Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

The previously mentioned clean-our-shit-up experience at Casa Verde continues apace and so I thought it was time I gave you all an update! (Not that you care, but then I don't see you volunteering loads of good blog post ideas, now do I? So suffer in your proverbials.)

• The new shower doors are in and working - hooray! What freedom, to shower without anyone else home. The really weird thing is that both DH and I have noticed that the showers have suddenly become bigger. I'm assuming this has something to do with the thickness of the old doors versus the new ones - but in my mind I'm chalking it up to shower door magic. New door, suddenly 1 foot of space in which to run around. Okay, maybe not a foot. More like 3 inches. But it FEELS like loads more space and therefore I am an all around much happier showering person.
• The decking/porch renovation was going great guns, until DH decided he had enough of it and stopped. All that's left is to clean and paint the balustrade. Even the motivation of his shiny spankin' new BBQ does not seem to motivate him to finish the job. Any ideas for encouraging DH's most welcome.
• The new carpet is coming on Friday - which means most of my house is all over the rest of the most of the house (including that sentence.) I'm actually typing this from our kitchen table, where the computer has been temporarily relocated to. Major bonus of moving all your crap around - you find crap you don't need which you had forgotten you lost and then you get to chuck it out.
• The garden guy is supposed to be coming tomorrow to begin the great Garden Destruction of 2010. Basically I've told him to raze the damn thing to the ground. I'll be surprised if a) he actually shows up to do it and b) I don't regret it later as I stare at a wasteland of garden.
• The major spanner in my works was the discovery that the fence which time forgot has now fallen down... and is being held up by the very same trees which are getting axed down tomorrow. So it's another $1300 which has now been diverted from the "cool crap I want" fund to the "boring shit I don't want to pay for" fund. This is leaving me very grumpy.
• I've still got to find some funds to get a couch and two chairs recovered, a cane chair fixed, 10 dining chairs repaired and recovered, a new entertainment unit, a coffee table, some artwork for the walls of our lounge room and various other sundry items. The official budget has about $4.78 left in it. I am now seriously considering stealing milk crates from Safeway to use as furniture. I'm going to call it "urban seating."
• Aforementioned fence is being serviced by "fence guy" who a) showed up when I wasn't expecting him to, and b) told me I could ask for him to come and repair said fence at a certain time but really it's a case of "don't call me, I'll call you." I am now left debating my career as a fence guy. Or make that fence gal.
  

Let's face it, people. House clean ups SUCK the big one...and while I'm beyond happy with the results so far, I'm also beyond frustrated at how long this takes, how much money it sucks up, and how desperately I now need MORE time and patience to finish the job properly.

...and for those who follow this blog (all 2 of you), fixing the upstairs bathroom door is now officially off the budget (...and my Mom is arriving in Australia in almost exactly one month from today.)