Chapter 4 Getting Started

The next morning Serenity woke up and found herself alone on the air mattress. Although it was still early and the sun wasn't up yet, she wasn't surprised. Kristoff usually woke before her. Feeling stiff from sleeping on the air mattress, she decided she better go ahead and get up.

Serenity stumbled into the bathroom first and then made her way to the kitchen. Since the small kitchen table and antique furniture in the bedroom upstairs were the only furniture in the house at this point, Kristoff had parked himself in a chair at the table. Since Serenity had not yet signed up for any internet services, he was attempting to watch the news on his cell phone. As Serenity walked into the room, Kristoff was grumbling to himself about the crappy service his cell phone got out here in the middle of nowhere.

Serenity greeted him, "Well, good morning to you, too!" and grabbed a coffee cup that had been unloaded onto the counter the evening before. She quickly pecked him on the lips as she walked past him towards the coffee pot.

Kristoff mumbled, "Not very good so far..."

Serenity poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table across from him. They sat in silence for about 5 minutes before Serenity asked Kristoff if he knew where they had shoved the pads of paper and pens so she could start thinking and writing down tentative plans.

Kristoff got up and walked out of the room. He went to the bedroom and pulled 2 notebooks and half a dozen pens out of the side pocket of his duffel bag. He was usually well organized and had already knew that they would need to start using one notebook to write down plans as they made them and the other to start making lists of supplies they would need for each project. He returned to the kitchen and laid the supplies on the table in front of Serenity.

Serenity immediately started rambling off options of how they could start off getting things done around the new house and property. They could start by going shopping for the supplies that they already knew they would be needing or they could take some time and go through the downstairs of the house starting at the first room until they had a plan for each room, they could start thinking about paint colors or go shopping for new appliances and furniture...

Kristoff quickly told her, "It's not even 6 AM yet, maybe you should slow it down a little."

Serenity reminded him that they would have only one full day on Saturday every weekend and 4 or 5 hours every Sunday before they took off back home. They would constantly be in a time crunch and there was very little time to sit around and wait to do work or make plans.

Kristoff loudly sighed in frustration. "I knew this was a bad idea."

Serenity brushed the comment of and acted as though she hadn't heard him. She started writing on the notepads without speaking any more to Kristoff. She wasn't in the mood for him to have a bad attitude already. She knew how hard she would have to work to get the new house livable before leaving her job and making the permanent move. She also was well aware that Kristoff's job didn't require nearly as many hours. Many days he would only be away from home 3 or 4 hours and on top of that, he often had at least one day, if not two, every week in which he didn't even have to physically show up to the shop. It wouldn't be very difficult for him to keep his life and home running smoothly until they were ready to move into the new house. She knew that to make this work she would be dedicating 5 days a week to her job and the other 2 days to travel and whatever work she could accomplish at the new house. Since this was her dream and not Kristoff's, she had bought the house and intended to pay for all of the renovations herself. Once they moved in permanently, she and Kristoff would share responsibility for the bills and cost of upkeep and any further improvements. For now, the brunt of the weight was resting on her shoulders and she was trying to start off with a bang so that there was no chance for them to fail. She quickly let her thoughts fall away and concentrated on her notebooks.

Serenity opened the first notebook and made a separate page for every room in the house, starting with the main entry into the mud room and then making one for the kitchen, formal dining room, half bath, living room and, finally, the down stairs master bedroom and bath. She then went ahead and added pages for each of the rooms upstairs so that she could start brainstorming while doing the actual work downstairs. After she had started those pages, she made a page for the yard surrounding the house and another for the extended wooded property beyond. She knew that it would possibly be months before she could get that far, if she followed her original plans. But she also knew that they would be learning as they went and they may decide to change their approach.

Almost half an hour later, Serenity put down the pen, got up and refilled her coffee cup and started the conversation with Kristoff.

"Do you want to look over the exterior lighting, side entry and mud room first, make a list and then go shopping for what we need? Or would you rather we spend the entire day here going from room to room and just making list and compiling lists and ideas on paper? You know, if you wanted to do that, we could always make a run to the building center next Thursday and load supplies directly into the truck to bring with us next weekend?"

Kristoff looked at her and thought for a minute. "Let's go ahead and start with the exterior lighting, entry and mud room. I know that we need to check out the large lights that are mounted on the poles and out buildings outside and determine why they aren't working. It will be important to have exterior lighting as we work later down the line and I want to be able to see what's going on when we let the dog out without worrying. I can start at the breaker box to see if the breaker is on and then check to see if there is power going out to all the lights."

