DAY XIX? ~ It's all becoming a blur

Don't look for days XVII or XVIII because they're mixed in here.  First of all, in my defense, I haven't worked on the house Tues thru Friday as I was in Rhode Island doing training to become a FEMA inspector.  I've done everything - paperwork, tests, etc.  The only thing left is the background check.  They took my fingerprints at the seminar and will send them to the FBI.  If they come back "favorable" then I just have to submit a sh*tload of paperwork, and then I will be deployable..  hahaha, I originally typed "deplorable".... Hmm, maybe there's something to that.  Anyway, in the few days before today I finished painting the trim and completed the painting of the driveway side wall.

I thought the next logical step would be to do the garage, as that's very visible (check out that snazzy basketball net!).  Even if I only did the front it would give the illusion that the rest was done.  The only thing I've accomplished so far by starting to paint is to highlight how crappy the rest of the house looks!!!

Anyway, I went to Home Depot yesterday and spent $322 on gutters for the front of the house, and trim for the garage overhead door.  My plan was to remove the existing rotted wood around the door and replace it with a synthetic white wood product and my problems would be over.   NOT SO!!!!  Oh no.  When I removed the rotted wood what did I find?  MORE rotted wood beneath it!!!  Now a little project has become a major disaster.   Gee, first time THAT's ever happened. 

 I'm really scratching my head over this one.  Do I just cover up all the damage as if it wasn't there and let the next owners worry about it?  When I took off the top trim I found thousands of ants all of the sudden very agitated and disturbed that their cozy little home disappeared.  I guess that's what it feels like when a hurricane blows your house away.  My big problem now is that the top wood is actually two 2 x 12's which form the header of the door.  Removing that is going to be a real effort so I'm thinking of getting professional help.  Also going to call in an exterminator to get an opinion on what to do.  If I DO have to replace the header I'm going to heighten the door opening to 8ft instead of the present 7ft, so I can get my gyroplane in there.  That would solve a lot of my problems.

So after pondering this situation for at least an hour I did what any self respecting procrastinator would do ..... packed everything up and called it a day.