In less than a week I’m having 14 people over to my house for Christmas dinner. We’ll toast the day and the season, give thanks for family and friends. The table will be laden with lots of yummy Christmas food, our glasses will be full and afterward, there will be much relaxing on numerous couches positioned in front of the large TV screen, or enjoying the summer sun in deck chairs outside under the pergola. Sounds like the perfect day to me.

Currently though, my back two rooms (rumpus and office) are empty and without floor coverings, the requisite furniture usually in them is stacked wherever there is space in and around my dining room. Boxes of folders, office paraphenalia and toys fill the void under the dining table. DVDs and books are piled on any available flat surface, nestled beside the printer, desktop PC and their neatly coiled cords.

In short, the house looks like a bomb hit it. Twice.

Our empty rumpus room, the office just through that door

For a gal like me who has a ‘thing’ about having a tidy house, this is a very challenging state of affairs. It has been really difficult to ignore the mess. And the dust! OMFG. Let me just say we would NOT be passing the white glove test right now.

But seeing the concrete floors again reminded me of how life was when we first arrived here. I was pregnant with Son #3 and we’d moved in early to save some much-needed money. The kitchen hadn’t been put in, the floors were bare and we’d set up camp in those same back two rooms for three months while the rest of the house was finished. I had an electric fry pan, a microwave and a little gas cooker as my kitchen. (Naturally, the thing I craved the most was a roast dinner but no oven = no roast. *sigh*) It was pretty tough.

I recall having a massive hormonal meltdown a couple of weeks before I was due, tearfully telling the Provider that I simply couldn’t bring a newborn baby home to a house with no carpet. He wisely kept his cool, holding me and my burgeoning belly close and telling me not to worry, he’d fix it. We moved upstairs to newly carpeted bedrooms a week later, a mere two days before Son #3 was born. 🙂

And now we’re on yet another renovation journey. It started with me painting over the facebrick walls and repainting the ceiling. New blinds were installed. Carpet and underlay were then removed in preparation for the new floor. And then… uh oh. The discovery of badly uneven concrete beneath the carpet put a bit of a spanner in the works. Installation of the timber floors had to be postponed… concrete had to be attended to… and much stress occurred at the thought of installer not having any time before Christmas! Gah!

However, the Provider came to my rescue yet again, levelling and grinding concrete as needed and arranging for my much-awaited timber floors to be laid this Wednesday. Hooray!

That’ll leave me just three days to put my house back together before Christmas lunch. *eyes widen slightly* Crikey. I foresee a looong week ahead. But it’ll get done. I’ll make sure of it!

So come on, tell me: who else is stupid insane crazy enough to renovate during the silly season?

Merry Christmas all.