After September...

This is our new tag ling in the house.

All projects are being separated into those we should do "now" and those we will do "after September..." The September timeline is was chosen arbitarily (by my dad, actually), but is actually noteworthy because we are hoping to have a housewarming party on/near Labor Day weekend and September is when we will drop down to having almost no household income. J's last day of full-time work is July 29th and I will drop down to working part-time as of September 6. We will both be full-time graduate students and, no doubt, be very busy.

The "now" list includes things such as:

• finish the bathroom
• replace the stove and move the fridge
• paint the office (no small task as it is currently dark tan and hunter green - including the ceiling - and we are going to light blue-gray)
• replace the locks
• replace a few lights
• replace a few blinds/curtains

The "after September..." list includes cheap/free things to do this fall:

• remove wallpaper and repaint 2nd bath (using leftover paint)
• set up/organize the shop in the basement
• organize the rest of the basement
• organize the garage
• replace gutter on garage (already bought supplies)
• paint kitchen

The list also includes much more long term/"someday, when we have money" things:

• Flagstone patio in backyard
• more cabinets in the kitchen - custom made to match existing cabinets
• add dishwasher
• replace fridge, washer and dryer
• refinish the floors
• new flooring on 2nd floor
• replace garage roof
• etc, etc, etc.

At least putting things in the before and after September categories helps us to prioritize our work and keeps the work that needs to be done on the house from being entirely too overwhelming.

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We received our financial aid award information last night, and while it was good news - it still forced us to get real about what we are going to have the money to do in the next nine months. The "good" news is that there is a wealth of cheap/free cleaning and minor repair to keep up busy for at least that long. After I graduate in the spring and get (oh please oh please oh please) a decent job, we will be a position to look at some of the bigger projects.