door opens from outside into the laundry room. We don’t use the actual front door much since it’s part of the area we have fenced in for our dogs. Anyway, the new (used) door is taller and wider than the old door. Needless to say, there was a lot of banging, sawing, nailing, etc. going on the evening JF decided to get it done.
But, it’s in, and it’s great to have a bigger door that closes without slamming it or trying to finagle it into a spot where it will actually close properly! Today, JF has trimmed it and painted the inside white to match the rest of our inside doors. It’s really looking awesome.
My job will be to clean in that room once everything is finished up. Like dusting and cleaning the glass in the door, scraping off the drops of paint on the floor …. Still not much compared to the work my husband has put into getting that door installed.
There’s been lots of other smaller things he’s been doing as well such as: cleaning out the pond pump, rewiring a paddle fan, staining the deck out front, and building outdoor counters as a side job (see pics below). These counters turned out beautifully, and the customer was very pleased! Whew! I’m exhausted just by putting it down here! I don’t know how he can keep up the pace.
Me? I’ve been trying to be a good helper turning on and off breakers, fetching tools, and trying to be supportive. But summer projects on my list? I didn’t have any. After such a tough semester health-wise, I decided to just see how it goes this summer. Being mostly a type A personality all of my life, making a list then not getting it done is not productive for me, and I acknowledge that. It’s taken years for me to learn some acceptance of my limitations because of chronic illness (still working on this!), and I still struggle with being ok with the things I can do and letting go of what I just can’t do.
We still have a few weeks before the teacher work days for this next school year begins. I’m hoping my husband will relax some and that we’ll be able to do a quick overnight trip to the San Marcos river. But we’ll see. While I do not have a list, my husband does and for some reason, it doesn’t seem to be getting shorter!
Take care, friends. I hope you are having a few lazy summer days! Peace – belle
Thanks for Spreading the LOVE!!!
23 Comments on “So many projects…”
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The Weber grill looks great framed like that, nice! I have a similar Weber. Try to stay cool down there!
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Thanks, John! I’ll let my husband know. I think it looks great, too! Customer was happy which is most important 😊
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I am looking forward to reading this more slowly but you and I have a lot in common-teachers. Husband’s brother is visiting and lots of catching up as he has not seen his brother in a very long time. And of course, doing touristy things but I am looking forward to reading your posts soon!
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😊 And my husband is a teacher as well. We’re in Texas so teachers will go back about Aug 8? Although husband teaches Industrial Tech so he heads back at the end of July. Have a wonderful time enjoying everything you can right now! I thought I’d read more books, but we’ve been busy with other things and that’s ok! Take care. Thanks for following my blog! ❤️
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Belle, I just retired (which I always qualify as my “first” retirement because you never know…) and my wife had a summer projects list ready and waiting for me. I’m working through them now, and next up will be to paint some house shutters. I’ll do all I can to keep the paint on just the shutters, but sometimes paint and I have a difference of opinion on where it all should go. 🙂
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Hi there! Congratulations on retiring! You might be as busy as ever now! My husband seems to make his own lists, but then I ce behind and add a few things LOL I think he’s enjoyed updating some things around here that we’ve talked about for a year or so. He always has to be doing and creating. I wish I was as productive, but I do my part in doing the boring daily chores so…..hope you can keep the paint on the shudders! 😊
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Wow, that is a lot of great projects! Congratulations. I know that accepting what you can and cannot do is hard – and (speaking for myself) an on-going task. Thank goodness for the wonderful partnership you and your husband have which I’m sure helps in many more ways that are visible!
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Thanks for your kind words! But mostly my husband deserves the accolades! He’s been doing all of the heavy lifting literally 🙂 He says I’m helping in different ways so I guess it works out. I wish I could do more!
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Those counters look great. We have a ton of work to get done around here but I don’t think my husband will be taking any time off and with our new puppy, I am not getting much done either.
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Thanks, Anne Marie! My husband was happy about how they came out especially since he really hasn’t built anything like this before. He’s built inside kitchen counters and islands before, but not ones for the outside. I understand about getting house projects completed. It’s hard to get to things that we want to do done because it always seems there’s more that “needs” to be done first! If we were not off for the summer, most of what’s been accomplished would have happened.