Kristoff paused a moment and then continued when Serenity didn't put up any objections, "You can start looking over the porch, rail and entry door and move into the mud room to think on how you would like to set it up. Start thinking of what colors you would like to paint things and come up with some ideas for storage, since the mud room is completely empty. Later this afternoon we can make a run for whatever paint and supplies you come up with plus whatever we need to get the outdoor lighting working again. After we go back home, you could look for the washer and dryer you would like to put in the mud room, since it doubles as the laundry area. We can try to see if we can get it in stock back home sometime this week and could throw them in the truck and bring them down when we come next weekend."

Serenity smiled at him and let him know that she thought that was a great plan. She picked up her coffee cup and started towards the entry on the side of the house while Kristoff headed towards the basement. As Serenity walked out the door, daylight had just started to light the yard as the sun neared rising. Serenity walked across the porch, down the steps and stood by the truck sipping her coffee, just looking and admiring her new home.

Her mind drifted as she imagined the house and land finished. She imagined building a new chicken coop here and bringing her chickens from back home. She smiled at the thought of being able to go to the farm store and pick out some of those adorable chickens with little poofs on top of their head or the fuzzy feet. She already had chickens for eggs but she was excited at the thought of splurging for a couple that were purely for looks. She thought about getting more fencing installed and finally being able to get a few miniature goats to have around as new friends. Her mind roamed to bringing the tiller from back home here and being able to put in a larger garden where she could spend many an hour during the summer months pulling weeds and harvesting crops. Serenity had not grown up as a farm girl. She had grown up mostly in farm towns and had acquired these interests as an adult. She found peace in the outdoors and spending time barefoot, working in her gardens and taking care of her animals. She couldn't wait for the opportunity to be able to add to her hobbies. She also found a lot of enjoyment in building things and doing carpentry work in her spare time. She knew that she would get as much joy in her journey as she would from the end results.

Just then Serenity saw one of the huge lights on a post in the yard pop on. She walked back inside the house to let Kristoff know that he had at least achieved some success with whatever he was doing in the breaker box. As she walked into the house she ran into Kristoff heading towards the side door with some tools. She let him know that one of the lights had come on and he finally smiled for the first time since arriving. Together they both headed back outside to get started on their self assigned tasks.

A few hours later, Serenity checked the time and realized that they should take a small break to regroup and eat some breakfast. She yelled for Kristoff and walked inside as he came down the ladder he was perched on. By the time Kristoff got back in the house, she already had a few pans on the old stove, ready to cook up a few eggs for each of them and some sausage links they had thrown in the cooler. Though she already knew the answer, she asked Kristoff how he wanted his eggs cooked.

"Over easy, as always," he responded. "Can I get a few pieces of toast with my eggs or am I out of luck since we didn't bring a toaster with us?"

Serenity was trying to get a second burner lit so that she could cook the sausages in the first pan and start eggs in the second. She told him, "Well, I could toast it in the pan if I could get this damned burner to light!"

Kristoff lightly pushed her to the side and said, "I'll get it lit manually for now. I'll start looking around to see if we can buy appliances around here after we get back home. We knew we would have to replace the kitchen appliances because the stove is ancient and the fridge doesn't work at all. Plus we were hoping to add a dishwasher in here. Since the kitchen will be our project after the mud room, we will likely be able to install new appliances by the end of a month. At least then we will have a fridge to keep food in while we are here."

Serenity toasted him a few slices of bread in a pan while the sausages cooked. Once they were done she started cooking his eggs in the same pan. Kristoff sat at the table and rambled on about the lights outside and everything he would have to do to get them in working order. It seemed as though there was only power ran to the first pole and not to the other 3. He had figured out that the other 3 lights did work, if he could get power to them. And the lights outside of the doors just needed to have the bulbs replaced. He hadn't brought anything more than standard light bulbs so Serenity would need to add flood light bulbs to her supply list.

