A week's difference

Saturday night and I find it hard to believe everything that got done this week.

On Monday morning I went down to Menards and bought flooring for the house we are working on.

When I got it back to the house I saw where the county had cut some branches off  a tree. they must have been hanging over the road. I am told they are now my problem to get rid of. Thanks.

I did get started laying the floor in the master bedroom. We are now using commercial grade laminate flooring. It is 12 MM thick, residential flooring is 7 to 8 MM thick. It costs more but we are hoping it will stand up better to the abuse it gets from some tenants.

Monday afternoon we looked at a house that was going to be sold. (Not real fond of the color. The siding is metal so it will last forever. Might have to think abut painting it a other color sometime.)

Look at that, new central air already installed. Usually that is a $2750 line item on the budget.

All new laminate floors. No carpet. It is the residential 8 mm flooring from Monroe Park floors but we already have a lot of those, so it should be fine.

all new Kitchen with dish washer.

Bedrooms also have new floors and painted walls.

Bathroom had total redo.

New toilet already installed.

Shower and tub still have the stickers on them.

Older breaker box but it has room for a breaker for a dryer and its not a fuse box! We put an offer on the house and it was accepted.

We had purchased a used range and fridge for the house we are working on. It was a stainless steel pair. I went to pick up the range and was told they had sold the one we purchased by mistake. They had replaced it with a newer better model. OK, I can live with that.

I got the floor in one of the other bedrooms.

And I put new flooring in the hallway.

Went to remove the old toilet so I could put down the new flooring in the bathroom.. The toilet had been fastened down with lag bolts instead of the normal toilet bolts. That was something different. You see something new every time you remodel a house.

got the bathroom floor in, and the new toilet.

Then I started putting in lights.

and another one

 

and another one. I put up 4 lights and still have to put 4 more in the basement and a couple in the garage.

I started cleaning up the tub and shower and found that the tub drain leaked. After I fixed it under the tub (I hate replacing the drain in a tub, you have to have it lined up in  the basement and then turn it together in the tub. Yea, that works well.) I found that the line was plugged and leaking further down.. Saws-all is a wonderful tool. Life is so much easier than when all this would have to be cut out with a hacksaw.

Yesterday I repaired the walls in the basement bedroom and today I painted.

  

I also painted the family room in the basement. Cement block wall. Painted it first with a roller and then had to go around with a brush for all the mortar joints. That was fun. As you can see I still have to put in the ceiling and do something with the floors. But after this week the time frame on finishing the house has moved from months to weeks.

 Its amazing what a difference a week makes. Looking back to Monday morning I find it difficult to believe how far we have moved ahead and all that was accomplished.

Sometimes it is hard to understand the differences that the passage of time makes. Friday night I was talking to Steve. We agreed that we need to be careful not to judge those who are younger than us. I remember how I thought and acted when I was 35 years old and to be honest I am ashamed of some of what I did and said. I do hope age and the passage of time has given me the wisdom to not make the same mistakes I made then, now.

When I was 35 I did not understand that I needed to put all my trust in God. I still thought I needed to be in control. God had given me talents and abilities to take care of myself, hadn't He? Now I am older and I know that on my own I can do nothing. I just let God be in control and it is working out great.

On Monday if you had told me how productive this week would be, I would have said, no way. Now looking at what got finished in the house we are working on and we purchased a house ready to rent, I can say, there was quite a change.

The passage of time should bring change to us as well. As we age we should grow in faith. Friday Steve reminded me of a sermon I gave a few years back. I asked the question: Are you a better servant of God at the end of the year than you were when it began? 

If you aren't, why not? The passage of time should bring growth and change. I used to tell people you either grow or die, you can not stay the same. Which are you doing?