I Never Used Lamaze in Childbirth

The past two days I've been walking around trying to breathe.  It's been nice having a chunk of change in the bank...  and the closer we've come to today the more I've needed Lamaze to fight down the panic.  I remember when I bought the home we are living in... it was 10 years ago and I was a single mom... it was a DREAM to buy a home on my own and call it MINE.  There's a picture of me on Facebook - arms splayed out and face completely overcome with joy.  I'd done it.  It never occurred to me that one day I'd be buying a SECOND house and carrying two mortgages!!!  (wait a moment... I need to take a sip of my drink)... breathe out the bad panicky air... breathe in the positive juju...  I've done it... and I'm thrilled.  I know the next year is going to be a wild ride.

I'm kind of a sentimental traditionalist... and once I finished signing all the bloody documents I needed to sign to make this thing happen... I refused to step into the house without Bill carrying me over the threshold.  Now mind you... I DO know how much I weigh... and I DO know how old my hub is... so I did ASK him before I caved to my sentimental traditional shizzle... You can see HE had to practice the Lamaze I used all week to get my ever expanding white butt over the threshold.  It was a joint effort with the red head handing me bubbles and taking pictures... and me holding onto Bill and the bottle for dear life... but we did it... and it's official... and my husband is NOT in traction at the local hospital... thanks for asking...

Those of you that know us have been watching us send each other love notes on Facebook this past month... as in "I'd love this in the kitchen" or "I'd love this in the bathroom"... ummm wait... maybe that was just me sending Bill a whole list of wishes that I'd love him to miraculously complete this next year... from the kitchen, to the bathroom... to the fire-pit outside...

(Sidebar- we get that fire-pit going and you see us out there drinking... there will always be a drink for a friend or neighbor... come join us... Additional sidebar- you see us working and want to check out our progress... come in... and you'll be handed whatever tool we're using for that day and you'll be free labor... but you'll get a beer for your efforts... xoxo)

I've digressed... I tend to do that.  Listening to me is like trying to follow a ping pong ball... but I promise, I'll come around to the point... in a minute or two...  So... it's been a pipe dream for me for a LONG time to find an old house and rehab it.  I'm somewhere between the couple on Home Town and Nicole Curtis on Rehab Attic.  I love all things old (thus my hub lol)... our home is filled with antiques from 1880-1920... so this house is a LONG time coming in my pipe dreams, and I'm kinda shocked I've done it.  I told Bill today that I just paid a big chunk of change for our neighbor... The house is going to take a minute to shine.

I think what's hardest for me... is to focus on one spot and say "this is going to be fixed first".  Bill is doing that part of the job... the keep us on point part... well and the actual fixing the honey do list... and... well he's doing everything really...  I'm looking inside the house and I know that's his gig... and then I look at the garden and I'm chomping at the bit to cut down the dead trees, put in a fence and plant fruit trees, hydrangeas and my garden... but I know we've got to do the inside work (and toss everything into a roll off dumpster)... and then we've got to fix the exterior (and toss everything into a roll off dumpster)... before I can build a fence and fix the garden... Do you know how hard WAITING is for an only child?  I want it... NOW...

Which, is why... things didn't quite go the way they were supposed to go today.  Bill and I are working the next two weeks and we're planning on getting that roll off dumpster there mid April.  I told him that he couldn't start the demo until BOTH of us were in town.  We agreed to that.  Together.  Yet I signed for that house... we had our bubbly with the red head... and we were waiting for our locksmith... Bill was in what will be the "she shed" and I was in that kitchen... and I grabbed a hammer... and I knocked out a piece of wood... in heeled booties, jeans and a peasant blouse... yeah I'm DRESSED for demolition... I grabbed that wood and ran outside to Bill... and screamed "Game on!!!" or something to that point... and next thing I knew we were DEMOLISHING shit we didn't like... I actually did a Chip Gaines and put my bootie through a wall... and it felt... AMAZING.

I walked out of the kitchen while Bill was continuing the demolition that I started and I heard him say "watch that one... she walks out innocently and she sees a squirrel and next thing I know there's another project..."  I had NO CLUE what he was talking about of course... I didn't SEE a squirrel.  I knew that it was hiding in the bathroom so I simply went LOOKING for it... with a screw driver... and I started removing the gazillion cabinets in there... and he came and helped me... and I sweetly walked into the living room with the same screw driver and my flash light... and he found me attacking the fireplace mantle (aka the 80s waterbed headboard) with a fervor... and that came down... In the mean time Cherie is tearing off the wall paper in the dining room...  it was a mad dash by all to dissemble everything that had bothered us...  and again... it felt.. AMAZING.

Now I did not succeed on one course... I actually tried to hammer a wall switch that everyone hated... no one watched me do it... and I failed... that  Mary Engelbreit ceramic switch plate was indestructible.  I'm going to have to attack it with a screw driver tomorrow... but it's the next thing that's going.

I'm going to leave y'all now with a small dusty spot we found as we were taking down one of the cabinets...  a perfect heart... which says sooo much about how I feel about this place's potential... and my ever suffering hubby...

Keep with us as we blog this whole home's journey of going back to the future...

...and one last note... MoonCrest will not be keeping this pole that Bill is convinced is a 'stripper pole'... but it made him happy for a minute... and I didn't kill myself trying it out... so... life is good...

A Crows New Roost

This is one of those blogs that's bittersweet.  We've been thrilled to be at the Queen for the past year and are ever so grateful that they welcomed us home.  That said we have an announcement to make... yet again.. our lives are changing... we're following where we are led and trusting in the decisions we've made... Heather changed airlines in January- she left her home of 10 years to find another home in a company that she believes is strong enough to withstand the ever changing ever evolving airline industry for another 40+ years...  While she finds her footing at her new company she's got less time to put into our business...

We've announced that as of March 31, 2018, we'll be out of the antiques business.  We're taking a wee break from it all.  For those of you that love antiquing we whole heartedly support the Queen of Hearts in any of their locations (Marietta, Alpharetta and Buford).  Stacey and Jim Anderson know what they are doing and have developed a business plan that can not be matched in the Atlanta area.

Those of you that know us, know that we can't sit still... so the real announcement is that we've found what we believe will be our 'forever home'.  Heather's best friend bought a house in Woolsey last summer... and while Heather was in training at her new company her friend told her that the house next door was for sale.  Heather came home from training, grabbed Bill and said "Ok.... lets go look at this place to appease the crazy red head"... no intentions of moving or buying a place... and they went down to Woolsey to say "ok and no"... only to find themselves faced with the house they'd dreamed of renovating...  Before they left Heather was on the phone with the bank and a realtor to just verify that this pipe dream might actually be a reality.

On March 28th, we're closing on that pipe dream... It's a 1905 farmhouse on just under 2 acres, right next door to Heather's favorite crazy red head and her 2.5 acres...  It's a house that was built semi Victorian and semi Craftsman...  and was remuddled in the 50s with horrid siding and pine floors over beautiful original dark oak floors... It's screaming for a renovation... that Heather and Bill have wanted to do... and it's also screaming to be part of a revitalization of central Woolsey... in a town of 150 people that want to stay connected to their past...

This town was meant for us.

Stay tuned as we blog our renovation... with before and afters... we hope that you'll live through us and be inspired by us in our pseudo Chip and Jo styles (minus the all white)... We've given ourselves 14 months to do this remodel and a healthy budget that we hope we'll stay under... and after.... we have another project that we're potentially looking at once this is done... and we think you'll cheer... but that's for 2020...

Until then... stay tuned As the Crows Fly turn an old property into MoonCrest...