Lessons in Trailer Living

Hi All!

I was planning on posting on Tuesday morning but woke to find my pipes were frozen!

• Lesson #1 - Never trust heat tape and insulation!!! 
• Lesson #2 - Always leave the water running a trickle when the temperatures drop! 
• Lesson #3 - Pay close attention to the wind chill especially when you live in a mobile home! 

So...you can imagine how disappointed I was…this was to be demo day! I had worked hard all weekend relocating our bedrooms to the spare room and the living room so that I could start the wall prep on our rooms and the hall as well as demo the existing laundry shelves.  The last thing I wanted to do was to crawl under my home, which shook when the wind whipped, and wield a blow dryer. I wanted to get this project started!

After 3 ½ painstakingly cold hours, 3 breakdowns, and my barrage of verbal trailer trash, we thawed the pipes out!!! My son, Francis, was so excited he couldn't stop yelling! Me, I was frozen like a Popsicle, so I went straight for a hot bath! I actually ran the bath water 3 times and still had goose bumps…and mind you I had the trailer thermostat set to 76! Of course, Francis warmed up in an hour. Finally, 4 hours later, I was starting to warm up but only after making hot wings and having some Jack Daniels in my coffee!  (I was going for warming up from the inside out! J It worked!) Then, after dinner we decided that we deserved a reward for all our efforts! We had just downloaded a movie, when I discovered that my furnace had quit firing!

OK…so I think the furnace not working just about pushed me over the edge…I knew it wasn't empty…I  just put $600 in fuel in it last week. But, how could it be broken? 6 weeks ago I had the service man out to fix it twice – total damage $440! Let me tell you, I had to take a deep breath when the serviceman came to the door. I didn't know whether to hug him or hurt him! So, I just patiently told him what had happened and went and started watching “Lara Craft - Cradle of Life” with my son. I picked that movie because I wanted to see a woman open a can of “whoop ass” on a man! LOL

Well…The verdict was in…It was the nozzle! One of the many parts I had just paid to replace on my furnace and it was just past its 30 day warranty! However, my sweet serviceman replaced it for free anyway only charging me $89 for the house call. I’m not sure if it was my sad story, my cute smile or the fact that when he was here to fix it last time, on the eve of Thanksgiving, I buttered him up with a bottle of homemade kahlua! He only charged me $40 that day! 

• Lesson #4 – Never have a serviceman work on your house when your not home…that is what happened on the 1^st service call I made…I left a cold house to go to work and came home to a warm house and an even hotter bill -  $400!! Hey, I’m just saying, if you’re cute and have a sad story - it may save you some money!

So, after a day like that…the start of the demo could not have come any sooner! I can’t wait to tell you about it tomorrow!

Live Beautifully,

Jennifer Elaine

PS  The pictures are coming! The blog is so BEAUTIFUL and the trailer so UGLY that I couldn't bear to put up all the before pictures right off the bat. I will post pictures tomorrow starting with the first project -How to Remove Your Trailer Charm! I will be posting lots of pictures of the individual projects but, until I have a room done I won’t show the before pictures. I want to show you the before and after pictures together. I will do this for at least the first couple of rooms. I want you to see my work before you just see an ugly trailer and run. Trust me, I wanted to run. In fact, the day the pipes froze I almost loaded up the car and drove off into the sunset...with Francis of course!

The Plan - Phase 1

Hi All!

Today begins Phase 1 of my “Trailer Trash to Treasure Diva” Project – I will be starting with my bedroom, my son Francis’s bedroom, the hall and laundry area, my studio/office and the dining room. 

So…first things first… I come from a background in a commercial construction management so I can’t work room by room on some things. It is much more efficient to work in order of components i.e.…patch and repair all walls, prime ceilings, paint walls/wainscoting, remove nasty old carpets, install new flooring, install new light fixtures, paint/create new furniture, sew curtains, create art work and stage for photo shoots. Get the idea?

As mentioned in my last post, the reasons I chose these rooms for Phase 1 to make the quickest design impact and for self healing. I’m taking a 2 month hiatus from my friends, family and most of my life. There will be no babysitting, no entertaining, no kids sleeping-over, no helping others out, no talking about my X and no going out to dinner. It is going to be just my son and I with our blank canvas and art supplies aka trailer, building materials, supplies & power tools! I’m smiling just thinking about it! Sounds like fun doesn’t it?

I am making a couple of exceptions to the 2 month hiatus: the granddaughter Monday’s, the new granddaughter due in 3 weeks and a weekly cooking lesson I’m giving to  my niece, Chelsea Elise from Bellissima Body Works, in exchange for a massage. Hey, I’m going to need some relaxation and some adult conversation! Also, I will be in my office on Friday’s and available for clients on an as needed basis – Just another reason why living in a trailer is so depressing…I am a PA Licensed REALTOR and my home cost $11,000!

I pissed some of my family and friends off by taking the 2 month hiatus. They didn't understand why they should suffer not seeing us because I couldn't get my crap together. But, in the end they all understood that this is what I need to do to heal. You know, maybe I should have named the blog…Trailer Therapy! J

As always, thanks for joining me on this journey!

Live beautifully!

Jennifer Elaine

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