Pretending this is what it’s like to live through a real renovation – the kind where floors are ripped up and walls are torn down and the kitchen is not usable for a month so meals are cooked on a camping stove in the bathroom – is helping me not get discouraged by the fact that the inside of our apartment resembles the aftermath of an earthquake.

For now, this is as close I have come to starring in my own HGTV episode, and one thing that’s really being tested currently is my patience.

Good thing, then, that the replacement dresser and bookshelf I ordered for the kids’ room arrived a full three days before schedule, instantly improving their space (and preventing me from whining about things taking too long).  An added bonus: the bins that had previously served as a make-shift way for them to store their clothes are now free to be repurposed for use in the garage.

Oh, the garage.  So close, and yet still. So. Far.  What makes it particularly grueling is that it involes a tremendous amount of pulling things out in order to get to work, and then putting them back in order to be finished for the day.  That is a tedious, repetitive task, the annoyance of which is amplified by the fatigue in our bodies.  We’ve been hauling, shoving, building, for nearly a full week and, boy, can we tell.  Ouch.

Strangely, the hardest part for me each day is knowing when to call it quits.  The scope of this project requires hours of labor, far more than exist in a single day.  It is not really the kind of work that has clear stopping points, it is more a get-as-much-done-as-you-can-before-running-out-of-steam type gig and anyone who knows me will tell you that I am not necessarily known for running out of steam.  I’d still be down in the garage right now if it weren’t for B, who is much better at knowing when enough is enough.  I’d still be in the kids’ room if Emet hadn’t looked at me imploringly as asked if they could “go to bed yet, mama?”

I just want to get it done, not because I’m bored of the task, but because I’m inspired by my vision of the finished space.  I can imagine it so clearly that now it’s just about making it happen as soon as humanly possible.

When I first committed to this project, I gave myself an initial timeframe of three months.  My goal was to have my garage completed by my birthday in July.  Tonight, B told me he thinks the garage will be finished by the end of the month.  I told him at this rate, we could have the entire apartment finished by the end of the month, with the exception of a few complicated details that exceed our skillset and require the assistance of a very skilled and knowledgeable handyman.  Hi, Dad!

While I may be the one who initiated this extravaganza, if it weren’t for B, it most definitely would have taken me until at least my birthday if not longer to accomplish what we’ve managed to do in the past few days.  This project of mine became this project of ours and now we’re closer than ever to the end. 

Teamwork, dream work, baby.