Burning Candle from Both Ends

Lately I've felt like I've been burning the candle from both ends. At home. At work. Within my family sphere. With my husband. I'm just exhausted. And to top it off, I've been sick.

I spent my entire February school vacation sick. It started off with a drop in my temperature to a chilly 95.3 degrees. I'm one of those dumb-asses who refuses to see a doctor unless I'm dead or dying, and I wasn't quite dying yet, although there were moments I certainly felt like it. A low temperature, loss of appetite, exhausted, headache and body aches, loss of all sense of smell and taste, popping ears... all I wanted to do was sleep.

Unfortunately, life had other ideas. And so did my husband. Now don't get me wrong, if I complained that I didn't feel well, my husband insisted I lay down and relax. However, I have a hard time relaxing when my husband is banging in the next room or busting his ass working on a house project while I sit in bed with my feet up like a queen.

As soon as my darling dearest realized we'd get a decent tax refund, he immediately began plotting. And planning. And plotting some more. If he wins the lottery, he's got every penny spent already!

We long ago decided that should the money ever appear on our money tree, that we'd like to replace our nasty, kitty-and-puppy-bodily-fluid-stained carpets in all three of our bedrooms with hardwoods. We made this decision based on several factors. One being that the baby blue carpets were original to our house built in 2000. And two that my husband is insistent that he has allergies to our animals and he's hoping that the less carpeting that attracts cat fur, the fewer issues he'll have with these allergies. I personally think he's crazy and he has allergies to common sense and intelligence sometimes, but I'll gave him the benefit of the doubt and agreed to hardwood the floors.

We priced out flooring several weeks ago. But when my husband discovered flooring nearly identical to the one we chose but for $1.20/square foot cheaper, he bought it immediately. Twenty three boxes of it.

My husband can't just sit on anything. If he gets a new tool, he needs to use it right away. If he buys a new "toy," he's got to play with it immediately. Well, 23 boxes of hardwood flooring needed to be installed as-soon-as-humanly-possible-because-my-husband-has-no-patience-at-all.

The day after we bought the hardwood flooring, I called home on my way home from work and my husband had decided to use his lunch break to start tearing up the carpets in 2 of 3 of our bedrooms. By the time I got home, all of the carpet was ripped up and left in taped-up rolls on the back deck.

That is how my February vacation started. Plus the visit from my friends, Sinus-Infection, Ear-Infection, and Chafed Nose.

Puttying nail holes. Sanding putty off. Washing Walls. Painting trim. Repainting trim. Repainting it again when I realized my husband dripped other-colored paint on the trim. Prepping walls to be painted. "Helping" (and by helping, I mean buying lunch and watching) my husband install hardwood floors with my father-in-law and my husband's uncle.

On the bright side, however, 2 of the 3 bedrooms are nearly completed. We still have a bit more hardwood flooring to install so we'll need next weekend (woohoo, I'm soo excited... not) to finish. But look at the half-way mark of my yellow bedroom! :-)

It makes my heart pitter patter. And will probably make my neutrals-are-my-best-friend-mother-in-law's heart stop in its tracks.
Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts