Good-bye to work gloves, to the sawsall, cordless batteries, dust, the shop-vac, ponytails, caulk, sanding, and paintbrushes. Good-bye to the early mornings and extremely late nights. Good-bye to heaving loads of debris out the front door. Good-bye to exhausted muscles digging, pulling, banging and ripping. Good-bye to bugged eyes from concentration. Good-bye to headaches over the how, when, where, what, and why.
I went downstairs and found myself wanting to stay down there for the first time. It's no longer the dark dungeon it has been all these years. I can pull clean laundry out of the dryer straight onto the floor and not worry. It's serene; warm and clean with lots of head room. The paint looks great, and the carpet goes well. We've worried all month about the color and if we picked the right one. The stairs are soft on your feet, and the pattern in the carpet looks rich. The bathroom glows and the slate tile looks sharp. The laundry area is spacious and the small room which started out as the 'rental' room, turned into storage is now an inviting space. There's not much left to this small house. A few fixes here and there, along with two last big fixes. Just need a railing for the top of the stairs and trim for the garage. It's been a long road, with many pot holes, diversions, and pull offs. It's been the scenic route; areas that you want to savor forever, then the bits that zoom by. And the moments that drag on to find the beautiful hideouts. It's been well worth the heartache, blood, sweat and tears. I had always hoped to enjoy all the hard work we've put in, yet I know we'd never be happy with laziness. There'd always be something we'd find to do, which would lead into a giant project that would involve a major remodel. It's time to call it quits. To find a new place for our vision.
But I think I'll savor this small moment for a while.
