Musings....

I have been thinking. About a few things:
- Passover and Easter. Family. Friends. My brother, who celebrated a birthday yesterday :-)
- spring and the garden - or lack there of - make that work to do in the yard and gardens
- new blog I found http://www.migonishome.com/ which focuses on living large in a small space
- house projects and looking ahead to everything we want to do, but still recognising how far we've come.

I find myself in love with our house again. I know that may sound funny since we haven't been there all that long -2 yrs- but when we first moved in I loved it and had so many expectations, plans, dreams, drive to get it all done right away! Maybe I should mention this is our first home and so those of you who have been home owners for longer than we have, I'm sure are laughing right now.
So, of course, once reality sunk in and projects slowed down and life went on, I was upset by the lack of progress. Lists that weren't being crossed off and ideas that just were sitting. Waiting. For us to have time, and money to complete them. Priorities shifted and we had other items, people, Reese, job changes, that were more important in that moment. No regrets!
But now, the pendulum has swung again, and I'm learning that this is life. The priority list changes and then changes again. House projects have once again surfaced and I'm loving it - I love the way the house is now, but I'm so excited about the changes coming. There is something to be said for letting things 'sit' for a while once you finish a project or two. Then tweak them when you need a small change.
Matt and I spent some time this past Saturday going through the project list and changing the order around to reflect what needs to be done more urgently and those that can wait. We also broke some larger projects out into workable chunks - time and money chunks - so that we can move forward with pieces of projects. Getting quotes for projects so we know what we need to save first is helpful too!
Our basement is a prime example of this: the house has no attic, so all the current storage is in the basement and garage. BUT, in order to finish the basement, we have to empty it. Which means we need to put in the overhead garage storage, but in order to do that, we need to empty the garage storage by putting in the shed in the backyard. Once the garage/outdoor storage has shifted to the shed, the overhead garage storage can be installed, which helps to empty the basement. Also, putting in the dining room storage unit/ hutch will also help take the glassware and kitchen storage out of the basement. This will empty the basement to the point of cleaning out the stuff we don't need/ want anymore (something I'm working on now, actually), Matt's desk and his files and storage. The latter will go back into the basement once it's finished.
Armed with a new project list, freshly prioritized, we are making appointments for quotes and figuring out budgets for this years projects. The goal, is to have the entire list done in the next 2 yrs. Granted, things may change again, but I'm getting better - it's a learning curve, but I'm getting there!