Saturday, May 31, 2008

A New Beginning

You think restoring an old house is difficult? Try writing the first line of a blog that you've abandoned for a year and a half. Over the past few months, I've tried several different opening lines but none of them captured what I wanted to say. How do you sum up all the things that have happened in year and a half?

Should I begin with the end and say - "We STILL can't live in this frickin' house?"

Should I explain my absence by discussing the other major project we've been occupied with?

Should I begin by offering the most fundamental piece of advice I've learned about house restoration, which is: "hire architects that live in the same country as your house and speak the same language as the workers"?

Or should I start with the second most important piece of advice, which (as we recently learned) is: “Don’t hire a lazy local architect with a newborn and a cheating husband?”

Should I describe the way our faithful neighbor Red inexplicably abandoned us?

Should I say that we're positively hemorrhaging money?

Should I just throw up a few before and after pictures of the house? (Can't tell the diff? Hint: Look at the doors and windows)

Or should I give you the bottom line: that despite everything we are still madly in love with the house and can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel?

Aw screw it – I’ll use all of ‘em. You can go to whichever topic that interests you the most.

2 comments:

Laura Resurrectors said...

Love your site. Love the pink background and the frank, humurous stories.

We are going through the same thing you are going through, restoring a "Chateau" AND the home of a historic literary figure right here in the states.

What will you do with the hourse - convert it into a B&B?

Lola said...

Thanks hannibalian! No, we're not going to convert it into anything. It'll just be a place for weekends and holidays. We figure this is the one thing that will make us real Parisians!