Was the house this bad when we left?

So we're home and the euphoria of the vacation was quick to burn off, once returning to the reality of every day life... The initial vapors started in the car journey home, all 9 hours of it, complete with the soundtrack of the whole Jim Gill back catalogue (all you parents out there will know this guy's dulcet tones)...
Anyways, as we all sang along to the "Sneezing Song" for the umpteenth time, I started to lose the will to live... this feeling was compounded as we hit the New Jersey Turnpike and the beautiful images of quaint cottages framed with hydrangeas were replaced by smoke stacks and power plants... I have to say, passing by Newark Airport, one just has to smirk at the irony of the New Jersey licence plate, which proudly professes to be 'The Garden State.'

This hydrangea was brought in Cape Cod; in attempt to spread a little 'Cape' magic in the garden.

Finally, we pull up to our little cottage... A Cape Cod which gives a little nod to the houses that we had left behind in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, this our home (once a vacation cottage itself), had been sadly neglected over the years and had fallen into disrepair...  We entered the picture; naive newlyweds, with no money and a romantic vision of living next to the beach and 'restoring the love' to this little house... 2 years on and a little progress has been made... Progress, which before our trip, had felt monumental, but now, instead of feeling invigorated and raring to go, I'm left reminded of the daunting task that we have ahead of us...  Over the past week, I have been spoilt, living in a cottage that has rooms.. lots of them... for the kids to muck up and roll around in... a dishwasher that actually washes dishes (and not needing a hand wash afterwards).... multiple bathrooms (so I don't have to hide my razors or bathe with Dora and the gang), windows that actually open, a roof that doesn't leak, a basement that doesn't flood, and a floor that doesn't slope (seriously, our living room is like living in a fun house)...  All these 'normal' things I'd  been experiencing are luxuries to me. Luxuries, that I have left behind in Cape Cod! Enough of this whinging though...  I'm going pick myself up, dust myself off, and get back on the horse that is known as 'House Renovation'....
I know that there's a lot of bloggers out there that have lived this too and reading their blogs gives me the encouragement to keep ploughing on. If you have any tips for coping with a 'fixer upper'/ 'handy man special'/ 'needs TLC'  (or any other estate agents spiel for 'this home should be pulled down, but some s**ker might buy it') home',  I'd love to hear them!  Meanwhile,  I'll have a beer... apparently it's a 'Vacation in a Pint'... here's hoping!