PREFACE

I'm writing this as a guide to all other procrastinators out there .... and YOU know who you are.  It's not that we don't WANT to do something, it's just that we don't want to do it RIGHT NOW. 

The project at hand here is the renovation of the exterior of my home on Claire Rd (hence the URL) in Forked River.  I bought the house in the summer of the Year of Our Lord 2000 and moved in immediately after.  I had gone through a divorce so, let's face it, I had NOTHING, so the house was empty.... PERFECT for getting all of the hardwood floors redone, painting, moldings, remodeling the kitchen (I had no stove for two years, and after that I removed the sink so didn't have one of those for another two years.  I slept on an airmattress for probably three years, etc.

As time went on I acquired some living room and bedroom furniture, some blinds, drapes, etc. so the house slowly but surely was beginning to take shape.  I would rather do without something than to just accept any crap someone wanted to give me and then it was now MY problem to figure out what to do with it. 

It would be interesting to track an item from its inception through how it passes from one person to another until its final resting place in the dump.  How many garage sales has it been to, how many years has it sat in a box in the basement, how many times has it been re-given as a gift to someone else, since you didn't use it anyway so never even opened it, how many different addresses has it moved to, being packed and repacked.  An example would be something like a fondue set, or an ice cube tray that makes cubes shaped like hearts.  Just go to any flea market and you'll see what I mean ..... but I digress.


Where was I........Oh yes, me.  This "single" life was perfect for me, actually, because I would come home from work, change my clothes, and start working on the inside of the house (this blog series covers the OUTSiDE of the house). Nobody to answer to, didn't have to stop for "dinner", etc. I spent many nights underneath the house in the crawlspace running new gas piping from the meter to the new hot water heater.  I could have DIED down there and I don't think anyone would have known for WEEKS.

And then ...... the greatest work-stopper of them all happened.  No, I wasn't involved in a car wreck, I didn't lose the use of my legs, I wasn't blinded..... it was worse...... I got.......... A GIRLFRIEND.

So, let's face it, would I rather spend the weekend repairing the tiles in my shower, or taking HER to a winery?  You figure it out.

Which brings us to the present day.  I have been unemployed for about a year and a half, and could have totally torn down my entire house and rebuilt it by this time, but NOOOOOO, I enjoyed myself and after working since I was 14 years old, decided to have a little fun.  But now reality is setting in and I'm actually buckling down and getting to work on the outside of my house! 

So, you see?  Procrastinating isn't evil. The work's getting done now, isn't it?  It just took a little longer to get started than I expected.  In fact, I'll tell you how I convinced myself that the work SHOULDN'T get done!

When I first moved in I said "Hmmm, I better not do anything yet, because I want to see how I'll be using the house, and what my needs are going to be, blah, blah, blah,....  After that kind of got old I switched focus to "hmm, I don't want the house to look too good or somebody's going to want to break in.  Who'd want to break into an old dumpy house!"  And THAT worked for a long while ..... until I got broken into.

Of course I installed an alarm system the very next day and now you cannot take three steps in any direction without setting the alarm off.

And then there are the "it's too hot, it's too cold, I'm too busy, I don't have the money, there's an airshow I want to go to this weekend ...... and the list goes on and on. 

But here's the thing that actually got me motivated.  From February through June I went to Big Pine Key in Florida to help a friend remodel his house.  I installed hurricane French doors, completely gutted his kitchen and installed all new cabinetry, recessed lighting in the ceiling, new plumbing, etc.  So a friend came over while we were doing some trim painting on the outside and said the magic words that started this freight train rolling.  He said "Hmm, looks good! Shows PRIDE OF OWNERSHIP.

That's what I was missing!  THAT is now my motivation. (Also I might have to sell this place in a hurry!) So after finishing up some commitments with Diane and my mother, it's now ME time. I'm starting these blogs a few days into the project, but I will bring you up to speed very quickly. 

So the first thing I'm doing is painting the house.  With that project also comes new rain gutters (I think they're actually called "leaders"), shutters, new or refaced facias, and new soffits 

I'll do the first few blogs from memory and then hopefully each night after I do something.  OK........ HERE GOES!...................