Progress is always preceeded by toxic dust

Lots has been happening this week. We demo'd the bathroom and built a new storage and laundry area. Got the tub all buffed out (looks like new!), the new window in (second one, first one was ordered wrong, then broke) and the new hardibacker in place for tile. Some of the walls have been prepped for texture, which is the next step (Kyle dry sanded the walls, which coated everything with an inch of dust, including his eyebrows and hair- now I know what he'll look like at 70 :) I think we'll be wet sanding the remaining ones).

Good thing the tile experts Nolan and Joanne are finally arriving in Austin this weekend to help!! My parents came up last weekend, and we really got a lot done in a day and a half. Gary singlehandedly finished up the exterior paint while Kyle patched the carport roof. Sibyl potted and planted til she was pooped. And she made the best blueberry cobbler ever from my aunt and uncle's blueberries. Yum.

Today the wonderful kitchen counter went in, which I thought would be a relatively dustless process- wrong. They cut the hole for the sink in the driveway, and did some drilling in the house, too, which made it look like a bad day in Los Angeles in here. Mix that with the polyester resin adhesive fumes and you've got a wonderful cocktail that leaves your mouth gritty and your throat burning, not that I stuck around long. We love the result, though, thanks Denise!

I thought about posting several days ago when I was in a horrible mood, but decided against it. I recently read a post about someone who has already moved to NZ, and they said that the emotional ups and downs were killing them. Mostly it was losing the self-esteem boost of having a job and feeling like a competent member of society. That feeling, mixed with being absolutely *sick* of renovating was really washing over me. Somehow it seems like this phase of our lives will go on forever, and I can't really seem to find the motivation... all my get-up-and-go got up and went. I honestly don't think I could do it without Kyle and I's parents help at this point. Which really scares me that we're moving so far away, and we've still got plenty of hard challenges ahead of us- possibly building another home, having a child?!? Luckily Kyle can usually bouy me up when I feel down and vise versa. And we've met so many wonderful people who are actually *also* moving from Austin to NZ! Just yesterday in line at Central Market I met another young woman seriously looking into it. Maybe it'll be easier than I think....