Accidental remodeling

Well, it's been a circus here what with the accidental basement remodel. I have no complaints at all. I am very glad that this is happening, and I am very grateful that we are in a phase of our life where we can spare the time and the money, and it is worth the time and the money to make the space work better for us since we're at home all the time, and someday, we will really enjoy it! Currently the plans are:

-wait for remediation and re-inspection (if you follow me on IG or talk to me on the phone, you know that the new egress window failed the county inspection, TO NO ONE'S SURPRISE, AHEM)
-wait for 3 other replacement windows (met the new window guy today, he seems good???? I hope????)
-wait for drywall/carpenter to come and do... drywall and carpentry (he has already done some work for us and I was very pleased! yay)
-wait for carpet guy to come put in the carpet. That's the final step and the only step that is covered by our house insurance.

*technically there is one more step, which is enlist a plumber to replace our laundry pump and sink which are ancient and due to die any day. That is almost an afterthought here, but is actually a project I was planning to do right before the pandemic hit, and then canceled because I didn't want people working in my house. Now... people are working in my house anyway. But I stay on a completely separate floor from them while they work... and we couldn't exactly let water keep seeping into our basement... so I feel OK about it.

In between all the waiting, there is a LOT of other stuff that I need to do to prep for each phase of the project. The biggest task will be to handle the storage room, which currently looks like a storage room exploded in it. Because we are (probably) going to be moving a door from one wall to an opposite wall, we are going to have to reconfigure most of the shelving that is already in there. I think in the end it will be better all around. It's just going to take a lot of work. And I think I also need to get rid of a lot of stuff. And the funny part about that is that I REALLY DON'T HAVE THAT MUCH STUFF. I just have a lot of kids, and they outgrow stuff and they also eat stuff. I feel like those two facts about my kids are what keep my storage room humming (and exploding)(not literally either of those things, just metaphorically. If you were worried).

The second biggest task will be to move everything out of the very large bookcases in the office and the family room, so that we can move the very large bookcases, so that drywall can happen in those rooms. This is a very very close second.

The third biggest task will be to move all the furniture out of the family room and office so that carpet can happen in those rooms. This is a very very close third.

Listen, I know these tasks seem silly compared to the whirlwind that is going on in the streets and the courtrooms and the legislative halls and the hospitals and the Zoom rooms of every country in the world. I know there are real problems out there and I am trying in my own various ways to contribute to the solutions. But it also gives me confidence and satisfaction to conquer this little corner. I remember my Hindu friend who showed me her prayer room and explained her rituals of working on specific manual tasks while meditating (sounds counter-intuitive at first but it grows on you!). Sometimes I find myself in an almost meditative state while working on novel manual tasks--although the everyday stuff, I don't get quite as lost in. How else do you explain how sparkling clean my above-ground pool is--vacuuming that thing puts me in The Zone, I think I've mentioned that we call it my fifth child--while my kitchen floor is constantly sticky with who knows what?

So again: I'm NOT complaining (except about the terrible egress window contractor. I will complain about him until I'm dead). Just laying it out for the record and for my own organizational purposes. These are going to be my "weekly pandemic goals" for the rest of the summer, probably. I guess my kids are old enough now to be enlisted into these tasks too. Whew, this is going to be fun! Project Accidental Basement Remodel, we're not giving up on you!