top of page
So We Bought An Old Church
Welcome to our blog… though we’d like to think of it as more of a ‘live book’ being written in real time!
For the best experience, start at the beginning (1) and work your way up. If you don’t want to miss a thing, be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter… no spam… just a new chapter every Monday along with new art and any upcoming shows and or events - totally free to join!
And if you’re enjoying our weekly chapter drops and newsletter please consider subscribing as a patron…
As a patron you will receive benefits like early access to new chapters, quarterly personal letters with updates not in our regular newsletter and blog, and even original art! Your monthly contribution helps to make writing this story and the upkeep of this site possible. You are helping us to write a truly magical story. Thank you!
51) Heavy Lifting
“Can I show you something?” David wanted to know. You were sitting in your recliner, the little one that you had bought for your shoulder surgery recovery. The one that David wanted to know how you planned on getting upstairs. You had shrugged. “I hadn’t given that much thought… figured you’d figure it out…” And he had. He had carried it upstairs. “Sure, just give me a couple of minutes, ok?” You said. “Yup.” Quietly he closed the door behind him as he stepped back out of the
Vanessa LuhVek
20 hours ago12 min read
50) Leverage Makes it Better
“Yeah but… we don’t want to….” “And I hear your words, I do… but like it or not… this IS happening today…” “But it’s hot.” “You’re right. Which means that the sooner we start this shit, the sooner we can be done with it….” “UGHHHHHHHHHH….” They groaned in unison. You’re eldest was most opposed to the entire ordeal. He was leading the charge in the quickly escalating mutiny, your only hope: to quash it immediately. “Guys… come on… you finish this and you get 24 hours of unchec
Vanessa LuhVek
Jul 137 min read
49) Practically Picasso
“FUCK!” There was a flurry of commotion, a crashing, a metallic thud and more yelling… “Oh you son of a fucking bitch… I swear to god! Are you fucking with me??? You have to be fucking with me…” You thought about asking what was going on then decided better… Sometimes you were better off pretending that your acute sense of hearing wasn’t all that acute. There was a brief silence before the mechanical hum of the paint sprayer kicked back on and then a few minutes later, “You p
Vanessa LuhVek
Jul 68 min read
48) Quit Bugging Me
There was a sudden flurry of activity… life that had gone unnoticed was now teeming in the rich soil, swarming upwards toward the light. “Oh fuck… You have got to be fucking kidding me… So frickin disgusting.” You quickly pulled the zippered mesh flap back over the raised indoor gardening bed doing your best to keep the gnats from flying out and into the wide expanse of the basement… possibly infesting all of your other plants. “Spent a damn fortune on soil only for it to be
Vanessa LuhVek
Jun 2914 min read
47) The Problem That Didn’t Need Solving and The Problem That Did
You eyeballed the clock. You had ten more minutes until ‘go time’. Ever since the massive wave of bats took a nosedive into your chimney the night before, you had been waiting to film them. Surely they’d be back the following evening. At 8:30pm you and your daughter were outside positioning the tripod just so. You had to get a good shot of this. No one was ever going to truly believe you and honestly who could blame them?! You were just thankful that you had Beverly with you
Vanessa LuhVek
Jun 157 min read
46) The Endless List
How strange it feels to have accomplished so much, ticked off so many boxes, completed so many projects, solved so many longstanding and complicated problems… knowing that you still have an eternity ahead of you. You used to say years. “Five year plan.” Can you imagine? HA! More like decades. More like a lifetime. There could be… there is… that much to do. A forever and then some. And somehow you find this... Daunting? You don’t think that would be a good descriptor. Daunting
Vanessa LuhVek
Jun 812 min read
45) The Fun Police
”How come birthday parties are always two hours? Like 1-3 time?” Your daughter wanted to know. “I think that’s probably the human limit for what an adult can tolerate,” you answered. Your daughter seemed to contemplate that for a second then shook her head to show she understood. “You’ll see what I mean,” you added. She had gotten up early that morning and immediately changed into her party dress. She had you do up her hair nice and even asked for a little bit of makeup and a
Vanessa LuhVek
Jun 111 min read
44) Party Time and The Visitor
The kids were less than pleased. “Consider today: clean time… and no screen time.” “Ughhhhhhh…. That sucks…” they groaned. In all fairness you probably could have worded it better. Made the gargantuan task at hand at least sound a little more fun. Cleaning a 7,000 square foot home was daunting enough as an adult, you could only imagine how it had to feel as a kid. Every weekend you and your sister would spend Saturday morning cleaning. You’d clean the bathroom, put away cloth
Vanessa LuhVek
May 2510 min read
43) Empty Inside
With Monday came the renewed push aided by an impending deadline and a surprise visitor to get the basement “party ready”. The first step was to drag out the last of what was still in the basement (minus the three massive pews that you decided would be far too difficult to drag out and store somewhere else without getting in the way for three days). There were sheets of unused plywood to contend with along with a large pile of miscellaneous pieces of wood of varying sizes and
Vanessa LuhVek
May 187 min read
42) Treasure Hunting…
