Fucking Carlsberg Years

It's 18 degrees Celsius in my house today and my husband won't get with turning on the furnace until Oct. 1. Should I have to suffer because autumn's hit hard? I'm trying to type but my fingers are blue...

At any rate, here's what we did this morning. We made a list of the innumerable things we have to fix, and soon, in this century home of ours. We should have done this before Scott's third-floor reno. I knew that but I was overruled. And truly, the third floor, which was a total pit, is now fantastic. However, last winter truly fucked over whatever sort of delicate detente we had going with the first floor.

For your viewing pleasure (and to make you feel really good about living in some box put together in the 80s - that would be the 1980s!), here's the list:

Foundation / Basement:

• Rebuild external basement door
• Replace concrete walkway with another material (pea gravel?)
• Address foundation and stack issues (Kitchen)
• Address foundation and shifting in frame (Back Room)
• Re-route dryer vent
• Stabilize water tap (outside)

Kitchen

• Address leak in ceiling
• Recessed lighting
• Cabinetry on north wall - vertical storage for pans
• Island
• Wood floors, insulated floors, radiant heating
• Bigger window
• New appliances with cabinet facings
• Address bulkhead in kitchen
• New under cabinet lighting
• New counters (stone or Corian)
• Under-mounted sink
• Move drain pipe for sink and dishwasher
• Ceiling mounted pot rack

Back Room

• Remove back door and back window, replace with French doors
• Replace south window
• Kristin doesn't like bookshelves, Scott wants refurbishment
• Replace heating duct in ceiling with one that's smaller
• Recessed lighting
• Swedish hanging wood stove
• Insulating floor / possibly radiant heating in floor
• Move ceiling heating vent
• Natural gas line extension for BBQ
• New deck if they can't preserve the old one
• New lighting over the deck

Bathroom

• Fix drain issues
• Fix potential water damage in kitchen at source (God help us if it's the shower...)

Dining Room

• Replace dining room window (if possible)

Can I just say, what the fuck?
If you don't want to throw all of your money at things (other than fancy travel and luxury goods) for the rest of your life, I have two serious recommendations: Don't have a kid (or more than one). And, really, don't buy a house that's almost 150 years old.
My other serious recommendation is to just be rich. But that's perhaps trickier to control.
We've been putting this off for 14 years but the original kitchen - which used to simply be a blight on an otherwise charming home - is now a liability. Furthermore, the back of the house was completely unsettled, to put it generously, by the racking cold of the winter from hell. Oh, I have another piece of serious advice to help you keep your money: Don't own a home in Canada (or any other arctic clime).
I have no idea of how this is going to go from a list on a piece of paper to reality. It must, however. Regardless of the cost, regardless of the stress and misery a reno is likely to cause, it's our responsibility. We bought this home with an intention to maintain its structure, to bring (pridefully) it into new centuries.
In case you're wondering, living with this knowledge (in the place that must be fixed) is a great stressor. I cannot abide disorder. At the best of times, I feel that everywhere I turn, everything is falling apart. Imagine how this environment casts a spotlight on that harsh truth.
So when I say that I'm tired and that the week's been tough, often times it's because another thing in this place where I live, a place I'd desperately like to take for granted, has broken. Add in a mouthy adolescent, and a busy job and I really don't know how I have the wherewithal to do an hour of yoga, much less to make a sweater or to re-fit a sewing pattern.
I don't know if I'm at a particularly transitional moment or if they're all like this. All I can say is that I'm very aware. Now I've got to focus on detaching from difficulty. How do I observe this without becoming overwhelmed?
Today's questions: What stresses you out? Do you have a house that takes as much attention (and money) as your average child? Do you see disorder in everything? How do you manage chaos, even if it's just in your own mind? I really need some pointers.