THE PLAN
(Part I in a series)

Monday was my husband’s birthday. My daughters and I had a great time shopping together for Daddy, then wrapping our purchases and finally taking him out to a nice dinner and watching him open his gifts. It was a nice evening; it reminded me of another birthday celebration – many years ago.

Again, it was my husband’s birthday, and I was wondering what to get him for his birthday. Then I came up with a unique idea – a bedroom remodel.

We were living in a rented home and the walls were a standard “bone white”. Our bedroom also had laminated wood paneling at least halfway up all of the walls. This gave the room a dated look and made it feel more like a den than a bedroom. So about one month before his birthday, I began planning and purchasing for a bedroom remodel.

My plan was to rip down the paneling, wash the walls, patch and sand the walls, tape off the windows and paint the walls a nice light rosy-brown color: except for one wall, which I was planning to wallpaper. And I was planning to do it all in one day. Yes, all in one day. My day would begin after my husband left for work at 7:00 in the morning. And the work was slated to be done by the time he came home at 4:00 in the afternoon.

So, evening by evening, I would sit with my notebook in hand, thinking through the whole process. How was I going to remove the furniture from the room? How was I going to tear down the paneling? What equipment did I need for each of the stages of labor? – washing walls, spackling holes, sanding, painting? What were my time estimates for each job? What equipment could I gather? What supplies did I need to purchase? I sat with my notebook and asked and answered questions. I made lists: shopping lists, task lists, supply lists, to do lists. I created schedules: master schedules, shopping schedules, and schedules for each individual job. I drew diagrams: of the room, of the furniture, of the process. And I smiled to myself and thought, “This just might work!”

(To be continued)