Number thirty five!!

Dearest reader,

It with much excitement that I write this blog!! As mentioned in my previous writing, we were on the cusp of completion on a house. This Friday we completed!! 

The house is number 35 and it needs some serious love. Serious. In fact serious doesn't even come close. However, we had looked around and were confident that it was manageable.

I'm not sure if you are aware of a film called 'The Money Pit'? It's a 1986 film starring Tom Hanks and directed by Steven Spielberg. He plays one half of a couple who decide to buy a bargain mansion house and do it up together. During the course of the DIY process lots of 'problems' arise. You can watch the trailer here:

http://youtu.be/TLLQquBdU8M

Bearing this in mind, there were a number of events which occurred yesterday which made me chuckle at the beginning of our project;

1. New mantlepiece

Knowing there was to be a fireplace in the house we knew to keep an eye out for nice mantlepieces. And last week, bingo! A really beautiful reclaimed wooden mantlepiece, we had to go for it!  If you've ever tried to get hold of one you'll know it's very tricky to find something nice and for a good price, so regardless of size we knew we just had to go for it. When it would only just fit in the car, in three enormous pieces, alarm bells should have been going off! Alas, as we moved it into the house the mantlepiece was at least a foot too wide...not even close...so if you're after one, just let me know!

2. Taps!

On closer inspection of the bathroom, my mum pipes up:

"This tap's leaking!"

My dad, wanting to either prove my mum wrong (which rarely ever happens...) or prove his manly fixing ability (again not very often shown ;) ), wanders over and has a look. He tries to turn the tap. It turns and turns and keeps turning until it literally comes away in his hand! Hilarious!

3. The one legged builder

To be honest, this is a little bit of an overstatement! One of the builders who turned up yesterday had broken his leg, which made looking around the house an interesting task, I can tell you!

Through all this, however, I remained very excited and very amused. No matter how many dangerous electric sockets I looked at or the very, very dated carpets I inspected or even standing in the freezing cold utility, I could see through all of it.

This is the house our son (and hopefully other children) will grow up in. It's the house they'll learn to walk in and where they'll bring their friends. They'll play in the garden and out the front with the neighbours. It's where we will laugh, host parties and BBQs and be family together.

Yes, there is a lot of work, but just thinking about the future makes it all dissolve into insignificance. It will be our home.

A new beginning...

Dearest reader,

It has come to my attention that whilst only being 26 (and a half) I am in fact rapidly ageing. This has realised itself in a number of different ways, which I will now share with you;

1. The term YOLO.

Now I will be the first to admit that I am not particularly "street" but have for the most part been able to keep up with various phrases and slang abbreviations.

However, while teaching a year 8 class, my children began to use this phrase; YOLO. Not wanting to appear "uncool" I just nodded and said "Totally...YOLO.." 

Thankfully I managed to get away with it.

It wasn't until a few days later, while road tripping to a wedding, the conversation came up again, so I plucked up the courage and asked; 

"So what does YOLO mean?" 

There was a pause. The, "Is this guy serious?" pause and then a patient explanation followed by much giggling at my expense. YOLO, for those of you who aren't sure means:

You

Only

Live

Once

Well, I feel younger already....

2. Baby!

On the 25th May 2013 I became a father for the first time. Becoming a parent is the most amazing experience and I would highly recommend it, however, it does make you (and other family members feel, well, old!) 

As a Daddy, a term I am still getting used to, I have new and massive responsibility. To raise my boy in the best way possible: to love him through thick and thin, provide for him, protect him and help guide him though the ever changing, exciting, scary world we live in. 

Now I am very lucky not to be doing this alone, I am very blessed to have an unbelievably beautiful and super talented wife, who is an outstanding mother to our son. It makes my life a lot easier! I tip my hat to single parents, because I couldn't do it without her.

3. Number thirty-five

The last of the ageing points is our new house. And for the observant among you, it's where the name of this blog comes from.

Although we aren't strictly buying the house we are involved in it's rescuing. We're helping to choose kitchens and carpets and paint colours and although this is all very exciting (and Mr Ikea is about to do very well out of us!) it does make me feel old. This is the house where our children are going to grow up, it's where they'll bring their friends, where we'll celebrate, commiserate and do family together. It's a big deal!

So, that's where I'm at. Feeling older but with an incredible journey ahead. Yes, a little terrified but ultimately incredibly excited for the adventure. Feeling old is nothing, I'm going to enjoy every second of it!