Shelter

Our earthly belongings, in the storage pod

all packed and ready to go

Life gets in the way, sometimes.  I've been meaning to add to the blog for over a month now.  Around last November I wrote a cheerful post about moving and how fun and interesting it was to go through all our junk as we were clearing the way for our demo.  At the end of April, our lease ran out on our rental house, with no extension offered (despite some pleading on our part), so we found ourselves moving for the second time in 6 months.  This time, it was just tedious and exhausting, and astounding how much junk we STILL had after just clearing everything out within the last year.   But we made it.

And all the while, things were changing at the house...

       

Living room of studs and plywood

Insulation

Drywall!

As the summer approaches, everything seems to be moving at an accelerated pace.  Our contractor Mark has kept the juggling balls up in the air, mostly out of our sight.   When we were interviewing contractors last year, one thing Mark said stuck with me: "there will never be nothing happening for no reason."    

Our contractor, Mark, tries to move heaven and earth to finish

Looking back, I'm grateful he said that- driving by an empty worksite on a weekday can feel very deflating, only to find out later that they were waiting for an inspection, or materials to arrive or some other reason.   In fact, most of the time, the opposite has been true- there's usually a large crew of people working hard, and we can see the results.

Front entry, from inside

After drywall

Three weeks ago the insulation went in, and drywall started a week later.  What a difference this makes!  It's really starting to feel like a house, and I can relax a little more as each component falls into place.  When the demo was in full force, initially it was exhilarating, then as the roof came off, I was surprised at how vulnerable I felt.

I could also relate a little more to how devastating it can be to have something terrible happen to your home.   Looking at photos of houses (and their owners) after tornadoes ripped through the Midwest this year, I got a small sense of how catastrophic it was for those families to have lost so much.    Let me be clear- I'm not comparing the two situations.   We planned this remodel and always knew, intellectually at least, that there was an end in sight.   Having gone through this experience, though, I understand the insecurity and the fear (even of the elements) a little bit better.

Getting there

Closer

Even closer

But as the house gets rebuilt from the outside in, I appreciate even more how insulated we are, now in a literal sense, but in many other ways too.  We have been so lucky for our community, especially the secure safety net of our wonderful family.   David's parents have graciously taken us in, my parents, who may yet do the same,  have helped us in innumerable other ways.  We are so grateful for our shelter of family and friends, and could not have made it this far without them.

Almost there!