In Summer.....

Summer 2014 has brought some big changes for our family. Last winter we joined the Albuquerque Country Club, which is located just 2 blocks away from our house. Not ones to forget where we came from, I thought it would be a hard adjustment hanging with the economically fortunate folk instead of using "don't swim in the ditch!" free passes at the community pool provided by the fire department. BOY WAS I WRONG! Apparently we are having no transition issues at all!

Since we know how important 1st impressions can be in this type of social setting, I encouraged my children to be friendly with everyone at the annual Memorial Day pool bash. It was the Mazotti Family "coming out party", our introduction into high society functions. I reminded the children that it was important to participate but not steal the show. You know...lie low, make a good impression. I guess AJ didn't get the memo, because to my dismay (take that you elitist bastards!) he won the belly flop contest. Of course I immediately encouraged him to donate the prize to charity give me the gift cards, he said "no way!" and ran off with his winnings. I am pretty sure people were checking our credentials left and right after that.

Although Cienna did not win any contests, she stayed true to her Mazotti roots by creating quite a scene in the ladies bathroom by the pool. Her front tooth had become very loose and she insisted that we yank it out. So, after tying a piece of dental floss to the tooth, she completely chickened out and ran into the bathroom scared as hell. I followed her in and started gently berating her for not just getting it over with. Finally, she relented and on the count of 2 I yanked the floss inside the crowded bathroom and watched the tooth fly across the bathroom and heard it hit the wall. She started screaming and I started scrambling to find the tooth. People looked at us like we were absolutely the craziest people ever born and walked out of the bathroom. 5 minutes later I found that bad boy and all was well with the world. Although we haven't been invited to sit with anyone at the pool lately. Oh well.

Remodeling No More

Good lord our addition / remodel was painful. Not only did it drain our pocketbook but it drained us emotionally. I am now a firm believer that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And wiser. Here are the top 10 things I learned during this process:

10. Don't go with the lowest bid. You get what you pay for.
9. If a contractor tells you the project will take 3 months to complete, add a minimum of 3 months to that number. Add 6 months if you don't want to be disappointed or annoyed.
8. Whatever you do don't get a puppy in the middle of a remodel. DON'T. I am about 6 pairs of shoes down because of this.
7. Always write a completion penalty into your contract. Make it clear that your contractor will PAY YOU if he is not done on time.
6. Don't hire a contractor if you are expecting him to reduce your project stress. Keep the money and do it yourself. You will be less stressed because you will have more money and one less person to manage.
5. Contractors suck. My new list of things that would survive the apocalypse are attorneys, cockroaches and contractors.
4. I should have really paid attention in those Spanish classes back in high school. Pinche estupido!
3. If you have any interest in keeping your marriage in tact do not do an addition on your home. Bam! I just saved marriages everywhere.
2. Even if you are not a crier...you will cry. Accept it. Deal with it. Use it to your advantage when possible. It won't work on your contractor but the sub contractors will do anything they can to make you stop crying.
1. If you can make it through the process you will never do it again. Unless you are a masochist. And if you are a masochist you should probably marry a contractor. Just sayin.

And now...drum roll...the before and after pictures!

Bedroom Before

Bedroom After

Shower and Vanity Before

Shower and Vanity After

Closet Before

Closet After

And I kinda lied. It is not completely done. But we are close. Close enough that I am no longer living in my family room and I can hang things on the walls. But not close enough that my contractor is out of my life...yet. I waited 7 years to have my master suite. I can wait 7 more days right? Or 14 days. Or 21. Oh hell. I will let you all know when it is done-done!