Devon and I and our kids, four at the time, spent almost a year traveling the world. We visited Nanning and Hong Kong, in China…
Manila and Bagiuo in the Philippines and Hawaii.
Then I visited South Africa
and our family took a trip to Ireland.
Before our year excursion, we had sold our coffee shop, our house and all of our belongings. We were open to whatever adventure lay ahead!
We weren’t sure where we’d land after we were done…but, when our travel time was up, we found ourselves in a fixer upper in Baltimore City. The house was old and had tons of personality, but work needed to be done from roof to basement.
We have spent the past 5 years replacing the roof, laying a driveway, re-doing the kitchen and three bathrooms, water proofing the entire basement and refinishing it and the list goes on.
Now, before our travels, my husband was in the restaurant industry…not the home renovation business. But, after working on our home, he switched careers.
About three years ago, he decided to take the leap from restaurant management to home remodeling. He now guts complete houses and renovates them.
As I look back at the journey we’ve been on, it amazes me how the choices we make can prepare us for the future. It prepared us for a major career change.
But…it didn’t prepare us for this.
About a week ago, I woke up to the dog barking. I got up to take her out. I opened my bedroom door to walk into a sauna with a hissing sound coming from my kitchen. As I glanced in the kitchen, I saw water…major water.
I called my husband’s name, in that tone of voice that signals an emergency, he bounded out of bed and I proceeded to put the leash on the dog and go for a walk. I knew it was bad.
This bad.
This is our basement…our already remodeled, french drained basement. We didn’t think to “french drain” the ceiling.
This is what came in when we called water abatement.
Our home will go through another major remodel. It will end up being a blessing and an even greater improvement…but a bit stressful. My kitchen is getting gutted (the sub floors are ruined), my basement redone and while we are at it…we will finish what renovations we were already working on…laying hardwood on my entire first floor, taking down a ceiling and removing a gas fireplace.
Don’t worry, I’ll keep you posted. I’m ready for a new chapter. I’m ready for my lemon to be turned to lemonade. Just understand if my excitement is tempered with a bit of angst. It’s gonna be a long couple of months.
