I can be a pretty patient guy. Having an eight year old daughter has taught me that I must wait for many things, and find a way to keep my cool while they get done on her time. Simple things like taking a shower must be broken down into their component actions so that they actually get done. Get your jammies and towel. Bring them into the bathroom. Use the toilet. Get yourself undressed. Turn the water on. Turn the shower valve on. Get in the tub. Pull the shower curtain closed. Rinse your body. Get shampoo on your head and start AAAAAAHHHHH GOD WOULD YOU JUST DO AS YOU’RE TOLD?!? I can give her a single instruction and within milliseconds she’s broken contact and is examining the spout on the soap dispenser. It’s like giving instructions to the guy in Memento. I should tattoo instructions for unloading the dishwasher on her arm.

After waiting the better part of five years for some progress on our master bathroom, refinancing the house, and hoarding a kitty full of money for the project, we called a guy who came recommended to look at it before the Christmas break. He took some measurements and disappeared, and resurfaced after New Years to re-measure everything because he’d lost his clipboard. I finally got an email back from him this evening with a price that’s roughly double what we’d budgeted.

That was sobering.

Now, we’ve made some minor modifications in the plan since we first laid it out. We’re re-organizing the back half so that what was a 4′ wide closet will now be a 7′ wide walk-in, which will delete two more windows on the back corner of the house. We’re going to add insulation under the floor, which was raised on plywood, leaving a cavity of dead air beneath. Deleting windows will save money, but insulating the floor will cost money.

Tired of waiting for Guy #1, we got a recommendation for another guy, who came out to measure last Saturday. I got a good vibe from him, and he seems interested in the job. I’m going to look through Angie’s List to see if I can find a third contractor to give us a price, and then we’ll see how they all stack up against each other.