Uh oh! or The to do list

We have been working for over five months now on this phase of renovations and quite frankly, I at least, am starting to wonder if we will ever see the end of it. Money is quickly running out and we are finding it more and more difficult to schedule in DIY time in and around our already busy lives. Thankfully the economic downturn has turned out to be a boon for advertising agencies, but it also means that our day jobs sometime have to be night jobs as well. That coupled with the fact that the cooler weather has ushered in cold season at day care, forcing us to play nursemaid at night, hence sapping us of any desire to log in some after hours activity on the first floor. So although not at a standstill the work is certainly creeping forward at a snail's pace.

Here is the somewhat daunting list of what is left to do:

• The remaining five metal channels need screwed to the acoustic panels.
• The exposed brick on the stair case needs to be cleaned one last time.
• The brick sealer must be applied.
• The dry wall has to go up.
• The plaster work needs to be done.
• The duct work for the kitchen fan must be installed.
• The brick has to be cut to make way for the French doors.
• The French doors have to be hung.
• The stairs must be stripped of their paint.
• The floors and stairs have to be sanded and stained.
• The entrance tiles must be bought.
• The entrance needs to be tiled and grouted.
• Paint needs to be applied.
• Heating needs to be installed.
• All the lights need to be installed.
• Base boards and crown mouldings need to be installed.
• The coat-closet doors still need to be stripped of their paint, sanded, painted and have mirrors installed in the openings. Then they need to be hung.
• AND we need to figure out precisely what we are doing with the kitchen.

Somehow it is looking like our Christmas deadline ain't going to happen. But living in the upper forties northern parallels as we do, there are certain things that must be done and soon. The house needs to be airtight and sealed against the elements. And unless we want our beautiful new plumbing to freeze, the base heaters need to be installed ASAP.

So we have no money, no time and we are on a schedule.

Cue the dramatic music, because we appear to be in a bit of a pickle.