Chaos!

The Johnson house is undergoing a little bit of chaos lately. Truthfully, it's become almost unbearable. I know there is an end in sight, but it seems we just keep adding to our projects list without removing any completed projects. It doesn't help that we're simultaneously working on home, auto, and family. Honestly, what's left?

No room in our home has escaped unscathed. Enter at your own risk.

The view from the kitchen into our bathroom.

Adam helped me prep the walls for painting. 

This is the best look I could get from him.

Some of us were more cheerful, even though our painting pants no longer fit.

We cheered up for carpet removal.

I know the wood floors are beautiful. I wished we could have kept them. Time, logistics, and budget constraints forced us back into carpet. At least we know our enemy for next time.

Enjoy this little chaos collage and be thankful you are not living in our home.

We have slept in all three bedrooms over the course of one week. Construction materials are being stored in our sunroom and in the garage (I now park on the street with the renters - the horrors!). The computer has been relegated to the living room, which now contains 9 chairs, 2 benches, closet doors (without a closet), and a sectional, along with everything that ever hung on any wall anywhere. Bedroom A is being stored in the dining room, Bedroom B is being stored in Bedroom C, and Bedroom C is where we are trying to sleep, alongside tiling supplies and Adam's homebrewing operation.

I hit rock bottom on Thursday, when we had to unexpectedly take our cat to the vet (she's fine - whew!). As I was leaving, Adam called me from the auto repair center to tell me that our Volvo was in the shop for the second time in two weeks (or approximately the 28th time in three years - however you want to look at it). Our contractor was working on our bathroom, I needed to prime and paint, carpet installers were coming the next day, and it was 94 degrees outside. I had my first mini-breakdown of the weekend.

Fortunately, carpet installation went smoothly, so we could finally check one thing off the list. I happily moved my dresser back into its new position and cried (mini-breakdown #2) when I saw how crooked our floors were. (The photo below is actually level; the dresser is decidedly not.) You take what you can get with an 1880s house, but this required yet another trip to Menards to pick up some shims.

I called my mom for mini-breakdown #3 (the Volvo, of course) and we decided to finally bite the bullet...

...and we bought a new car! 

Nothing about our current financial situation or state of mind would say that this was a good idea, but we had one hell of a weekend.

We got a very sweet deal on a Toyota Corolla, so we jumped on the offer. The 2014 redesign comes out in about a month, so they were just giving the 2013 models away, especially our particular car, which got an extra-special discount for sitting on the lot for over 80 days. As Consumer Reports put it, "The Corolla is a good small sedan, although it is rather bland." Also, it ranked as the most frugal car in its class over 5 years. After our more recent car experiences, bland and frugal were exactly what we were looking for. This car just barely squeaked in with cruise control, so you know it's going to be cheap to fix.

Enjoy the sweet pix and try to ignore the other mess of a car behind the shiny new one.

If you know anyone in the market for a used Volvo (not currently operable), let us know! We'll make you a great offer. It's a wonderful car! ;-)

In other good news, the flowers are blooming and the honeybees are back, even if I'm not around to witness them. (I miss gardening - even weeding! I'm so pale right now and the yard is a mess.)

Bonus good news: I only have 99 days to go before the arrival of our baby boy! That means we have 98 days left to finish our bathroom, get the bedrooms in order, and figure out what a pack-and-play is and whether we really need one or not.

Next weekend: tiling!!! (I hate home improvement so much.)