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That need thing is a big issue for me as well. We live in the house my husband was born in. Nothing is simple. I wanted to paint the outside windowsills when I first moved in and we ended up cutting down a tree so we could remove the eavestroughs so Dan could fix cracks in the stucco, replace the livingroom window and the back door steps and landings, paint the house, replace the eavestroughs and then I could paint the windowsills! A couple of years later we had to replace the shingles and I think we ended up having to tear down the fence and replace it. 🙄. I need Dan to retire so I can repaint the interior. Heaven knows what that will involve.
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My goodness. I’m tired after just reading about those projects. I can’t believe your husband was painting in this heat. I can’t remember if you know, but I varnish wood on boats for a living. I’ve not been able to lay a decent coat of varnish except in the very early morning (like before 8 or 9 if there’s no dew, or after 6:30 or so in the evening.) tell him he has my utter admiration! It sounds like he might have been keeping the same kind of schedule!
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Hi! He’s tiring me out as well! He’s got a list! 🙂 Wow. I did not know about your work, but it sounds so interesting! Have you been doing this for awhile? It’s definitely been way too hot for all of us. I don’t even look at the weather anymore because I’m guessing it’s all the same from now until mid September if we’re lucky, right? And barring any tropical storms/hurricanes! You’re are smart to keep the schedule you have and I wish my husband would do the same. However, he is not a morning person unless on school schedule! LOL So, he starts his day more like 10 or 11. This is a big reason why I could not help him much while he painted the house. He’d be out in the mid-day heat! I just couldn’t. It’s too much. I’m not sure how people can work outside after 10 am and like you said before 6:30 p.m. Are you having any luck with rain out your way? We just had a little shower late this afternoon. It’s been since the end of May since we’ve had any significant rainfall. Take care, friend!
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I had a summer painting business for about 20 years while I was teaching. It was a nice change of pace for a short time, but I grew to dislike painting after doing so many houses. This year, at 63, I finally let someone else paint our house for the first time. It was damn expensive, but the guy did a good job.
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Thank you for sharing!!.. having heat issues here also but more of a humid heat than a dry heat.. you and JF are doing an amazing job and YOU are making a difference and helping, do not sell yourself short, in some manner you will find a way, no white flag… “No road is too long for him who advances slowly and does not hurry, and no attainment is beyond his reach who equips himself with patience to achieve it.” (Jean de La Bruyere )… 🙂
Until we meet again..
May the sun shine all day long
Everything go right, nothing go wrong
May those you love bring love back to you
And may all the wishes you wish come true
(Irish Saying)
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Thank you, L! I hope all is well in your world!
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Your new outdoor space looks lovely. Cheers to our last few weeks of vacation!
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Thanks, Crystal. This was made for one of my husband’s clients. It sounds like you had an awesome trip recently! 🙂 We’re just trying to just soak up these next few weeks as I’m sure you are, too! Why does it go so quickly!?! Cheers to you, friend!
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Oops! Darn! Hope your home is not far down his list. Your hubby sounds much busier than me (but I am knocking out some PD).
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No worries! He painted the house! He’s been super busy doing things around here. It’s been great 🙂 I’m just the helper lol I’m planning on opening my work laptop the last week of July to get some PD completed. We go back Aug 8 for 2 weeks of training(?)/district PD before the students are back on the 22nd. Don’t work too hard!
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That’s awesome! Everybody needs a helper. (If only someone would help me finish my compliance trainings).
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I can relate so much to how you’re feeling. Chronic illness threw a wrench into the gears of my type A personality. The boundaries are hard to accept, but I’ve come to view them as a gentle reminder to slow down. How lucky you are to have a handy and productive to eagerly take on some of those huge home products! Everything looks amazing!
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Thank you! My husband was on fire this past summer doing things around the house he wanted to complete. 🙂 You’re right; the boundaries can be difficult to accept. It’s taken me years and hiccups to learn (or partially learn) what I can and cannot do and then to accept those limitations. But fighting it, at least for me, most of the time, is not effective. It’s still a challenge though. I hope you are having stable health days presently. Happy New Year! So glad to find your blog!
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