We’ve never been the fastest at completing home renovations, and the work on our downstairs TV room has been no different. We got the new fireplace put in some time ag0, but there’s no visible sign of progress since. Doesn’t mean no progress at all, actually, as some of the new cabinets have been built and painted. But they’re not in place yet. Because first, we have to change the flooring.

To finally kick that into gear, we decided, finally, that we would pay someone else to install it. Then the shopping part went surprisingly well and much faster than we expected; we really didn’t have much trouble agreeing on a style. (Frankly, it’s similar in look to the upstairs kitchen tile. Our tastes are consistent. Once we went shopping for couches, and without realizing it, ended up buying the same ones we already had, just in a different color and fabric.)

We toyed with the idea of installing vinyl tile before returning to tile laminate, on the thought that might make for a better exercise surface. (The TV room is to become a combo fitness/TV room, the former fitness room an office.) We got it all quoted, throwing in the installation of hardwood on the stairs and hallway upstairs (a project that has been languishing even longer than the downstairs work). It’s not cheap, but we do have sufficient funds set aside for it.

We’ll try to book it for the end of September. So now our troubles begin.

Just because someone else is installing the flooring does not mean we don’t have work to do. Au contraire. The room is pretty big, it’s full of stuff, and a lot of that stuff weighs a ton. And the flooring guys are not going to move it all for us. Frankly, pondering where the heck we’re going to temporarily store all that stuff is giving me slight palpitations. (Not to mention how the two of us are going to manage to lift certain things…)

And to add to the fun—though it’s not really related—we’re also looking to change our bank accounts. RBC bank fees have doubled and tripled on us lately (still not entirely sure why), and a visit to them brought only an offer of temporary, partial relief. BMO, though, has a no-fee bank account with no strings (no minimum balance, or anything). And, there’s a BMO bank machine at our next-door mall. The only thing we would have small fees for would be the rare instances when we actually have to get a teller to do something for us.

So, it makes sense to switch. But man, switching bank accounts is a pain. Even though BMO also has a service to help with the switchover, attempting to do it is still somewhat boggling my mind. How do you juggle the two accounts in the interim phase, keeping sufficient balances in each to make sure all the bills are paid—even keeping track of what bill is being paid from where? Gah. More palpitations.

September should be fun.