Thursday, November 16, 2017

the floors, they are finished! also - all about ME


When we set out to build a new house in our back yard,
I really had no clue
how,
exactly,
this was all going to work.


Obviously,
based on the bank account,
I knew that we would be doing a lot of the work.
But I sorta thought that 
"we"
meant what it's always meant
in these sorts of things;
"we"
meant Tyler and big kids,
with me holding down the fort,
and doing all sorts of running around 
and buying things.


Support.


It isn't that I thought woman can't build,
it's more that women don't build.
(as a general rule, mind you,
and certainly all of the women in my small circle...)

oil will continue to seep up,
so we'll go out 3-4 times a day for the next week to wipe it up

Tyler has a full-time job
(duh!)
and not only that,
he got promoted 
and moved to a new department
right around the time we started building,
which left him even busier at work than ever.

He simply wasn't home enough 
to do all of the building we thought he'd do.
and so,
I stepped in.


Every time there was a job that needed doing,
and I was the one available to do it,
I did it.


I worked with my dad,
whose graciousness and generosity towards us
knows no bounds.

I've worked with Brandon.

I've worked with My Love.

I've worked with all 3 of them together,
and with just my two men.


I've worked with Jeannie, and Eva, and Marin.

I've worked with all four of the younger kids,
together,
separately,
and in every imaginable combination.

And I've worked alone
far more than I'd have ever thought.


I've learned so much!

We've had some laughs.
and a few arguments
(really - only a few)
I've shed tears on many occassions
because I was in so much pain.
Or so overwhelmed with all we had left to do.
And let's be honest,
I've had some
'why do I have to be the only one who is working so hard'
pity parties.
(yes - I know how ridiculous that is.
just keeping it real, folks)

I've also had moments of euphoria
at a job well done,
and earned gobs of imaginary badges.


I'm not uber skilled or talented,
or knowledgeable.
I'm just a freakin' hard worker
(and I am highly motivated to get out of this house
and into my new one!)


From Friday afternoon to Tuesday night
I worked over 37 hours 
out in the house
on the floors
(sanding, staining, finishing with oil)

None of those hours were leisurely,
it was all hard, quick moving work.
Once you start putting stuff on your floors,
you can't stop 'til your done...

A lot of those hours were with Tyler,
some with the kids,
some with the whole family,
and a good chunk - alone


All of them added up 
to a pretty spectacular
(though quite far from perfect!) 
rustic floor.


At some point, I'll post a little more of the process
- what we did,
and what we wish we'd done -
both for our reference,
and also for anybody who is looking to 
stain and tung oil their floors
because there is surprisingly very little info
on the world wide web.



4 comments:

  1. Oh my! Congratulations! I am so impressed! The floor is absolutely gorgeous!

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  2. you deserve gobs and gobs of real badges! and lots of hugs. well done. and i sure hope you get into that house soon!

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  3. Wow, you really did a fantastic job! I love your new floor, the color is fantastic and the texture of the wood (?) looks spectacular! I wish I had such a wonderful floor! You deserve a lot of badges!

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  4. You should write for a magazine. You blog articles are inspiring!

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