The Quarantine Diaries: The Nightmare Continues…written by Elissa Brown
In my last letter, I mentioned that we were optimistically diving into a few home improvement projects. Now, six months later, we are finally making a little bit of progress. And by “a little bit,” I literally mean we have made very little progress.
We still have giant patches of white plaster, that have yet to be painted, on multiple walls in our living room and the kitchen ceiling — all remnants from when we started these projects back in May (before the painters went MIA and we eventually gave up).
Our latest backyard project, landscaping and resurfacing the pool, finally kicked off in early November. The crew randomly showed up one Sunday, more than a week later than planned, jackhammered away for a few hours and have not reappeared since. Our previously sparkling blue pool is now a desolate wasteland that resembles the surface of the moon, the backyard looks like a warzone, and the crew appears to have gone on strike. It is now the new year and we are no closer to having our pool finished.
In case you’re not picking up what I’m very subtly putting down… these home improvement projects are making me crazy. I’m sure working from home and sitting by a window that looks out onto our demolished backyard is not helping the situation. BUT OMG WHY DOES EVERYTHING TAKE SO FRIGGIN LONG?!
Patience is a virtue I have yet to master.
I realized I would *literally* lose my mind if we attempted to tackle any more of the planned renovation projects on the inside of our house (having our kitchen and/or bathrooms under construction for who knows how long would absolutely push me over the edge). So we decided to put a pin in our remodel plans.
Which brings me to…
Buying a House: Quarantine Edition
We had passively been looking at homes over the past six months. But with this insanely competitive market and the fact that Danny and I have wildly different taste when it comes to homes (I prefer warm and cozy, Danny prefers ultra-modern, where everything is cold and made of metal), we were not overly optimistic about finding a compromise anytime soon.
We had pretty much given up, which is why we dove headfirst into these home improvement projects and had already updated the landscaping, electrical, installed new custom gates and trellises along the block wall and, as I mentioned, started the infamous backyard and pool resurfacing project.
So of course, once we were up to our eyeballs in these projects, this beautiful house appeared on our search and we were both really impressed (this almost never happens).
And then we saw the house… OMG the yard. OMG the kitchen. OMG the bathrooms. OMG THE CLOSETS!
It reminded me of the pins on my “Dream Home” Pinterest board. Needless to say, we were pretty blown away. We decided to go for it.
Danny almost immediately got tired of me constantly asking him,
“Is moving right now crazy?”
“Are we making a huge mistake?”
“We are not fancy people. Do we really need a house this nice?”
In case you don’t know me well… I don’t really like change. I still have an iPhone 7. Danny and I started dating in 2007 and didn’t get married for over a decade. And I still haven’t officially changed my last name (it’s going to happen in 2021 Danny, I promise!)
Nonetheless, within two days of seeing the house, we had accepted their counter offer. And then came the journey of selling our current house which, if you don’t know, is a giant pain in the ass. Having strangers looking at our house is uncomfortable, especially since I’m nervous about Bamber getting out (the cats are Bailey/Amber and their celebrity couple name is Bamber). I’ve also been getting weirdly anxious and emotional about selling it, since this was our first house together and I really do love our little mid-century modern home. We’ve already had a bunch of showings, and it has taken all of my self-control not to slam the door in everyone’s face, crazy-cat-lady from The Simpsons style, while screaming “IT’S NOT FOR SALE.”
Not to mention, we are still in the middle of a pandemic. And even though I bought a touchless thermometer, Danny nixed my genius suggestion of taking everyone’s temperature before they enter the house.
Fingers crossed everything goes as planned and we move into the new house in about a month. Now that I’ve become a full-blown shut-in, it will be nice to have a new house for the cats and I to wander around. We’re excited but UGH this is stressful!
At least 2021 is here. It’s not off to a great start, but it has to be better than the dumpster fire that was 2020. IT JUST HAS TO.
Until next time… Happy New Year, mask up, and stay healthy and safe!
Elissa & Daniel Brown
