Mindset Shift

My kitchen. The wall where the stove was was where what I think was a rat's nest was located. It was a decent size nest with a lot of large pellets.

Underneath the old pantry. When you can't catch the mouse, just keep throwing traps down.

The staircase after my husband stripped off the ugly, smelly, green carpet.

 I was originally going to write about all the ups and downs we've experienced since we bought the property and there have been a lot!

• No Keys to get in! The seller's lawyer or the banker (not sure which) gave the keys to someone else! Got a lot of "I've never heard of something like that happening!"
• Having to break down a door to get in the next day- see bullet above (I've been living with a door with a plywood cover now for a month). Normally it wouldn't be that big a deal but we had a structural engineer booked for that morning.....
• Paid for our well to be refurbished and adding all of the equipment to keep our water drinkable (a bank requirement) and then were told we would have to drill a new well since it was too close to our existing septic after the septic plan came back (could that be why our e. coli reading was through the roof? Or was that just because the water had been sitting in the pipes for year?) 
• Paid for two days of house cleaning for a whopping $1800 (and that wasn't the entire house!) It did smell much better and was much cleaner but $1800! Every time I wash this house all I get is more dirty water. It's like it oozes brown goo.....There is an arc on the wall where my son Peter washed where you can actually see a colour change on the wall....
• We have a 50 year old single chamber 500 gallon septic tank with a pump. We were told it would not be big enough for a family of three and to replace it. When our septic plan came back we were told the cost for our septic replacement had more than doubled to over $60000+!
• Our Pedlar tin roof got painted so it leaks much less (but it isn't completely dry! A problem to solve for next year when we can get back up on the roof- in the meantime we have buckets.)
• Our house has got some of the jacks in place...waiting for another rainy day so more will be put in place...
• All the plaster lathe that isn't cracked now will be after the jacking is done.
• Our Energuide Report indicates that my heating bill will remain the same whether I leave the doors and windows wide open or close them...
• Our sump pump seems to be a shallow dip in the ground...my husband has sent for some foundation guys to have a look....
• I have cluster flies and box elder beetles all over the inside of my house- my husband thoughtfully put mosquito netting all around the bed... I now have fly tape hanging in my office with flies stuck to it. Ewww! In the attic I have a can of Doktor Doom spraying out every 15 minutes in the attic.....I find I sweep dead insects up every day. I weep at the thought of never getting rid of them like some websites say. It seems to get rid of the box elder beetles I am going to have to chop down all the maple trees??????
• Me and DampRid have become best friends - I have a bag hanging in every room slowly sucking up the moisture and a dehumidifier running all the time upstairs. And I need to change out some of the bags already. 
• Our oil tank has been condemned (we knew it was going to have to be replaced) but our 20 year old oil furnace is in good shape. Still waiting for the guy who condemned it to give us a quote for a new tank. In the meantime we are exploring geothermal, solar, etc.
• The electrician told us the two wires our inspector identified as aluminum are not! Yeah! Except our septic tank pump wire is aluminum. 75 feet of wire to dig up and replace....
• We don't need a new panel if we go for a propane furnace, but we do if we go for an electric furnace.
• I have the previous owner's fridge in my kitchen. It still works but has gotten all moldy inside since my husband unplugged it and they didn't clean it before they left. I am going to have my husband and son drag it outside so I clean it and send it to the ReStore if they will have it. I know I am being grumpy about it but I hate the thought of spending my weekend time cleaning out someone else's moldy leavings. I am not going to clean the stove- as far as I can see I can just send it for scrap metal. I know what the rat was nesting behind and I don't want to touch it. 
• I have cleaned out multiple nests of animals- chipmunks, rat and mouse so far- haven't found the squirrel but I know it is up there. Have heavily invested in mothballs. We moved in too late in the season to be able to plug all the holes but have bought yards of copper mesh to shove into the holes that we can get to. Caught one mouse in the extension- not in the main house.
• All of my food is locked away in either metal or heavy duty plastic containers.
• I have no kitchen- and won't until the house is jacked. 

Needless to say it feels like we are bleeding money and we've only owned the place a month. Rant over!

The mindset shift came today while my husband was driving me home after work. We had been discussing the pros and cons of an incinerating toilet, vs a composting toilet vs a low flush toilet and whether we would be able to sell the house if we put in a no water toilet option with greywater system. He looked at me and said, "Act like we are not going to sell this house." 

For the 39 years we have been married, I have always known that whatever I move into, I will be selling. His career demanded it. I have decorated, bought all of my appliances, organized my yard, etc., everything, based on the fact that this is not my permanent address and that I will have to sell. No funky colours on the walls. Nothing outrageous. And that the time I have in the space could be 10 months, a year,  2 years, 5 years, who knows but be ready to get out in less than a month if required. 

So now I am going to have to learn something new. How to stay and live in one place and plan a project over the long term. How to pace my renovations so that they get done without being overwhelming. Maybe, just maybe, learn to relax.