Our House. Is A Very, Very, Very Fine House.

I don't pretend to know anything about buying a house nor do I profess to know about remodeling a house. All I can assume from being at Brother Mike's house yesterday is that I'm definitely glad I avoided home ownership thus far in my life. Let's face it, unless I win Powerball I'm not going to be in a position to build a house. Therefore, I would have no choice but to do what Mike did and that is buy someone else's dump and try to patch it together into a livable space.

I truly believe that there are people who are gifted enough to work with their hands, backs, knees, etc. and those who are good at sitting at a desk and barking orders. I'm cleary carved from the ilk of the latter. And I'm damn good at it. I believe there are people who you should pay to do the physical labor on a home remodel, not just because I'm lazy, but because I'm not sure I have any idea what I'm doing. I did what I could to lend a hand, sadly I missed the bulk of the panelling dismantle, but there were plenty of rug tacks to remove tediously from the staircase heading upstairs. Plus that panelling glue wasn't going to remove itself from the walls. All in all, I'm sure many others that were there did more and are capable of more than I ever will be. And good for Mike that he has brothers, cousins and friends that are willing to lend a hand to help his family begin their life together as a real family with a house and all. It looks like a big fucking money pit/mess to me now, but I'm sure Mike feels essentially like this, "IT'S MY MESS!" And he should. It has been a long, exhausting battle to find a house and it appears as though finding it was the first of many more battles to come to get it operational, however I'm happy that he is on his way.

So no matter how much my arms ache and my back throbs today, I know that I did what I could to make his and his family's life just a tiny bit better. To share in this new beginning is a thrill, even if the place needs way more work than I think anyone expected and there isn't enough money to make it happen. Fuck it. At least it's a start.