Just another brick in the wall . . .

While we enjoy the building phase the demo phase has its charms.

Inside the new addition.

This week found us kicking into high gear as we break on through to the other side into the addition.

Yes this week's blog is taking a musical tone as we hear the pounding, thumping and rattling of the tools in what is best described as a construction symphony. We are experiencing the challenges of working from home as one never knows when answering the phone just what type of background noise will be occurring.

Dust in the wind . . .

We were warned by others who took the renovation journey that dust will be everywhere. This was the part that we feared the most especially this past week when the swine flu or some other hybrid bug invaded our home. Between Scott's hacking and the thumping of the jack hammer I was anticipating seeing the Blue Man group emerge from the hallway in some bizarre performance with an air compressor and a box of Puff's Plus. We were amazed by Mingioni's team who left my home cleaner than when they started.

Here is the view as you walk in the front door. You can see through the walls into the new addition

Check out the new kitchen table and chairs--another Craigslist find

This week also finds us using my office as an office by day with areas sectioned off for a small kitchen area and dog kennels.

The fierce watch dogs, Maggie, Zoey and Fenwick have given up on barking at the construction team but still delight at barking when the sound of the boy two doors down gets on his scooter. They can hear this taunting sound over the banging of the roofers and the demo of the kitchen and add their barking to the musical mix. One would think that we would be in desperate need of a "Calgon, take me away" moment but the sounds have become easier to ignore.

From the dinning room through the wetbar/desk area into the new addition.

 

But this week was not only for the professionals but the amateurs. In getting ready for demo we had to peel up the Kahr's engineered hardwood floors in the living room and dining room to recycle in our Master Bedroom and the new dormer room on the second floor. In what can only be described as some feverous state Scott tore up the flooring and in his OCD way stacked them by size and orientation.

We had thought we could "kick this project out" in a weekend but we found ourselves in a Greek tragedy Sunday night after the sun was setting we discovered that our ceiling fan remote control was buried under furniture and inaccessible. About 20 minutes was spent trying to figure out if there was a manual override on the fan to allow for the light to turn on. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful. Scott took two lamps not yet packed and took off the shades to allow for the full glow of the bulbs. It became sort of a bizarre twister game to put your left hand on the floor but don't touch the fiery bulb of death. Around midnight, too tired to continue to work but with only a partial floor and all of the bedroom furniture unassembled and in the only other bedroom with a bed we began to rethink our plan. Turning XM Radio to the SPA channel to muffle the banging of the floor was no great help. Standing outside with the dogs at 4AM listing to Enya tunes while I hear the distant circular saw and the thump, bang, bang, bang of the floor being installed I thought any minute the noise complaints would warrant a visit from the Police.

Alas, with the floor installed followed by an hour or so to reassemble and make the bed we collapsed as the sun was rising on Monday morning. Well at least we can still pull all nighters over 40 . . . now that is an accomplishment.

Astrology, Amish and Port-o-potty Pancakes

This week will have us channeling our inner astrologer as we contemplate the nature of Mercury Retrograde. Now before you all go thinking that we are sitting here with our magical crystals and watching Shirley Maclaine channel a previous life there is some true science here.

During a Mercury Retrograde period things happen to force you to slow down. Often these things involve breakdowns in both cars and communications. For the past 10+ years as an IT professional I have seen normal functioning computers and applications go crazy during these astrological phases and I have come to believe that there is some truth here.


Scott, the skeptic of the family, usually sides with the logicical "it is what it is" mentality but my mad dash to get most of the important decisions made before September 7th so that I could think more rationally and not operate out of desperation should trouble arise has proven to help us through early issues in this adventure. (Please note there is no gratuitous patting on the back, I am merely stating what I have learned.)
Well Erma Bombeck stated years ago, "If Life is a Bowl of Cherries - What Am I Doing in the Pits?"

While the present day Bombecks state, "We know we are going to hit the pits so enjoy the cherries while you can!"

