Now the REAL fun begins....

This.

Leads to this.

We've gotten to the super fun part. There is nothing in our kitchen but the fridge. Luckily, can stay until it gets traded out for the new one at the end. We didn't know they were taking the dishwasher and sink out this week. We had a dishwasher full of dishes. What's a girl to do but fill the tub? EEEssh. That was not fun. I have purchased compostable paper plates and bowls so we can simply stop using dishes for a while.

Allegedly we have a month to go. It's the height of the annoyance. We're eating microwave food. The house is simply covered in dust. The dog is covered in dust. We're keeping doors shut where we can, but I swear the dust is traveling through the heat vents and spewing everywhere. I swear the dust is more of a problem than the lack of a sink!

Funny thing about the economy....we put whatever we could on Craig's List. I hate throwing anything away that can be used. We're selling it all totally cheap. It's all just functional basic kitchen appliances and cabinets......And we have NO takers. Usually you put things on Craig's List and they get snapped up quickly. It's certainly the housing market - fewer people moving = fewer people fixing up to sell or fixing up what they bought. Please, someone - take the stove!!! The economic crisis hits Craig's List....I swear.

Walls come tumblin' down.....

This week they framed the bay window in the kitchen. Our cooktop will sit in it eventually, where the cutout is. The blocks of grayish substance sitting on the ledge in the window area
are insulation. We are using a cool eco friendly insulation that is made from recycled cotton denim scraps! In person it really looks like denim. (bluer than the photo shows) It's as effective as standard insulation, which is made with awful toxic substances that you don't want to inhale.
Yesterday the wall between the kitchen and dining room came down! This was this morning before I went to work. When I came home, a new beam was in at the top and it the vertical beams were gone. YAY! The flow of space with this change is incredibly different. I seriously got teary eyed walking around and seeing thru from the kitchen to the front door, from the door into the kitchen. I walked around for 10 minutes just seeing things in a new way. It's fantastic. Peter is a bit freaked out about our over-budget-ness at the moment. Still a few weeks left and we've hit the budget ceiling. ( here comes the 20% over they tell you to plan for) I, however, feel today that it is worth every penny as I grin from ear to ear walking through the mess and envisioning the perfection it shall be. This is looking into the dining room - plastic wall to help keep the dust down. I got news for ya. EV-erything is dusty......it's pervasive now......the whole main floor is just a mess. There's Kobe....he's dusty too!



We got all crazy last night and went to a concert on a Tuesday night!?!? We haven't been to a show in a while and a super fun English band "The Kooks" were in town. The hubby took this photo of me with my coworkers. It was a super fun night! We were tiiiiiiiiiiired this morning...

Major progress....and a new obsession.

We've had huge progress. The photo above shows the upstairs bath framed! The electrician has been here, things are moving. Of course, we also had a few huge surprises. Like today, we learned we have to replace our entire electrical panel. Truthfully we anticipated the possibility.

What we DIDN'T anticipate is that there is no way to put a "normal" toilet in the upstairs bath. Something about the necessary drain on the opposite side of the house. Why this came out this far into it...I don't know...The only option is digging a trench that would be horribly costly. So today was spent with some investigation into "macerating" toilets. I really don't want to go into it, it's probably what you think....Although, my investigation shows some ones that seem okay. We're not finishing the bathroom for a while, but we need to have a clue about it while they do the electrical and plumbing.



I posted the start of my silhouette project the other week. Here it is completed! I really like how it came out.


Let's be clear. I am not a video game fan. Just not interested. However, my husband finds himself out to all hours on the occasional weekend night playing "Rock Band"with friends. I recently caved and said we should get Rock Band...which is actually funny because Peter already had bought it and had it hidden in a closet. I wish I had his sheepish admission of that on video tape....Let me tell you, it is about the most fun I have had in ages! We have been playing for a few hours a night and it's just a riot. You have actual (toy) instruments that you play on, you're playing along with real songs by real artists you know, and you get rated, the crowd loves or hates you based on your performance, you get fans, you go on tour. It's just super fun!! !

Igloo.....

The finest plastic available is all that is keeping the elements out. This is RIGHT outside our bedroom, where the bathroom is being added. ( note to JK - so ends the window seat. We never used it. You mused that no one ever uses them when you saw it.) It was 53 degrees today. Overnight it was down to 39. We have the heat off, because we'd only be heating the great outdoors, so why bother. Needless to say, the house is freaking freezing!! The exterior wall is supposed to be up tomorrow, so bye bye plastic - hello heat.

Here's what the kitchen looks like today. Not airtight in here, either....and with a fine layer of dust on everything on our entire first floor.

Really keeping this short as I am coooooold and wish to get under a blanket.

Phone conversation with the husband today:
him - the contractor is framing the bathroom. turns out we only have room for a tub under 5 feet long. 5 feet is standard and the only ones I can find that are smaller are high end super expensive - we are not spending $2500 for a tub.....we may need to reconfigure the room if we can't sort this out.
me - ( getting on google) okay, okay, there has to be something out there
him - ( also clearly googling, now excited) oh - cool - motor homes have small tubs. we can totally get a motor home tub, they're really cheap too!!
me - what??? we are not getting a motor home tub. i hate flimsy plastic tubs, no way....i can find something better than that.
him - you will be the death of me.
me - ( thanks to the google) American Standard makes a 4 1/2 foot tub for a couple hundred bucks. done. I can not believe you were about to bring a motor home bathtub into my house....

Who makes all home goods decisions around here? And for good reason. Now I gotta get under a blanket. My fingers are numb.