I've had a busy couple of weeks around my house. Remember that One Room Challenge I decided to sign up for while I was quarantined with covid and stir crazy in my house? Uhg, well the "deadline" for that reveal was Nov. 20 and I really wanted to complete that on time. So I spent a few days wrapping that project up. It was my first time doing anything like that, I shared a highlight on my Instagram. I think I’d do it again someday, its good motivation to get things done.

We're now approaching the holiday season. Thanksgiving is next week, and while our goal was to be done before the holidays, it is now very clear we will not be done before Christmas. We're still shooting for the first of the year, but that's assuming nothing else goes wrong. This is the part about renovation work that can be very stressful. You can do all the planning in the world, make dozens of to do lists, pre-order all the supplies online, etc...but any kind of snag can then bump back the next step in the project, and before you know it you're weeks behind schedule. Note to future self - allow some wiggle room in both the budget and the timeline. Considering all the set backs we've had, at this point if we weren't filming, we probably would just shoot for being done in the spring. It's a bit of a dance with tv - they need episodes finished for their scheduled air dates, but at the same time we can only do so much to push things along when stuff happens. Thankfully, as you would expect, the Magnolia Network people are so kind and understanding. I appreciate the producer's regular checkins and encouragement, they have not pressured us, and we're trying to hustle to keep as close to our original completion goal as we can.

I'm learning a lot about the reality tv world, and noticing that I really need to give a some forethought to when I'm going to film, how I will film it, and what lighting and angles work best to give them usable footage. Also, I need to consider what to film to best tell our story. There is a lot more to the filming side of things than I realized, and pretty time consuming. But it is getting easier as I go. While Dad is fine being filmed any time, he made it very clear at the start of all this he didn't want to be the camera person and that was all me. It's probably for the best, considering his camera skills, lol, and really I don't mind, shooting comes pretty easy for me (former wedding photographer here.) What is difficult for me is BEING filmed. Thankfully, that is getting easier too. I'm finding I feel more comfortable with myself and less concerned about my flaws - yes my teeth are crooked, my chin usually has a zit somewhere, and my hair is getting noticeably thinner (long hauler covid symptoms, approaching my 40's, stress?) - and all in all I am actually sort of enjoying the filming process now.

Alright, let me get to the good stuff - the house updates. There isn't a whole lot I can do at the house right now. I'll stop by to clean up tools and sweep every few days. Right now we're waiting for the drywall to begin. We have a crew that plans to be done by the end of next week, just before December begins. I went over to take some pics before it goes up, it will look really different the next time I’m over there.

First Time Fixer, Weeks 15-16

First Time Fixer, Weeks 17-18

First Time Fixer, Weeks 13-14