Journal Entry 1- September, Drowning, and Checklists

Dear Diary,

Yes we are alive. But barely. This has been the most challenging month to date. We have had great moments and not so great moments. The great moments? Our anniversary which we almost forgot and getting the kitchen almost finished. The not so great moments? Re-doing things that were supposedly finished and having unexpected costs come to light.

This September last year we began our house hunting. Can you believe we have been at this for a year? We've been climbing our version of Mt. Everest for a whole year and counting. Buying a house in LA has been quite a journey. Don't get me wrong, I have no regrets and I would never take it back. I am very proud that we own a home here. And I LOVE the home we ended up with. We have accomplished a huge feat and to those who have purchased in Los Angeles, you understand completely what I mean by that. However, we are ready to get back to life.

This month has been hard. We are still not unpacked. It's one thing to have books and knick knacks in boxes. But when you have clothes and shoes still in bags it creates chaos. It's hard to concentrate when your stuff is in disarray. We don't have closets in our bedroom and won't for a while and that is proving to be difficult. I never realized the little things I have taken for granted. Imagine all your clothes, shoes, undergarments, in plastic bags surrounded by the unpacked boxes of knick knacks and you will have a peek into our lives. Anyone feel like they are choking yet just thinking about it?

We made a checklist of things that have to get done. And they will get done in due time. We were putting so much pressure on ourselves to get everything finished that we felt like we were drowning. I still feel incredibly overwhelmed. And I have come to terms with the fact that I will continue to feel like that for a while. But we have prioritized. It's one thing at a time from now on.

Checklist

1. ORGANIZE OFFICE CLOSET
   
2. ORGANIZE ALL OF THE COMPONENTS IN THE LIVING ROOM
   
3. GET CLOSETS IN OUR BEDROOM BUT ONLY AFTER WE PAY OUR TAXES IN OCTOBER.
   
4. PUT CLOTHES IN CLOSETS SO WE CAN CLEAR THE OFFICE
5. PAINT THE OFFICE
6. SET UP THE OFFICE
7. PURCHASE MISSING CROWN MOLDING THAT OUR FIRST CONTRACTOR THREW OUT.
8. GET BLINDS AND CURTAINS
   
9. FENCE (OH THOSE PESKY NEIGHBORS)
10. PUT IN A WORKING FIREPLACE
    
11. GET A PROPER BED
12. SET UP DINING ROOM
    
13. PAINT THE HOUSE EVENTUALLY...
    
14. LANDSCAPING EVENTUALLY...
15. SELL THE HOUSE... MAYBE?
    

Welcome Back

Yes, we know, it's been a while. We apologize. Good news is we are still alive. Bad news is... the stress finally caught up with us. The Mister and I have been ill. From eye styes, to ulcers, to everything in between. Stress will do that.

In the meantime, since we can't be out and about and are bedridden, we figured we would post away. We have some things we can update you on. Nothing exciting. More like places where we have found excellent deals and little projects we have done here and there.

Regardless of the outcome on our home, we still need to have our materials ready to go. When we finally do start back up on the home (lord willing), we don't want to have one more reason to stall the project.

We have found some amazing deals here in Los Angeles as well as over the internet that we would love to share. Hopefully you may find some of it helpful.

Smoke and Mirrors

Today we went to the Architect's office and he didn't have good news. To any and all who are going to buy a fixer and or who plan to make any changes to their homes please check your city's permit requirements. Each city has different rules.

If anyone tells you, "Hey don't worry about it, you don't need permits" don't take their word for it. In the city we are working in, you need a permit to fart in your own house. You can't even change a toilet without a permit. We were led to believe that we had nothing to worry about and now we are paying a big price for it.

When plans were drawn to make our house into a proper two bedroom home, like anyone in our shoes, we got excited. I had visions of tile and floors and paint and closets. Turns out the city won't allow extra square footage to be added. Had we known this, we would have saved ourselves a lot of grief, time and money.

Where are we now? Well according to the architect, because we demolished without a permit, we may not get the space back that we tore down. So even though we paid for a two bedroom house, this hiccup may have now cost us that 2nd bedroom. We have been demoted. Welcome to our Monday!

I cried like a baby in that office today. I felt so stupid but I couldn't hold it in. As he handed me a kleenex the architect says, "You should have come to me before you did anything. Why did you do this?" We acted out of faith, and we trusted in the advice given to us. I feel stupid but more than anything I am unbelievably angry.

The only sure bet in my life is The Mister. Of anything or anyone else I am not certain of. This quite possibly has to be the worst month in my life. When is it going to be over?

Divine Intervention Needed

As you all know we are trying to avoid getting nicked by the city. We went yesterday and lucked out, no citation. I hope we can get permits this week. The wait is hard, but if we can make it to the end of this week we should be fine. It sucks knowing your luck is about to run out, I pray to God, it doesn't. If a person takes a peek at the back we're screwed. The back of the house is missing. I hope the nosey people in the neighborhood don't call the city. I have never been so exposed in all my life. I am still waiting for the engineer to call, i hope he pulls through, if not it's plan B. I still can't believe i am in this situation. To all reading say this out loud. "Dear God please help the housestupids they really need your help. Amen"

One Step Forward 20 Steps Back

So you remember all that work we did? The beautiful trenches for the foundation? How "far along" we were? Well we are right back to where we started.



The Mister took me to see a movie yesterday. Smart move since it starred Gael Garcia Bernal. I'm on cloud nine enjoying being back until he takes me to the house where an 8 ton dumpster full of dirt is parked in our driveway. Huh that's weird!



I asked just how much of the 8 tons we had to shovel. He never gives me an answer. So I shoveled, trying my best to hold it together and not cry from pent up anger. We didn't finish and it felt like we only put a tiny dent in the hours that we worked.



Today my back hurts, my arms burn, and my hands are blisterd, the skin on them thin. We shovel again. This time until the 8 ton dumpster is empty and the trenches filled. I couldn't feel my hands until I poured water on them which felt like acid rain. Not even the joy from watching a beautiful movie yesterday makes up for it.



Never have I wanted to yell "I told you so" in the loudest voice I can muster.

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STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE

Before you break my heart, think it oh oh over.

We need to think it over. Turns out the city we are doing our remodel in are super sticklers. They have the hardest hitting city planners / inspectors in the LA area. We had no clue, we should have known, but hindsight is not only 20/20, it's worthless. We are in the shit. In the trenches digging for dear life to put back 8 tons of dirt back into the ground before the city inspectors come down on me like a 300 pound jail mate. I feel like Macgyver using camo techniques to escape detection. We have an engineer/architect drafting some plans to get the approval from the city. They should be ready to go tomorrow. We are in limbo and i can feel the flames licking me.

This blog is called house stupid for a reason

This last week I learned a ton by the cost of being rash, hubris got
the best of us. I have been too tired to post. But i will tonight.

Going to have breakfast with the beautiful misses who is back. Stay
tuned.

This Pots A Boiled

The Mister filled me in on yesterday's events. I was livid, angry, and felt let down. I was stressed about my job and then this curveball hit me like a ton of bricks.

I don't do well with surprises especially when they involve an investment in which I have dumped every penny to my name. An investment in which every cent has been accounted for and has a place in our budget. Shortcuts don't exist.

Today The Mister spoke to the city. I'm glad I wasn't there because not only would I have been devastated and completely destroyed but the lid to this boiling pot would have finally blown. He says there might be a way to work it out. I trust him and I hope he is right. Once again its The Mister and me against the world. I miss Texas. I miss my family and I miss my friends. Over and out!
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