We worked out a deal with Walter’s parents to buy the house after his mother retires. I’m having some second thoughts. Can we really make this work? Is it worth it? God I hate this neighborhood, there’s no charm, no quaintness. The thing is, Walter and I can’t afford things like quaint and charm, we have to make it ourselves.

I made my peace with Phil and we agreed on no exorcisms as long as he behaves and he gets some input on how we design the house.

Getting my mother-in-law to agree to a total overhaul of the kitchen and downstairs bathroom before she moves, will be a much more difficult process.

We decide to work on our upstairs living area first:

• Gut reno of the bathroom, new walls, floor, shower tile, vanity, toilet…the works.
• Install laminate flooring on top of ugly linoleum floors.
• Patch walls in both bedrooms paint and get new furniture.