Apologies in Advance

We've been plunged into the DIY world over here:

And it might be awhile before I can come up for air.

One month, to be more exact. We have exactly 30 more days to get our new house up to move-in condition, pack up the old house, move, and clean up behind ourselves.

And, like all homeowners before us, we are discovering that a "simple" project suddenly mutates into a days-long affair (especially since we both come from DIY households).

The original thought was to do a bit of painting (living room, dining room, kids' rooms) and rip up the carpet in the master bedroom. Easy peasy, yes? Just those things that make sense to do before we move in because they're way easier to do without furniture and people inside.

But then you see a couple of cracks and think, hmm, best patch those before I open a paint can - might as well do it now.

And you rip up the carpet and find existing hardwood (huzzah!) and figure out how much it will cost to hire a professional to re-finish it and you think, you know, I could totally do this myself for way cheaper.

(Note: That is not me saying that. I could not do that myself. At all. But The Husband is a man of many talents, not least of which is a stunning ability to figure out how to do things for himself and get it exactly right the first time. Like changing a suspension on a car. Who does that??)

And then you think, you know what would be a pain to do after we move in? Ceilings. Better add that to the list - I've got the rollers and paint trays out anyway, right?

And then you look in the kitchen cupboards and realize that the paint/contact paper solution of years past has gotten slightly oogie, and you imagine having to take everything out of the cupboards, temporarily storing it, and coming up with three meals a day during the chaos of sprucing them up. So, add that to the "let's do it while it's empty" list.

So, our list is very long and lengthening, and our time is short. Fortunately, our two houses are only a mile apart, so it's not a huge deal to pop over and spend a bit of time. Our kids are really independent and they haven't yet met an episode of Garfield they didn't like. I do suspect we'll be doing noodles from the box a bit more often, and blogging might get a little lax.

But it'll all be worth it! And you're all invited to come see the end result once we've completed everything on the list. The big reveal, our place, June 2016 - be there!