It started with the dishwasher.
One day, the spring that held the door of it popped and now anytime we opened it, it fell - THUNK - to the floor.
This bothered me. We're generally pretty frugal people - we live within our means, don't splurge on luxuries or frivolities - but at this stage in my life, when I'm working 20+ hours per week at my regular job and now 30-40 additional hours per week running my tutoring business, at the end of the day I want a dishwasher that opens without going THUNK.
Savageman resisted. After all, the 20-year-old dishwasher still got the dishes clean, it didn't leak, and the wheels only fell off the racks a few times per week. He was right, of course, and it's always difficult for us to make decisions regarding major purchases, but I still bristled every time I had to use it. I tend to choose my battles carefully, but this was one I was choosing. The dishwasher had to go, as did the broken treadmill that had been cluttering up our basement since it died.
We bought a new treadmill (the same one, but new) and we dragged the old one out to the curb for the scrap metal scavengers to take. We picked out a new dishwasher together and it wasn't difficult at all, which was a wonderful surprise.
I enlisted the help of the Friend of the Eldest to install said dishwasher. While he was at it, he agreed to fix the part of the hardwood floor in front of the dishwasher that had been badly done 12 years ago. The Friend is also an electrician and has done general contracting work - he had previously installed our kitchen faucet and gutted and replaced the cabinet underneath it - and I asked him about some water stains on the living room ceiling. "No problem, I'll do that too." He also refinished our dining room table, which badly needed attention.
After the dishwasher, the floor, the table, and the ceiling patch were done, I bemoaned the fact that the ceilings would need to be painted to match the nice new section in the living room. There was another small water spot above the fridge that should probably be patched as well. He gladly agreed to all, and to 5 other small drywall issues on various walls where various boys had made various holes for various reasons over the years - all of which I had attempted to patch myself, but had done rather badly.
Around this time, we received our new front door, front storm door, and sliding back door. (We had actually ordered these back in September, but had all but forgotten about them until the installation date was set five months later.) The front door is lovely and the porch lights on either side of it now look particularly shitty next to it. We asked The Friend to install new ones.
It was around this time that I attempted to grill some fish and discovered we were out of propane. I replaced the propane tank, hooked it up to our 15-year-old Weber grill.... and it didn't work. I spent hours trying to fix it, researching what could be wrong, but bottom line - it was rusted and falling apart. I was willing to pick up a cheap replacement, but this time Savageman insisted on splurging for the nice one. We got a Napoleon grill with a good warranty and I assembled it on my day off.
Now we were gaining some momentum! Our red sofa and chaise from 12 years ago was saggy and the family room carpet was matted and sad. Realizing that the new dishwasher and grill and doors had indeed been good decisions, Savageman agreed to choose a new sofa, and we found one that was in stock and could be delivered within a month. I contacted the carpet guy and he said he could get the carpet we liked installed before the sofa arrived. Both were done last week.
Meanwhile, the new treadmill in the basement inspired some changes down there too. It's a finished, furnished space, but we rarely use it. The windows down there have gaps, so it's slightly breezy in the winter, the walls are flat white and scuffed up, and it's a cluttered and generally unwelcoming space. I bought paint, a new rug, some throw pillows; I rearranged the furniture and did some decluttering. I patched the walls and painted the stairwell and banister. The rest of the walls still need paint, but it's all purchased and ready to go. I got an estimate on replacing the windows this spring. The Carpet Man fixed the transition at the top of the stairs while he was out to install the family room carpet.
Yesterday, I spent the majority of the day touching up paint on the main floor. The drywall was completed today, so I can finish painting those areas this week and finally clean up all the cans, brushes, rollers and trays that have been piled up in the dining room for the last month or so. The porch lights (and the one over the garage, and a bunch of switches and outlets inside the house) are due to be replaced tomorrow. Savageman chose and purchased the lights himself.
I'm writing all of this because I'm so incredibly proud of the teamwork it took to get all of this done, on top of work, on top of the play (I was a nun in The Sound of Music at my high school last weekend - a story for another time), on top of the Gala Savageman is planning at his own job - we made these decisions together, didn't argue (much) over any of them, and his cautious, research-oriented approach balanced my I-want-it-done-yesterday and I-just-want-it-to-be-nicer-than-what-we-have-now impatience. These kinds of things are unsettling for him, as is spending money and being surrounded by "new" stuff - and I know it was not easy for him, but he did it, and he did it with a really cooperative attitude. So much gratitude for him, and for The Friend, whom I feel like we've kind of adopted - really went above and beyond to make things nice while also being very reasonable with his costs.
We haven't looked at the upstairs much - last fall, we did clean up our room and put in some new (secondhand) furniture - and maybe the boys' bathroom will get some attention this spring / summer. For now, I'm really, really happy that the living portions of the house are becoming pleasant, usable spaces and that things we've needed for a while now are finally done or almost done. Proud of us and what we can do when we work together.
