Messmaker, Messmaker, Make Me a Mess
Posted on March 16, 2010 Posted by John Scalzi 27 Comments
Behold the front room of our house, which at the moment holds a toilet and a bathroom sink in it, both relocated from the downstairs bathroom, which today along with the front hall and at least part of the kitchen is being refloored. On the chairs you can see some of the contents of the hall closet, which is also being refloored. I’d show you the kitchen, but then I suspect Krissy would murder me. The fact is, the house is a real mess. But necessarily so; things simply have to be moved around when you’re putting down new floors, and there’s not much point arguing the necessity.
Our house will in fact be in a more or less constant state of mess for the next couple of weeks as things get moved out of rooms into other rooms, and then moved back into rooms with then other stuff as those rooms in turn get new floors/carpets. This was in fact one of the reasons why my office was the first room to be done; while people are crawling around the house, constantly moving stuff, I can hide in my room. Works for me. At least, until the cabinet maker comes to do the bookshelves. Then who knows what I’ll do with myself. I suppose I’ll worry about it then.
“Then who knows what I’ll do with myself.”
I think dunkin donuts has free wifi now.
Also, Donuts.
Dude, those two chairs either have a most unusual pattern on the cushions…or the most horrible stains imaginable.
Only three weeks? Heaven! We added two rooms and a garage to our house a few years back. We had random workmen running around our house for over a year.
We redid both our bathrooms and I did all the tiling myself, which proves definitively that you are a smarter man than I.
“Then who knows what I’ll do with myself.”
You might have to take your laptop to a coffee shop and try to fool people.
People forget that I live in the middle of nowhere. We have no Dunkin’ Donuts. There is finally a coffeeshop, but it’s, like, part time. And no internet connectivity. It’s savage.
You could get your self a mobile internet stick and then you could be only one in the coffee shop with internet connection :)
Or if your data plan on your cell phone is big enough you could tether you cell phone and use that as your internet…. Just thowing it out here.
Only other idea I had is you could help him install stuff might be fun!
I scoff at your definition of a mess. I have a 2 yr. old and a 4 yr. old in the house. If it’s not setting in a stain, everything’s cool. Get back to me if it ever rains yogurt in your house.
@DP
John can’t help it. He has one child and an active, organized wife. I am not sure he can fully comprehend the exponential growth of messes with more than one child in a house. Although, I may be wrong . . . he DOES have cats, you know.
John@5: “And no internet connectivity. It’s savage.”
Suddenly a few scenes in The Ghost Brigades sound like they draw on personal experience. Scary.
MUCH better. All that clean flooring in your office was distressing to me.
PS: Don’t flush on the carpet.
you could go cow tipping.
Heh. Your ‘mess’ seems substantially better organized than many of the messes I’ve participated in. I will see your remodeling project and raise you a weekly Toddler Storytime with crafts to follow. One main difference is that none of your participants will need a diaper change, often done in the middle of the library floor. Toilet in the living room notwithstanding.
I will not be impressed until everything, including the kitchen sink, is in the living room.
Are you doing wood in your bathroom, too, or is it going to be a different flooring?
John Scalzi @ 5
Isn’t your library still civilized? Or did the funding cuts eighty-six the wifi?
That’s what you call a mess? Oh please, I agree, you’re not even in the junior leagues. Where are all Athena’s six-year-old toys that you’ve never gotten around to getting rid of? Why in the world is there nothing on those wicker-back chairs? Why are those photos and artwork in frames? And seriously, where is the dog and cat hair? You have four pets. We shouldn’t be able to see the carpet.
(Your office looks lovely.)
I live in Connecticut. We have a Dunkin’ Donuts every five blocks. I’ll send you one. Maybe one of the two we have in the local train station.
Re-flooring or carpeting is like the worst of actually moving; all the hassle with none of the excitement of a new home.
Rick York@18
I dunno. I would be very excited about that beautiful floor.
Speaking of stuff and more stuff… With all the anticipated flooding in more than a third of the U.S…. is your other stuff safe in the basement?
Yes, we’re fine here.
Bradford OH looks far from urban. Drove through that area once when I was living in Columbus, and thought it looked like a quiet place to live. Good luck with the office, looks great so far.
Oh yeah, love your books. Write some more, I’m running out of good books to read.
We did all of the floors upstairs (t and g oak) a few months ago. To prove that we were still idiots, we just finished doing all of the floors downstairs in tile. WHich morphed into a tile shower downstairs and a kitchen redo.
We are just now getting our act back together. I feel your pain. It will be worth it.
I just have to chuckle at the title of this post. My mother used to sing those exact words when any of us kids (there are 6 of us) would make a mess of the house. I think I heard that song (almost) daily for a decade or so.
I have to agree that when I was younger, I use to make a mess of everything especially in the living room, kitchen, and the backyard. The funny part is that now that I am an adult and all grown up, I still have that bad habit of making a mess. I am strongly trying to get my home a real needed makeover and get it repaired because it is an old house built in 1931.
Do you keep icons of Saint Thomas More around for occasional veneration, or is that just a graduation photo?
I’m am intrigued by your used of the term front room. I have never heard of that until I started dating my husband 25 years ago. My mother in law called what I called the livingroom the front room. You are the second person to use that term. Maybe I’m living under a rock. I figured it was a Chicago term???