Not Quite What I Expected…

Tags

DIY, going with the flow, home improvement, publishing, unexpected, unpredictability

My hubs and I are DIYers. He’s a fabulous handyman and I am really good at cracking jokes and running to fetch tools and giving opinions about color and design. Really good, though I have run a drill and saws and am super good with a tape measure.

We have ripped apart and redone two houses now. For some reason we’re drawn to things that need us, that we can put our stamp on. Kitchens. Bathrooms. Dry wall. Tile. Wood flooring. Windows. Heck we built a whole garage. Okay…mostly hubs did it. BUT I HELPED.

Last weekend we ripped up the decking from our front porch, so we could put down new decking! Beautiful, composite decking without splinters, without nails popping up trying to kill me, without ever needing to be painted.

Simple.

Well…

After countless projects, I have learned tons, but one thing stands out.

You can plan. You can have expectations. Then throw them all away and be prepared to go with the flow.

Because as we tore up the floor…

Part of the framing was rotted.

Okay…we wondered about that, so we’ll fix it.

The stairs were worse than we thought and we have ripped them off completely.

In order to get the stairs redone, we took off the railing.

After taking off the railing, hubs told me he hates the railings, they weren’t built well, and we’ll have to repaint them, so…

Let’s replace the railings…

Oh dear.

That wasn’t quite the plan.

But when has home improvement ever followed the plan? For us? Never. So we shouldn’t have been surprised. And we weren’t, but we were a bit disappointed because once…just once, it would be great if it was as simple as take this off and put this on.

However, this a life lesson. Because when does anything go as planned? Sometimes, maybe, but not always.

As I navigate the world of publishing, I am reminded of this lesson. No one can predict what will happen. No one can tell you for certain that the schedule will remain unscathed.  No one can ensure that everything will get done on time. Life is weird. It can throw a whole lotta mess at you.

The frame needs to be redone? You got it.

So if you have to replace the railings? Get it done, one step at a time.