While we are remaining in a festive spirit around here, we are working really hard to finish up the little apartment behind our main house. It partially burned in January and so we took the opportunity to do upgrades. Well, we've had to do much more than upgrades and it's going to be a cute little house. My husband, our GC and electrician have done a great job.
Our new tenants are scheduled to move in this weekend, as their lease is up on the 15th. We aren't quite ready for them, but we will be by the 15th. It's all coming together at the 11th hour.
My dear fried, Eudokia, Zoe's godmother, is taking the girls for the day today and tomorrow. This is going to be a huge help. The girls love being with her too, so they are excited. They'll be at the zoo today and who knows what tomorrow.
So, today I get to start painting. I need to go purchase a new fridge and some odds and ends for the little house. The tile for the kitchen, bath and laundry went in yesterday and it looks so nice. The carpet will be installed on Monday. The heating and AC guys will be out today to hookup the systems again and make sure they are running safely. (Please pray that these systems function properly. We cannot afford new systems at this point...)
I still want to whitewash the living room and kitchen. It has the old knotty pine walls which darken the place a bit. It currently has the old fishing cabin look. It's charming but a whitewash would brighten it up nicely. (I'll proposed the idea to our new tenants and see if they're up for a future whitewashing party.) Also, we want to replace the counter tops in the kitchen. This would be an easy and fairly inexpensive job, but this too will have to be saved for a future project.
There is a second full bath in the bedroom that has and old metal shower stall. We found a way to refinish it, but in doing so we found rust and a past leaking problem at the bottom. So, after much discussion we've decided that we are going to rip out the shower stall and make a nice big linen closet for storage. Our new tenants loved the idea (especially the wife) as there's not much storage in the little house. They will still have a half bath in the bedroom, but now with a nice large linen closet and no leaky shower. (Don't worry, this project won't be done before they move in. I plan to make my husband lay his hammer aside at least for a bit before any new projects start. I would really love a trip to the monastery, but that might be asking too much right now...)
While the fire has caused us major stress, taken money from our main house project and worked my husband to exhaustion, we both agree it was a blessing in disguise. When we bought the house our plan was to get in the main house and then turn our focus on the rental house. The fire forced a different plan, but it also got us a little insurance money to help with the redo. The icing on the cake, however, is our new tenants. We have a lovely couple with a newborn baby moving in who are members at our church.
As I've said before, I was a little nervous about who would be living in our back yard. One of the beautiful things about having a back yard is being able to have your children play safely there. I am so thankful I won't have to worry about this problem, as least for now. Plus, they have a newborn baby I get to love on! :)
One final thing, can I ask that you pray for this couple. They both have jobs but they really want the wife to stay home with their little one. Her husband just interviewed for a better paying job and we would all love for him to get it. I don't want to mention their names for privacy, but the Lord knows who they are. May God's will be done!
A blessed continuation of our celebration of our risen Lord to you all!
