WOW!

What a HUGE day at #2021! When I returned home from grocery shopping, this is what I found in my kitchen! AMAZING! Isn't this the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?

The Ceiling

... Is progressing nicely! And will not be nearly as difficult to finish as I anticipated (knock on wood). Here are some pix of the first panel of planking. There are seven of these roughly 6 x 8 sections, partitioned off by the boxbeams. We'll be painting this in an antique white (let's be honest--we'll be paying someone to spray paint this one...). I am very pleased, and VERY proud of Eric, who has engineered the crap out of this ceiling.

Well, this is embarrassing.

It's been since September. This is due to a combination of 1) busy-ness (about 15%) and 2) laziness (83%). And 2% forgetfulness. I am not as smart as I was 25 months ago.

Anyway, we are wrapping up a glorious two-week vacation, half spent up north and half here at home. I spent the vast majority of it in sweatpants, which in my book makes for a GREAT vacation. Little Harp is a delight. She talks constantly. We understand about 10% of what she's saying, but she learns a new word or two every day and is a wonderful girl. This week, we have visited museums (Eiteljorg and Children's) and had a fine old time.

The house is coming along, but SO SLOWLY. It is starting to wear me down. That I am only now starting to be worn down after 3.5 years of living in one construction project or another is a testament, I think, to my patience. But yeah, it will be wonderful when this D*** kitchen is done.

We are getting there, though, so I don't mean to make it sound like I'm in the depths of despair or anything. The tile is down, the wall is opened, the windows are in, the walls are up, and the ceiling is half finished. The electric and plumbing are done, but waiting for final inspection when things are all closed in.

Originally, we had planned to go with a golden slate tile. For one reason or another, we didn't. We ordered what we thought was greenish slate tile, and as it turned out, we had ordered greenish porcelain tile. The good news is that we liked this tile a lot, so we laid it and it looks great.

I, staying true to my habits, got in a big yank to paint, and selected a color on a whim, invested significant time and money into it, and now I am not at all convinced that I picked the right color or even like the color. This is par for the course, and I am learning to just say no when it comes to making these kinds of decisions. Anyway, you can just barely see the paint around the window here--this is a new window, by the way. The old one was too long, and this one will create space for countertop to go beneath it.

The ceiling is the main thing that is slowing us up right now. It will be very cool when it gets done, but it is going to take a lot of work to get it done. We're doing box beams with planks in between the boxes. At this point, I would be thrilled with a smooth drywall ceiling, but we are where we are.

I just went through a bunch of pictures, and realized I have not been tracking our progress very well. Will post more pix tomorrow.

A New Year's resolution--better documentation. Just in case y'all need proof after I'm found expired under a pile of sawdust and cement board...

Dare I Say... Progress?

No doubt that tonight a bolt of lightning will strike and I will learn to hold my tongue... um, fingers. Whatever.

First things first. The deck. This deck has been a work in progress for, ohhhh, since I got pregnant. I remember it quite vividly because the evening I told Eric I was pregnant was the same evening we moved in a bunch of lumber from the slab out back to the yard. And the weekend we told my parents was the weekend Eric and Dad actually built the thing. So 7 months pregnancy, and Harper is now 20 months old... So almost 2.5 years. But, if we needed 2.5 years to get to this, perhaps it was worth it. This deck is a wonder.

The kitchen, we've only been working on for the last four months or so, and we're at a very good point. It still LOOKS terrible, but there has been major work done in there. Eric took up all the hardwood and some of the subfloor, refloored and cement boarded the floor to prep for tile, took down the drywall on the walls and ceiling, built the frame for the island, installed a header for the opening in the wall between the kitchen and dining room, and removed the windows in order to make enough room for the countertop. Plus, electric is finished and plumbing is all done except for the gas line. Next steps are tile, drywall, cabinet installation and appliances. We're reusing our fridge, microwave and dishwasher (which has actually never left its box in the foyer) but we'll get a new wall oven and cooktop. Here's what it looked like a couple weeks ago.

And here's what it looks like now. Nice.

And outside.

More soon.

Margaritaville...

Someone at work yesterday said the word "margarita." Or actually, it might have been "limes." Anyway, since that moment, I have had margs on the brain. I used crappy tequila and a mix from a bottle, but tossed in a few strawberries, and darn it if this isn't the most delicious drink ever. :)

Things are interesting here at #2021. Little bunny continues to be a joy and a delight. She is a trip, and becoming more hilarious by the day. She learned to dance the other night, and entertained us this morning with some killer trick moves. She talks constantly, and is using some real words now--"night night" is a favorite, along with "see you later," "bye-bye," "hi," "puppy," and a bunch of others. Remember how I was despairing a while back about her refusal to say mama? Well, she says it now, and it's a lot like this:

I actually despite Family Guy, but this one paints a pretty accurate picture.

It's thundering rather dramatically out there right now, but no rain yet. It is dry as a bone out there. We have mowed our lawn once since June. Of course, we don't mow all that much even when it does rain because we're THAT house. Yes, you know the one. But it makes little sense right now to kick up dust and disturb the cicadas simply to cut down that one weed that has managed to grow three feet tall during a drought. Sigh.

Eric is making pretty dramatic progress on the house, but that is the next post. For now, I leave you with a shot of the little monkey making her escape with pigtails.

Back to Normal

What a week.

Harper has been feeling pretty bad this week. Last Friday, she spiked a high fever and then proceeded to puke and poop and every other disgusting thing you can think of ALL OVER ME for the next 48 hours. Her fever broke Sunday evening and she seemed back to her normal self, if a little lethargic. Well, then her molars started hurting her very badly. She ran another low fever and was little miss cranky pants for the next 5 days. Today, I feel as though the baby girl I know and love is back with us after being replaced by Bizarro Harper--no fever, no crankies, sleeping peacefully, molars have broken through, and she took a 4 hour nap today. I am hopeful that tonight we will make it all the way through with no marathon crying sessions, wanting to sleep not with me but ON me when I finally break down and bring her into bed with us, or angry baby words over the monitor, because even though I'm not teething or sick, I, too, am cranky.

In other news, we had a busy weekend. Despite hating beer, I went to Brew Ha Ha downtown and was crushed by the humanity--too many drunkards in one space, I think. But still had a lovely time with our fantastic neighbors. Today, I met up with an old friend from grad school in the Fe, and for just a little while, felt like I was 23 again. I also ate at Yats, which is always good.

The house is progressing slowly, due mainly to it raining on strategic days, and general busyness on both our parts. Eric is making significant progress on the deck, which he is painting with a artist paintbrush--like what you'd use for an actual painting. I think this explains the pace pretty well. He is making measurements and drawing all over what is left of the walls in the new kitchen, which signifies progress to me even if I don't know what it's all about. I am feeling pretty proud of myself because I put away at least 8 loads of laundry today. Whoo!