It has come to pass
I finally got moved. The wife and I built a house and this past weekend began our move into the new house. The process of building the house and the process of moving stressed the ever-lovin’ hell out of the wife and I.
About home building:
Some say avoid it and buy an existing home. I disagree. Now that it’s done, I love the place. However, the process was tedious, time consuming, and generally unpleasant. You have to devote considerable time to picking out things that you never thought about before, like door knobs, light switches, trim color, and other stuff that people (ahem, me) have never really thought about before nor paid attention to. As an example, a situation occurred in which the wife and I go to pick out a countertop style. Let me rephrase, I (being the loving supportive husband I am) go to watch my wife pick them out because this task requires a great deal of moral support, apparently. So, the conversation went exactly like this (I am not making this up):
Wife: Which (of these countertops) do you like?
Me: (perusing samples) I like these two.
Wife: Those don’t match anything we have!
Me: Then why didn’t you narrow my choice down to samples that do match our stuff?
Wife: Because you should know what matches our stuff.
Me: Honey, I’ve lived in our current home for three years and I can’t tell you what color our countertops are.
Wife: You’re unbelievable! Why did I bring you with me?
Me: That’s what I’m talking about.
I felt my time would have been better spent on the sofa with a beer. See, this same (or similar) scenario continued with every decision we made, except the brick as it was something we both readily agreed upon. Now, it’s not that I am oblivious to my surroundings. I just don’t pay attention to some things (like countertops). It also isn’t that I don’t care. It’s just that I place importance on some things and the wife places importance on other things. For example, she probably doesn’t know that our lawnmower has a 24” cut, that my grill has 750 square inches of cooking space, or that the bullets I buy are 155 grain jacketed hollow points. See, we’re different and that’s why we’re together.
My advice for building a home:
Pay the extra $ to insulate your garage. You’ll recover your investment in utility bills and the garage won’t get unbearably hot. And put a ceiling fan in it to disperse chemical odors. Hell, put a ceiling fan in every room.
Have either a two-door garage or buy the 18 ft single door. The 16 ft is too small and creates navigational difficulties when you try to put two cars and assorted equipment in your garage.
Berber carpet looks good, it’s durable, and the best part is you can clean it with Tilex and a portable steamer. Plus, it doesn’t have to be vacuumed to look like its been vacuumed. Well worth the extra bucks!
Establish a budget and stick to it. It is very easy to increase the price of the home drastically in $50 – $100 increments. If you budget $250 for your faucet and spend $350 on a better one, then you continue to do the same for other fixtures, you’ll blow a several grand very quickly.
Now, the move:
Man, was it tedious. The wife and I hired movers and they were well worth it! The last time the wife and I moved, we did it ourselves. And we fought the entire time (‘you’re not lifting your end,’ ‘quit pushing,’ etc.). Hiring these movers kept fighting to a minimum. The movers (who damages our desk and broke a couple of knick-knacks) did far less damage than I did last time we moved. Plus, they’re insured!
We’re still sorting through boxes and there appears to be no end in sight. But I am now officially a resident of the city of Maryville. I have the tax bill to prove it!
Adieu!
