The New House: Take Two

WARNING:

This post contains disturbing images. I wouldn't recommend reading while eating,

right before eating, or right after eating. Or if you plan on eating ever again. If you have food or beverage items in hand...back away! Seriously.

It's been a rough month, folks. Quite a doozie, in fact. Looking back I must admit that I'm surprised I made it. Literally. I was sure that either my mental or physical status would be far beyond repair...and yet, here I am. Phew! (Though I suppose some may still question the mental status...)

After moving into the new house, unpacking all our crap, and starting to settle in we became aware of an odd smell. It was small at first. Then, like the Grinch' s teeny-tiny heart, it grew, and grew, and GREW! It was the worst in Curtis' room. We decided it must be the carpet. So, like any normal person would do, we had the carpet cleaned. And that, my friends, was a mistake. (Or a good thing. I haven't decided yet.)

The moment the hot steamy water found it's way into the fibers of that carpet...it let loose a host of evil like nothing I've ever encountered before. We couldn't even walk into the room, it was SOOOO bad. Armed with rubber gloves and a vow to breath only through my nose I walked to the corner and started tearing the carpet back...and was witness to the most disgusting display of animal filth I've ever witnessed. Wait for it....

Yes. Apparently the house was used as a litter box for some very large, very naughty, animals.

E V E R Y W H E R E.

Needless to say, I wept.

Then I may, or may not, have used some inappropriate language.

We started by talking to a restoration company that does heavy-duty cleaning. He said he could clean it...but couldn't guarantee the smell wouldn't come back. Then I called my new friend, Larry. Larry the Carpet Dude. For a whole bunch of money we could simply replace the carpet. (A whole bunch of money.)

Ian clinched the decision by asking me, "If we went ahead and got it cleaned, would you ever feel comfortable enough to go ahead and lay down with your face on the floor?"

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

So, we chose new carpet and padding. The plan was this: we would save ourselves a little money and rip out all the carpet ourselves. This would give us time to bleach the subfloor then paint over the stains with a nice layer of Kilz. (Kilz happens to be the brand responsible for helping me get rid of the Sharpie disaster in Curtis' room last year...we're familiar with it's goodness). We also decided that since we would have the carpet up...what a GREAT time to paint the walls and ceilings! (Both the walls and ceilings were a color I wasn't necessarily a fan of to begin with.)

So, we bid farewell to our yard budget and dove head-first into ripping up the putrid pile of nastiness. I am sure I said things I shouldn't have during this particular process. (Ivana will attest to that...though her presence probably prevented me from saying more ghastly things.)

This 2 week process (mostly done while Ian was out of town) looked a little something like this:

Play Room

The white is the Kilz...applied to (hopefully) lock away odor from the "accidents" that went through both carpet and padding--and rusted the nails to boot.

 Master Bedroom

Ellie's Room 

The Boy's Room 

The Loft 

The Stairs (no joke)

Then, if you can believe it...we found MOLD! No...not surprised.

The Family Room

Done one-half at a time...they had replaced the carpet (so we were able to save it) but they hadn't replaced the nasty padding. That was a tricky part. Not to mention painting those big stinking peaked ceilings!! 

 The Kitchen from the Family Room

This was how most everything looked. CHAOS!

Master Bedroom -- getting new carpet/padding= sigh of relief.

We completed this whirlwind project literally minutes before my book group showed up at my house. Minutes. I'm not kidding.

(And when I say "completed" I actually mean "as much as I'm going to do until I forget the awfulness of it all". There are still 2 bathrooms, 2 closets, and a laundry room to paint. Ugh.)

Dining / Family Rooms Grand Reveal

I am grateful for our new home. This move has been an adjustment...for more reasons than I could mention here...but, I know we're supposed to be here. That knowledge has helped me through this recent trauma, as well as other moments of doubt. So, I'm grateful. Grateful for what I do have. Grateful for kids who put up with the insanity as well as they did. Grateful that we were able to get clean (another sigh of relief) carpet. Grateful for friends who helped/did most of the work. Grateful for those who supported us (me). Grateful.

(And I'll keep reminding myself of that every time I see those "before" pictures.)

Unbelievable!

I really hate it when you get a great picture of your little guy all dressed in his Sunday best...

and then...

Motivation

I never used to have trouble staying on top of housework. Having been raised by a father slightly OCD in nature I've always found cleaning to be enjoyable...even therapeutic. Then I went and had children. And, wouldn't you know it, the hours of the day are somehow consumed by three little rugrats and I find less and less of it left over for my ever-so-missed hobby of cleaning.

To compensate I've contrived a Housekeeping Priority List (all in my head...not on paper). The kitchen is number one, particularly the counters. The family room and living room are neck-in-neck for second place. After that the rest of the rooms in my house all garner attention based on a) their likelihood to be seen by a person outside of my family and b) need. I'll be honest...the List, with it's variables of "a" and "b" have led more than one room in my house to be severely neglected at times. Here's where it gets interesting: if any one room has been slighted for too long I find I am often provided with compelling motivation in the form of a child.

Case In Point: If the hallway bathroom has been left too long to it's own devices and is in need of a good scrubbing I will be faced with either:

1. A toddler picking "something" out of an un-flushed toilet and smearing it on the walls and floor

or

2. A three year-old standing on a stool in the middle of the bathroom floor watching (quietly) as water gushes out of said un-flushed toilet.

Both of which have happened in the last 10 days. True story. Now, these little "reminders" to scrub and disinfect one little room in my house may have caused less-than-kind words to be hurled at my sweet little ones...but, I certainly have one spotlessly clean bathroom. All in spite of my incomplete housekeeping list. The glass is half full, people. Half. Full.