Serenity sat Kristoff's plate in front of him and he thanked her. She turned around, back to the stove, to start cooking her own eggs. As he started to quickly eat his breakfast, Serenity took the time to give him her report on what would be needed for the front porch into the mud room. Serenity listed off some lumber to repair the broken hand rail, a gallon of stain to seal up the wood floor of the porch and some burgundy paint for the exterior sides of the doors. They had already decided that they would be putting new siding on the exterior of the old farmhouse in the future, and they had chosen a dark blue color that would be accented by white trim around the windows. Serenity wanted the doors to give the house a little extra pop of color in addition to wanting them to match the barn structure further back on the property that would be repaired and repainted, once they got that far with their work.

As she sat down with her plate of food, she asked Kristoff if he had any thoughts about what he would like to see for storage in the mud room. The mud room was quite large, running the length of that whole side of the house. While it was only 15 foot deep, the room was almost 40 foot wide and was split almost in the middle by the doors leading from the side porch and through to the kitchen. Kristoff rambled off some ideas of treating the mud room as two separate spaces with one side being used as a laundry area and the other being used for storage.

Serenity excitedly nodded in agreement as she had experienced similar thoughts. They spent some time finishing their breakfast and discussing their plans for the mud room while deciding that for now they would purchase some paint for the room and look at options for new cabinetry for both the laundry area and the area that they would use as a panty and extra storage. Serenity turned to the supply list page in the notebook and started writing down everything they would need to replace a few missing pieces of trim around the windows and to paint. She also decided to write down curtains and rods to hang them as the mudroom had large windows covering a large part of the 3 exterior walls.

Serenity cleaned up their breakfast mess as Kristoff sat at the table to write down all the electrical supplies he would need to purchase to get the exterior lights going. She was used to doing most of the kitchen duties on her own. She didn't necessarily believe that cooking or cleaning was 'woman's work' but she spent many years raising her kids and doing much of that work on her own. While she had taught her children that chores were equally everyone's responsibility, she still found some comfort in the routine of doing the chores as well as enjoying the control she kept over her surroundings being tidy and organized. Once both were done, they were ready to head into the bigger city that was a 45 minute drive in the opposite direction of the small town of Ripley.

Serenity climbed in the passenger seat of the truck, snapped her seatbelt latch into place, raised one fist into the air and loudly declared, "Onward ho!" Kristoff rolled his eyes, popped the truck into drive and took off down the driveway towards the road.

They got to the city as it was nearing noon. The couple decided that they would first head off to the building supply store and then grab lunch to eat on their ride home.

Kristoff pulled into a parking spot and got out of the truck. Serenity immediately unlatched her seatbelt, jumped out and joined him. She linked her arm through his and started walking by his side. For all the years that she had known him, Serenity had wished that for once he would interlace his fingers with hers and walk hand in hand. She had gone so far as to tell him this in the past, but nothing had ever changed. She tried not to give the fleeting thought more than half a second of her time, but today it made her feel slightly vulnerable.

Serenity had never been an overly affectionate person. Over the years she had absorbed the experiences she had gone through and had learned as she lived. During this time she had learned that, although she had a dominant and strong personality and would take on the world alone, certain circumstances made her feel vulnerable. While she was dominant and strong, she knew she didn't need to dominate her personal relationships and preferred to be with a strong man that could help give her strength at the end of the day, when she could finally slow down and breathe.

Crowded public places with pushy people was one of her vulnerabilities. Serenity could openly interact one on one with strangers and always had a take charge attitude that didn't shy away from the most awkward situations. But being surrounded by throngs of rude people that treated others as if they were invisible and unimportant deeply angered her, which usually caused her to shrink down inside of her normally bold self.

Serenity made a mental note to breathe and just try to avoid crowds of people as they entered the store. This was supposed to be a joyous occasion for her and she didn't want anything to ruin it.

Kristoff led Serenity through the store, gathering all of the supplies on the list and a few others that they thought would be useful. As they stood in line to pay, Serenity leaned her head against Kristoff. She was glad the 2 hours shopping trip was winding to an end and she could finally get away from the Saturday crowds.

They loaded the supplies into the back of the pick up and took off towards the fast food restaurants they had passed on their way into the city. Kristoff ordered a burger and fries for each of them. They quietly munched on their food as they made their way back to their new home.

After they were finished eating, they discussed what each of them would do once they got to the house. Kristoff intended to run the wiring to get the three non-working poles power. That would probably take him the rest of the afternoon. Serenity planned to start with repairing the handrail of the side porch and fixing the window trim in the mud room. Once she had finished those tasks, she would decide whether she wanted to start staining the porch tonight or painting in the mud room and staining the next morning before they left.