Memorable Summer Moments (Post 1)

This is not a typical top ten summer moments list...at least not typical for me. 

In my last post I called our summer “the lost summer.” And yet, as I look back we managed to certainly build memories, just not in the typical summer-recreational way. And so, during this first week of the 2015 school year, I want to pay tribute to our summer with a top 5 list.

Top Summer Memorable Moments:

#1 The House

It’s really quite amazing to watch a house built. I remember walking the perimeter of the giant hole in the ground last fall, careful to not step too close to the edge. The sheerness of the in-the-ground walls seemed to defy everything I knew about dirt. I tried to imagine a basement and house in its place. Then we watched the cement, framing, wiring, plumbing…all the layers of work. The process seemed sluggish at times, like trying to watch the earth rotate. And at other times (especially during the roof and siding installation), the progress seemed magical in its speed.

One favorite part of the building process for the kids was the massive dirt pile. While Owen and I worked or met with our builder, Thomas, the kids played fort or “Lord of the Rings” or army out on the dirt pile. Shoes came back coated with red clay. Legs and arms wore a thin film of red dust. It nearly broke Charlotte’s heart when we told her the dirt mound was not a permanent part of the new
house.

One of the least-favorite (but memorable) parts of building was our brilliant decision to save money and paint the entire house ourselves. Owen and I have done lots of painting during our married lives, so we thought (naively) how hard can painting a house be? Let me tell you…we were unprepared for the hours and hours and hours of work.

First, picking the paint. This was a painstaking process. I credit my husband with patience beyond anything I’ve ever seen from him. Thirteen test colors of gray on my walls before I fell in love with Benjamin Moore’s Stonington Gray. Best color ever!! 

It took seven blues before choosing three different ones (I couldn't pick just one) to go in the master bedroom, the office, and mudroom.

Then there was the family room paint fiasco. Owen painted an entire room before I decided it was the wrong color. He and Grandad, with great patience and love, repainted the room. We eventually went with the lighter color: a beautiful Benjamin Moore Edgecomb gray, and I'm soooo glad we made the change!

Then came the trim. Every baseboard. Every window. Every door. (They're still not done). And the hated, loathed, cursed closets! How I hate painting closets (they’re also still not done).

But I loved painting with Elise. We sang Christmas songs and hymns to pass the time. And on the 4^th of July weekend we enjoyed the company of the Petersons and Tyler Davis who helped us make progress.

I could go on and on about picking tiles, hours spent online looking at lighting options, and sitting for 10 hours with Kim at Home Depot crunching numbers and making adjustments to fit our cabinets budget. But perhaps those moments are not worth remembering. They are the clutter of my summer. The lost hours. I’d rather remember the moments with my family…of Charlotte wearing red dust from head-to-toe, of Owen and Grandad returning home after a painting day, covered in paint, looking like they’d returned from an expedition to the top of Mount Everest, and of Christmas hymns in July with Elise.