An Episode of "This Old House"

As you know, Tim & I bought a house. We've been remodeling. It was built in 1959. And, wow it has been quite a job. It has taken a lot of perseverance on my part. At times, I think "If I have to paint one more wall....I am going crazy!"  But I am and have learned much about myself, reaching a conclusion that my life and wls journey are like remodeling this house. The repairs are costly. Much effort is made to undue abuse and neglect of its previous owners.  And, just when you think you've made some headway, an unexpected problem presents itself which requires even more time and money (two valuable resources that you really do not have when on a deadline). 

I hear it's difficult to build a house.  But at least you can start from scratch, with a clean slate!  Oh at times I wish I had a clean slate to work with!  Not just when it comes to houses, but with my body as well.  To me, this reminds me of a person who has done all the right things, or mostly correct things, in regards to their eating habits.  They did not allow themselves to become overweight nor do they have residual signs of obesity such as loose skin or stretch marks.  No, these folks have bodies that are free from such marks and have structure and/or exercise regimes.  Oh to have started many years ago! The benefits would be endless.  But, for you and me, we're in the remodeling business when it comes to our bodies.  We let ourselves become run down, dilapidated, and in need of repair.  It doesn't matter how much work we do to "this old house" that we call our bodies, we will never make it perfect regardless of our time, efforts and amount of money spent!

Now back to the remodel:  There are some situations which mandate an adaptation of projects because the building is not new, but old and dilapidated.  Some projects require different methods in older homes than in a new home.  Let me just stop to say my terminology of "making adjustments" should not be confused for taking shortcuts.  These are two different situations!  "Shortcut" means to take the quickest, easiest and cheapest route.  Making adjustments often requires MORE money but can shave off time, and yet also producing a more desirable end result.

We learned this lesson when it came to the crown molding.  Tim purchased the ornate fancy corner pieces which were very costly.  But, he did not do this for decoration purposes (although they look lovely!)  No, he had to do this in order to spend less time and effort on getting the crown molding to look correct since the house is old and settled.  Otherwise, the trim would look crooked or have more possibilities of things going wrong.  The rooms are not "square" or in my plain terminology, everything is crooked! 

One wall in the den was very saggy because of a rotten floor joist underneath the shower in the next room!  As a result, the crooked door frames were VERY noticeable!  The entire bathroom had to be ripped out (floor, walls, part of the ceiling).  Tim built supports under the house for the floor, which raised and evened the door frames.  The sagging problem has been corrected.  But, the "adjustment" in this case was not cheap or time efficient!  

To me, this is like my hanging skin.  I have small tricks up my sleeve for hiding and tucking it away so that on the outer appearance, nothing looks out of the ordinary.  Special care is made to keep it looking as normal as possible, when underneath, oh my !  That's an entirely different story all together!  There is surely some dilapidation issues going on underneath all these clothes!  My poor tummy is like that sagging floor - - in need of repair.  But, plastic surgery is too costly and so is the midline incision scar.  I don't want that. 

Before long, my house will be completelly remodeled and the vision I have in my head will be reality... so it is with our wls journeys and bodies... we spend much time, effort and money in trying to erase the signs of neglect and abuse, but if we can just be patient!  Soon the WAIT/WEIGHT will be gone, while our health, energy return...  We are able to purchase smaller clothes with ease and probably less money... in the end, maintenance of our newly remodeled home will be all that is required of us as we enjoy the fruit of our labor!

Very well said Mel!!!

I love your anology between our bodies and an old house.