oh to remodel...

Six months ago or so, i read an article on-line about avoiding remodeling stress, and it had some interesting tips and I thought I "got" it...
They went something like,
Start with the end in mind
Minimize your downtime
Get out of town for a few days
Roll with the small changes
Have the right attitude about mistakes
Hire a professional
I wouldn't even consider not hiring a professional and our contractor has been WONDERFUL. He is easy-going and pleasant. I have been mindful not to change gears too often, but when I do...he is awesome about rolling with it.
So anywho...here we are three weeks into to the remodel and the stress is HERE. Money being a major factor. We are well north of the initial bid. And it's no fault of anyone that I can tell. Things just come up, which is where "roll with the small changes" comes in.
I am behind in the things I wanted to be doing along with the contractor too. There is a LARGE amount of blue wallpaper that needs to be destroyed! Ugh, please promise you will only use wallpaper in tiny areas, after all other forms of decorating have failed. It's such a pain in the arse.
With all that being said, I feel pretty good about things. Going into this deal, I thought we would only be in this house for about three-five more years. But after all this time and money, I am reevaluating what we need in a house. We don't need more space...we aren't out-growing this house. We just need to be smarter about use of space. I see us staying in this place for more like ten years.