MASTER SUITE: NOW WITH WALLS!

Master bedroom ceiling, with beams salvaged from the attic

Last Thursday (the 19th) we finally got a call from the drywall guy after several days of silence following our missed appointment. He said he was finally sending a crew on Sunday to hang the sheetrock in our master suite. The timing was not ideal -- we were scheduled to have out-of-town friends coming to visit this weekend. However, not wanting to miss our window of opportunity, we said we could make that work. After all, our guests were scheduled to leave relatively early on Sunday, so it would only disrupt the visit a little bit.

The very next morning -- Friday -- at 6:45am, I was sitting on the couch in the living room, finishing up my morning quiet time and getting myself motivated for the day ahead. I glanced up to see two strange men out in the yard, peering up at the house and trying to see in the windows. Ez had already left for work, so I was on my own to figure this out and/or fend them off if necessary.

The guys hadn't seen me, so I crouched down behind the couch and got a good look at them as I assessed the situation. No need to panic, I thought. They look like harmless construction workers. Still hunched over and trying not to be seen, I stealthily made my way to the front door and peeked out at their truck. Definitely construction workers.

"Can I help you?" I called from the porch, realizing too late that I was still in my pajamas, bra-less and bewildered.

"Is this the place with the drywall?" one of them asked.

"Ummm... yes," I said.

And that's the story of how the weekend got a little crazy.

Master bedroom: now with walls!

They told me they couldn't come on Sunday after all, but they were free that very day if we could accommodate them.

"Ummm... okay," I said. And why not? A little construction project would only add to the excitement! (I kept telling myself.)

So we regrouped, with Ez (who was en route to work) giving me (who was still in my pj's) last minute instructions over the phone while the drywall guys got set up. The crew of two worked for 13 exhausting hours straight so they could finish the job in one day. They left a little after 8pm, just a few minutes before our weekend guests arrived, bearing smiling faces, good conversation and gifts of delicious microbrews (not to mention pumpkin cookie dough) all the way from Vermont. It was a good day and an even better night.

Doorways from left to right: laundry room, walk-in closet and linen closet

Unfortunately everything in the whole house was (and still is) covered in a fine layer of white dust, because as you can see, the guys had to make about 1 million cuts in order to work around the beams and roof pitches. Our guests were super gracious (thanks Zach and Melissa!) about the mess and how they had to navigate around the mattress and boxspring temporarily blocking the main hallway every time they had to use the bathroom. (That's why they're our friends.)

Office ceiling with exposed duct and beams

A lesser woman may have freaked out by the complete upheaval of our house and our plans, but since I'm awesome I had only minor feelings of shame and stress. (Excitement about another big task checked off the list will do that.) I can't imagine how many weeks and marriage counseling sessions it would've taken Ez and me to hang all this drywall ourselves. Many many.

Laundry room, with a planked wall just for fun

Now we wait for news on when the finishing crew will be arriving. I hope it's soon, because we've unplugged the dryer until this is all finished and I've got a basket of dirty laundry getting so tall it's threatening to overtake us all. Plus, as soon as the spackling is done, we can paint the walls, finish the floors and move our giddy selves in.

Office area

So that's the story of how we finally got walls in our master suite and how our house entered an entirely new state of disarray. But whatever. At this point, we'll do what it takes to keep moving forward and clean up the messes later.