We’ll admit it: we were relieved when the holiday season finally ended. December is fun, but it also brings last-minute shopping, long-distance travel, family gatherings, and unpredictable weather — all of which add stress. So yes, many people thought we were a little crazy for moving into a new house during the holidays.
It was a bit nutty, but then Sherry and I realized this wasn’t the first time a major project landed right in the middle of the holiday season. In fact, it’s happened four years in a row (update: five years — see the end of this post). Apparently we’re guilty of complicating Christmas on purpose. Here’s a quick look back.
At the end of 2007 we were finishing a kitchen remodel. By Christmas we had been living without a functional kitchen for two months. Our new cabinets had been installed, but we were still waiting on countertop delivery to really make the room usable.
To make matters worse, we didn’t yet have a kitchen sink, so we washed dishes in a tiny bathroom vanity. It got old fast.
In 2008 the project was hardwood refinishing. Just before leaving town for a family Christmas, we shoved most of our belongings into the kitchen and den so that the rest of the floors could be professionally refinished. It was disruptive, to say the least.
We were living around plastic-covered furniture and boxes for a while.
Then came 2009 and a bathroom remodel that kicked off the weekend after Thanksgiving. By New Year’s we were in the middle of tiling, leaving our only full bathroom out of commission for several weeks.
We did a lot of showering at the gym and at my sister’s house. On one particularly dusty day Sherry even hosed me down in the backyard because she didn’t want me getting our car dirty. Brrr.
This year’s mid-December move had its own share of chaos. We spent days packing up every possession and loading boxes into a U-Haul.
Shortly after we set out for the new house, the truck slid into a ditch, about .05 minutes into the trip.
Unpacking in the new place looked a lot like this — boxes everywhere, a house full of half-finished rooms, and the slow process of making it feel like home.
Now that we’re settled, the chaos is easier to laugh about. Looking back, each of those end-of-year projects felt overwhelming in the moment but worthwhile after the dust settled. I guess we’ll wait about 11 months to see what project keeps the streak alive at the end of next year — maybe a simultaneous kitchen remodel, floor refinishing, and bathroom redo, just to top past years.
Update: This holiday tradition continued: we completed a major kitchen renovation just in time for Christmas 2011, and in 2012 we juggled a chaotic book tour while hosting Christmas at our house for the first time.