“Hey Vaness, I’m going down here to check out some hinges… are you coming?” David called to you from the front of the store. He had been talking with the owner just before. “I’ll be down in just a bit…” You had been down into the basement on another trip. Today you browsed, old lamps, chandeliers, costume jewelry, and assorted colored glass. Everything was haphazardly displayed and covered in a fine film of dust. Unlike the stately and well curated antique shop next-door: a f
Vanessa LuhVek
May 116 min read
41) The Lord’s Plan
“What time did you tell this guy that we’re coming?” “I told him that the Uhaul place opens around 9:00 and that by the time all the paperwork is signed and we get on our way that we’ll probably be getting to him around 10:30ish…” “Ok. That sounds about right.” “How much was he selling them for?” “He was selling them for $35 each but I had asked him if he’d do $25 a piece if I bought all three and he said that was fine.” “So by the time we pay for the Uhaul to grab them we’re
Vanessa LuhVek
May 419 min read
40) Springtime Collection
The painting of the basement had begun a week prior and like everything else, it was taking far longer than you had anticipated. March was nearly halfway through when you woke up to bubble gum skies and and the remnants of a cotton candy fog that gently pooled in the dips and valleys south of the church’s belfry tower. Nearly all the snow was gone except for the barely there errant pile that had once stood tall; now the melted drifts served as one of the few visible signs of
Vanessa LuhVek
Apr 139 min read
39) Goodbye Stranger
Seven months and nine days. Seven months. Nine days. You had guessed it would take you a mere two weeks…. Just fourteen days… to remove the few sections of moldy drywall, replace them, mud, sand and then apply a fresh coat of paint to the basement. You were on day 221… Two hundred twenty one days in and you were just getting to the paint part, never mind all the work you’d still have to do after you painted. You were off by two hundred and seven days. More if you wanted to co
Vanessa LuhVek
Apr 610 min read
38) The Ship-Show
It was strange to you now because although you had ‘finish’ dates in mind for the basement… and they changed frequently… you never really imagined the basement being finished. Even now when you and David were getting ready to roll the paint, you didn’t feel that much closer to when you started. It was a strange feeling… you wondered if it was internalized self doubt or just finally starting to realize that this project would NEVER be done. Not the basement per se. The basemen
Vanessa LuhVek
Mar 307 min read
37) Dressed to Impress
Even though the list… the wooden one… set in stone had sat unwavering, zip tied to the column; the reality was that there really was much to add. David who once vehemently opposed to any additions had since softened his stance. The reality was that “PAINT WALL” and “PAINT FLOOR” were virtually impossible without a bit of leeway. Not caring nearly as much in the past, you had definitely cut corners before. Rather than spackling and sanding little holes you liked to pretend tha
Vanessa LuhVek
Mar 2311 min read
36) Lord of The Flies
Bzzzzzzzzzz…. Zzzzzzt…. Zzzzzzzttt… You scanned the room, your toothbrush in your mouth as you turned away from the double sink and mirrors. Where was that coming from? Zzzzzzzz….. ZZZZZZZZtttt…. There on the floor, over by the pot of flowers and the tall white grow light there was a single fly belly up, struggling in a vain attempt to right itself. You had once read that dead or dying insects will wind up on their backs because of blood flow issues that make their legs fold
Vanessa LuhVek
Mar 1610 min read
35) To Valhalla And Back
”Mommy! Daddy! Come quick!” Yelled your middle child, “THERE’S A BAT IN THE SANCTUARY!” You and David had been downstairs cleaning up from dinner when the kitchen door flew open and your youngest son came in with a flourish of both concern and dramatic flair. He had paused for effect to catch his breath and wipe his dry brow as if he had run Paul Revere style (sans the horse) through town alerting all of the town’s folk to the presence of not the British, but rather that of a
Vanessa LuhVek
Mar 914 min read
34) Set in… Wood…
Work on the church picked up after the stairs were fixed. When you had first moved in, the renovation pace was feverish… it bordered on ‘ludicrous speed’… or at the very least non sustainable for any great length of time. The holidays had brought a much needed slow down. You had finally come to the realization that this renovation was not a sprint, but rather a marathon… maybe even ten back to back marathons if you were being honest. You knew that this church was not going to
Vanessa LuhVek
Mar 212 min read
33) Bisque and Baby Steps…
THWUMP. There was a brief pause… then again… THWUMP. THWUMP. THWUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP… You could feel your jaw clench. THWUMP, THWUMP, THWUMP, THWUMP, THWUMP!!! “David…” you managed to hiss, barely opening your mouth, “I need you to go see what’s going on… because I know that if I go… I’m not going to like how I handle whatever is happening right now…” David sighed and closed his laptop while standing up. The two of you were sitting in the guestroom by
Vanessa LuhVek
Feb 2314 min read
32) The Buck Stops Here
Although less than enthused, the kids got off to school without a hitch. Two weeks off and they were far from excited to go back… except of course for your youngest, she was thrilled. Both you and David found this hysterical… “She didn’t get that from me,” you said, remembering how much you had hated school. “Definitely not from me either,” David replied. You and David had both gone to high school together. He was a few years ahead though and popular and you were definitely n
Vanessa LuhVek
Feb 168 min read
bottom of page