Unproductivity

Rob's been saying, for several months now, that he can't get very much done during the weeks in VA when he's at the house working  - he has said time and time again that the constant interruptions make it impossible to get his work done.  I disregarded his complaints, chalking them up to either unrealistic expectations on Rob's part (after all, we have learned that EVERYTHING takes longer than we expect it to) or a lack of focus and efficiency.  Well, I'm here to tell you that, after spending a week of my vacation in VA to work on the house, he's 100% right.  I had a list of tasks that I planned to get done that week - ranging from trim painting to room painting to ceiling cut ins to wallpapering and more.  I am horrified to say that, although I should have been able to get all of that and more done in a full week of working full time on the project, I checked merely ONE thing off my list - and my list wasn't even overly ambitious.  Interruption upon interruption upon interruption kept me from my primary purposes that week.  Most of these were necessary interruptions - pauses to answer questions about how I wanted things to look; meetings with the trim carpenter and cabinet maker, unexpected runs to the big box stores to select tile, more paint, drawer hardware; food runs (after all, we do need to eat!); runs to the storage lockers to get tools and supplies, calls on the phone to check on deliveries, to hold deliveries, and to coordinate timing, and on and on and on.

I feel Rob's pain - the general feeling of unproductivity at the end of that week was unsettling.  I had used an entire week of precious vacation time to accomplish ONE item on my list.  I could have done that over a weekend and saved the vacation time.  But, we've resigned ourselves to the fact that this project is a process - a very long process - and each little decision and interruption contributes to the big picture, the end product, the finished project.  So here's a sample of recent progress DESPITE all the interruptions.

Preparation of the master bathroom shower for tiling.  No, tiling has not yet begun...

Tiling the mudroom, laundry, and half bath floors (yes, this project is done!):

 Tiling the bay window in the kitchen with slate:

 

Installing the upstairs and downstairs arches (we had to return the casings and are currently waiting on the new casings (due on Monday) to finish this project.  Stop to make the phone calls, interrupt work to get packing materials to return the casing, pack the casings carefully; drive to UPS to ship the casings back = total lost work time, 1/2 day; total cost, priceless):

And, preparing the game room fireplace for the stone veneer (check!):

Decent progress in the face of unproductivity.