Home Improvement

We've always been do-it-yourselfers. Always love a project. As long as I can remember we've had a project going, just finishing one, or in the planning stage. We're both pretty good at it and Jim can do anything - lay tile, move a wall, build a room, etc. There's not one thing we've attempted we weren't able to complete, perfectly, without any outside assistance.

Since we've been in Belgium, our home improvement projects have taken a backseat to doing other things like learning Flemish and traveling a bit. In the States, we spent most of our free time and expendable cash on the ongoing home improvement project.

Now, I won't say we didn't enjoy it. We rented a house one time and decided it needed a whole new kitchen so we took out all the old cabinets and countertops and built new ones - in a rent house. The landlord was very appreciative. We liked the next house we rented so much that since it only had two bedrooms, we added a third - from the ground up - in a rent house. Landlords love us.

Then finally we were lucky enough to buy our own house and the projects continued. We've taken down enough wallpaper to paper a palace. For the record, wallpaper should be discontinued from the world - forever. It may seem like a good idea at the time, but it isn't.

We've painted the same room three or four times if the color wasn't "quite right". It usually takes me about 10 quarts of trial paint before a decision can be made. Although Jim has rebuilt an entire bathroom, I guess we really liked kitchen renovation best.

I won't say I haven't missed it a little, but I also have to say after that mile of picket fence in Jefferson, I was ready for a break. Jim probably was too :) We've now begun to enjoy other things in life and I may be hesitant to drag Jim into yet another project.

So you can imagine my dismay when Jim decided to tackle another project - in a rent house! Our current rent house. Seems the workmanship wasn't so great on our shower and one cold night, the window in the shower came open due to water freezing behind the tile. I suggested we just let it dry and caulk it. I mean, caulk is practically like duct tape, in my opinion, and can fix nearly anything. I'm kidding, of course and Jim would have none of the "caulking" idea.

No, he takes all the tiles off where water has accumulated and some of them break. It's not like you can run down to Lowe's and get some more. We go in search of new tiles to replace the broken ones and learn those centimeter or millimeter or whatever-meter tiles don't exist anymore! My caulking idea seems more reasonable now.

It is important to note that Jim thinks there is only one way to do things - the right way. And I guess this is a pretty minor project compared to most we've tackled.

Lo and behold, Jim found a box of similar tiles and with this project hanging over his head for a couple of months, the job is now complete. I know it was the right thing to do in the long run, but I think it will make me have second and third thoughts in the future about starting a project.

Those kitchen floor tiles in Jefferson aren't nearly as bad as I thought they were.