Recently a friend commented on the transformation of the house and property and asked “How do you do it?” My answer is simple… I have a Genie! (mine is spelled Jeanie) She crosses her arms and blinks her eyes and, like magic, it gets done!
Some of you may be too young to remember the “I Dream of Jeannie” (I can’t help it if they spelled it wrong…) show on TV, but, anyone who saw it secretly dreamed of having a Genie of their own! For most people it was just a dream, but in my case, I actually got one… and she’s been granting my wishes for over 34 years!
However, even with my Jeanie, we couldn’t have done this all on our own. We bought the farm and moved into an uninhabitable house three days later. We needed help… fast! Here are a few of the people that helped us get from unbearable to comfortable…
Zanna – when we closed on the house Jeanie was on the phone with Zanna who mentioned that she wished she could be here to help. A few minutes later Jeanie had bought her a plane ticket… she had no idea what she was getting into. She arrived the day before we moved into the house. She got to do a lot of the really dirty work!
Delaney came home for the summer about a week before we moved in… she got to help with all of the nasty projects like cleaning up cat feces to pulling out carpets. She was also here to see some of the first transformations start to happen…
Wence Flores – our Realtor and General Contractor for the critical initial projects:
We decided that the kitchen was first priority and needed to be done fast… actually, Jeanie decided… I just wanted to eat… Wence did the structural work, cabinetry and counter-tops in the kitchen, essential flooring and the initial demo in the farmhouse. Thanks to Wence and his team we were able to have some comfortable areas in the house early in the project! Unfortunately, these are the only pictures I could find of Wence and his crew… Wence, send some pictures that I can put in here.
Gene Boyer – Pocono Plumbing Plus – https://www.facebook.com/pg/PoconoPlumbingPlus87/posts/ Plumber, electrician, and anything else:
In the beginning we decided that it would not be good to do a lot of work and then have our house burn down or flood. Gene does the major plumbing and electrical so that won’t happen! As mentioned, we moved in three days after closing and we couldn’t have done that without Gene! Most of the pipes had burst and the boiler was shot. Somehow he got cold and hot water to major bathrooms and the kitchen so we could clean and camp out in the house. He has been working on the major projects ever since and just finished the re-plumbing and electrical on three bathrooms and the laundry room.
Shaw Johnson – His grandfather calls him twoman because he does the job of two people. Shaw has helped to move furniture, take down trees, dig out tree trunks, load trailers, demo and much more! His main business is online advertising but he likes the physical activity to keep active…
When you have a dirty job, who ya gonna call? The Beebe twins (Luke and Christian) and, sometimes, their friends! They have been helping us with projects, indoors and out, since very close to the beginning of the project. Just last week they helped us to finish framing and drywall the new hallway to the master bedroom…
People frequently ask us how much of the work we do ourselves? Probably over 80% from a man hour perspective, but, we couldn’t possibly do it without the help of all these amazing people!
Now, Getting back to my Jeanie, I am a little disappointed that she won’t wear the costume… but, you can’t have everything!
What an adventure! I envy you!
Thanks! It is quite the adventure!