Whenever I read about someone going through a home renovation project, especially one they are not doing themselves, I wonder about all the complaints. There's always a mention of how much dust and dirt and grime settles onto every surface, and how difficult it is to live in complete disarray for some (relatively short) period of time. I wonder how bad it can possibly be. Now, I've never been through anything like this - moving 4 times in the past 20 years is the closest I can imagine - boxes all over the place, half-packed, never knowing where anything is, lots of gritty dirt and dust.

But now I can empathize with the pain of everyone who has gone through this type of project. About 3 weeks ago my husband mentioned that he had contacted the guy who worked on our punch list when we moved into this house a few years ago. He claimed this was to "patch up a few nail pops". Since initiative is not frequently a word in his vocabulary, I thought this was a good thing. Just like Martha, I was stunned at how quickly a good thing can turn very, very bad. We had about a dozen places where dry wall screws had popped all the way through the dry wall, leaving gaping holes in the walls and ceilings. I imagined these being patched, spackled and sanded. We would get around to painting the house in a few years and live with the patched walls til then.

Little did I know that this must be the slow season for the contractor, because we now have about 500 brown patches all over the walls (this guy does not believe in using white spackle because you can't see it. well, ok, isn't it *supposed* to blend in?!). So the whole house needs to be repainted, there is a layer of dust all over everything, the entire house is torn apart to allow the repair guys access to all the walls, and we're 3 WEEKS INTO THIS WITH NO END IN SIGHT. Additionally, my husband agreed to have custom doors made for the living room (think gross national product of Kuwait) and wainscoting for the dining room, library, foyer and upstairs hall. I retreat to my room every day as soon as I come home so I don't have to see much of the damage. The poor cats are traumatized by having so many people in the house. And all I wanted was a few nail pops fixed.