Thursday, June 28, 2012

Yes

Yes, I was supposed to update you throughout the process.

Yes, I started all manner of posts to let you know how the house was coming but always put off posting them so I could get a better picture.  Or sometimes, just so I could get A picture.

And yes, I feel sort of bad that I've left you in the dark for all this time, wondering how it was going (humor me).  But finally, I am pleased to report...

WE'RE IN!

Remember this?


It now looks like this:


Except with furniture.  And without that icky vacuum sitting in the middle of it.

It's beautiful.  And I promise to take some more pics so you can see the beauty for yourself.  But I wanted to let you know what the heck was happening, and get back into my blogging habit before my fingers forgot how to type.

Oh, and the budget?  Yeah, that got kicked into a dark hole, never to be seen or heard from again.  And I am trying to be okay with that, especially since we just had an appraisal and we're up in value more than $135K over what we paid and put into it.  So there's that.

In other news:  Noodle finished Kindergarten, and sent me into hyperventilation mode when I realized she is ONE THIRD of the way to age 18!  I've since stopped sobbing and mopped up my mascara, but it was touch and go there for a bit, let me tell you!

Also, I'm going to learn how to can things.  Edible things.  In jars.  Stop laughing.  It's happening.  More on that later.

Oh, and this is my evening view now.


Seriously.  That's my view.  Guess that doesn't hurt either.

So I'm moved!  And I'm back on my blog, instead of gluing my fingers to the floor and the like.  *Sigh* It's good to be back...


Wednesday, June 27, 2012

More or Less

I ran across this at a friend's house, and felt compelled to take a photo.  Actually, I felt compelled to take a photo, blow it up to a massive size, make multiple copies and stick them on all available surfaces in my house that my eyes might wander across in the course of a day.  But I settled for just taking a picture.  And posting it here. 



In twenty eight words, it just went ahead and pointed out all the things that I need to work on.  If I could master even just a few of these, my life would feel a lot simpler.  And so I will.  Simple.

What does a simple life mean to you?

Sites that I have linked this post include:

Thirty Handmade Days


Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The Reno That Wouldn't Die

**Disclaimer**  I wrote this post a LONG time ago, but put off actually posting it.  Couldn't tell you why.  So we are actually much further along in the process now (as in, we've moved it!), but for the sake of the timeline, I figured you should see this.

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Wow.  Turns out that building a house with two kids and a husband that works from home doesn't leave much in the way of blogging time.  But, since we're here, who's up for an update via poor mobile phone camera pics?  Oh good.  Me too.

So, remember the last time I showed a pic of the inside it looked like this?



Well, since then it's gotten significantly scarier (and coincidentally, deadlier).  There is junk EVERYWHERE.  Cords, wood, trash, scaffolding, paint buckets, saws (my lord, the saws!  All manner of saws.  Saws to cut anything you could ever want to cut.), assorted power tools, tile, wood flooring (not glued down yet), other wood flooring (completely glued, and hopefully straight), baseboard makings, and dust.  Enough dust to compress and make a whole second home.  Just massive amounts of dust.  And it has, at any moment in this process looked like some version of this:



But out of all the chaos, a house is forming.  We have a most gorgeous master shower that looks like this:



And some beautiful cabinets that will one day make a kitchen:



And slowly, and back breakingly, a wood floor is taking shape:



Oh, and a most awesome handrail for the stairs to keep Noodle and Nugget from plunging into the abyss below (providing we can keep them from climbing it like a ladder):



We also have appliances.  New, shiny appliances that you will someday see.

And when we actually get them in the kitchen, I will take pics then too.  So you can see what they really look like.

So there you have it.  The renovation marches onward.  In a relatively near future post (wouldn't want to commit too heartily) I will tell you about my adventures in plumbing hardware installation.  One word: Humbling.