In: A Love Story* (*first draft)

Well, well, well. WELL, well, well. We are in the mutha fuckin' house!!! (Literally.)

So much has happened in the last few weeks and oddly (or not) I've found it really hard to crank out this post. A post, one would think, that this story has been leading up to. It is probably partly physical and mental exhaustion. It's been almost a week and I don't think it's quite sunken in for either of us yet. Plus, it's been SO cold in Creede lately that we've spent most of the time in the cozy upstairs of the bedroom and tv room. The house is well insulated, but the main room has so many windows and it's been below zero at night, so brrrrr.

And like I've said before, I never wanted to be just a "lister offer" of things that have happened over the past few weeks. I find that pretty boring as a reader. But the final push has been...like birthing a child. (Like, I said LIKE, for those who actually HAVE birthed a child and are laughing at me right now.) But you wait. Sometimes for longer than your expected due date. You waaaaaait. And in the end, you've done all you can and it's now dependent on outside factors.

Washer and Dryer. They work and everything!

The Sun/Laundry Room. Complete with sleeping, elderly dog.

TV room. Boxes of books and nice glassware.

My l'il office. Much to do, much to do.

Bath.

We spent our first night here the Saturday before Christmas. Our plumber arrived in the early afternoon to hook everything up and left around 8pm. Alas, nothing is ever easy. The city turned on the water a few days before at the request of the plumber--to make sure that if there is any sediment in the main line, it is flushed out into a bucket instead of into your brand new pipes. The water hadn't been turned on in at least three years, so it took quite some doing. The city had to come back the next day and do some light digging in order to thaw everything out. I worried myself sick about this and ended up smudging the house again just to feel like I had some control. Hippie control. It worked. Maybe. Who knows. But I sure felt better and that's what's important. PS. Hearing water moving under the house is my new favorite sound. And that's usually a bad thing.

Positive #3 (of many too numerous to list): Having a place for all your shit. I have been so happy to throw away boxes because, other than the occasional out of town job, I don't expect to be moving in the immediate future. I've been a nomad for my entire adult life and I love having a place to land. I'm used to, and even thrilled by, living out of suitcases from time to time. But not all the time. This is like your real, personal storage space and a whole lot prettier.

Sorry for all the blown out window pics. It's a sunny Colorado day. Living Room! Art wall continually growing. Note lack of trim and baseboard.

Come on over for a sammich.

Sleepy room (with a now inappropriate color of comforter cover).

Positive #2: If you have propane as your main energy source, having an on-demand water heater is "da bomb". You never run out of hot water so you can fill up a large antique tub with hoooooot water. Luxury, I tell you. That was one thing we splurged on as it is over twice the price of a standard water heater. BUT, saves you a lot of money in the long run because it requires way less propane.

Positive #1: Having your own home. (Duh, right?) I'm sure those of you who have one can attest to this feeling. At one moment it's overwhelming because you can't call your landlord to get something fixed if it's broke. But in another moment--so gratifying that this place is YOURS. I see both of us taking more care with things, also because we literally made this house from nothing. Anyone else would have bought the property and torn down the house. Only my husband thought it was saveable. I am now really curious to see the photos that were taken of it at its worst. I was not allowed to see these initially because RJ was afraid I would punch him in the face for taking on such a monstrosity and he was probably right. Only after we started on the outside of the house this May, did I really start to come around. Only then, did the project felt less like a burden and more like an achievable goal.

This story isn't over. As the title suggests it's more like a first draft. There are still many boxes out, but they mainly contain all the books that don't have a bookshelf yet to live in. There are outlets with no covers (on backorder from our delightful hardware store). There are no doors or drawers for the cabinets--hell, we still need a couple of cabinets. We need trim and baseboard in most rooms except the bedroom. The guest bedroom is painted...but has no flooring, trim or light fixtures. The downstairs bathroom is even less done than that. But the house is liveable--complete with all those things that most of us (and me even a year ago) take for granted. We've got running water, electricity, washer/dryer, and enthusiasm. The 180'' shower curtain just arrived today for the antique clawfoot tub, so we can get the monstrous circular curtain rod up and stop those ridiculous European baths ;) But on the flip side, there is nothing quite like a nice hot bath in a large tub. No, sir...not much like it.

As there are infinitely more drafts to come, I will continue to post on house happenings and poor person home ownership. Maybe I'll even start talking more about acting (or maybe not--yawn) or CO mountain town living in general. Though, as a home stylist I admire says, design isn't ever complete. Your style keeps changing and growing and so will this house. I'm just so g.d. happy to finally have a palette to work from.

Door knobs. Installed by yours truly.

I like to call this the Half Kitchen. It's halfway there but at least has all the components of producing and consuming food.