Yes, this is a pessimistic view but if you know that for every up there will be a down in the balance of life it is much easier to plan for the worse and be delighted in the "not-so-bad"

Take for example this week's construction nightmare where one item was misinterpreted on the plan causing our breakfast bump out to be 10 inches to the right which would cause us to not have the luxury of a dishwasher. Terry our construction supervisor presented us with the news and we were so surprised at how easily this was corrected (or at least he made it seem easy to us). Having the foundation being shifted 10 inches seemed catastrophic to me but knowing in my head that "Here is one of the downs, don't freak out" enabled me to not spiral downward into the grim future of dishpan hands and more frequent manicures. I was actually able to speak like an adult listening to the possibilities which made it much easier to make a logical choice instead of an emotional one. Yes Virginia, you will have a dishwasher.

In the picture above you see the top breakfast nook is where it should be and the foundation below is slightly off

This week also had us watching the amazing framing crew.

We were quite fascinated with the Amish and Mexican framing crew. OK. We were a bit perplexed as the Amish drove up and were using cell phones and power tools, but we were educated in that when work is being performed for the English (non-Amish folk) they are allowed to use these tools.

We were quite impressed by the easy going nature and how they were able to shift gears as plans were modified.

And I can't balance on a balance beam 4' off of the ground with mats below . . .

The team in action

Up goes one of the beams

Windows and roofing . . . It is really coming together

With the framing done and demo scheduled for the week of September 20th we kick it into high gear to pack push and cram every object (furniture, food, dogs into the areas of the house which are not being demo'ed). We packed the can opener and did not label the box so off to the store to purchase another so we could open dog food. The real humor this week came from Scott who Sunday morning delighted me with the prospect of having homemade chocolate chip pancakes given that we had both chips and pancake mix. The only problem . . . no stove  (as that was puchased by a Craigslister on Saturday) and only one pan remained which was some heart shaped monstrosity of cookware. Scott being the loving husband said no problem I will make you heart shapped chocolate chip pancakes . . . I can cook them on the grill.
 
Sure, ladies are thinking, how could I possibly refuse such a loving gesture from my husband . . .
 
Looking out the new kitchen window in what will soon become my wonderful kitchen I spy the gas grill long forgotten behind a pile of earth nestled gently next to the Ace Port-o-potty. When I mentioned how close the port o potty was to the food prep area my loving husband asked innocently "What's wrong with Port-o-potty Pancakes?" Somehow I don't think that recipe will be one we will be trying anytime soon.
 
Until next week . . .

The Little Things Mean Alot

Although the weather has put a damper on the construction and we have our own swimming pit we have had opportunity to reflect this week on the "little things."

When we first planned this addition 12 years ago it was with the hope of having an expanded kitchen. But over the years as the plan evolved it was, "perhaps we can add a fireplace" or "wouldn't it be great to have a half bath on the first floor." Sometimes you can get lost in the details but the little things can make a big difference.

The past week or so found us charting into new territory as we expanded the footprint of our house and also gave us a dose of reality when we took Scott's Mom to the hospital for stroke like symptoms. We were lucky in that we realized the little things like slightly slurred speech and an unsteady gait as symptoms of something that wasn't quite right. With the help of friends and family and a wee bit of tough love we got her into the hospital across the street from her apartment which, by sheer luck or divine intervention, happened to be a Primary Certified Stroke Center. We are happy to report she is doing well and already released into a physical therapy/inpatient rehab program.

The progress on the addition ground to a halt late in the week as Mother Nature turned against us, dumping rain onto the jobsite Thursday and Friday. We did get the forms removed on Tuesday, revealing the monolithic walls of what will be our new basement. This was followed by a relatively quiet day on Wednesday which brought the preppy nightmare of waterproofing and insulating the foundation. The waterproofing material is sprayed on; a thick viscous layer of glop that solidifies into a rubbery, waterproof coating. Maybe it was the fumes, but I am convinced it was the brilliant kelly green color of the coating that made me a little lightheaded. This lightheadedness escalated to mild nausea as they adhered the pepto bismol-pink insulating panels to the tacky coating. Now I will admit to having worn more than one polo shirt at the same time, and I did own a total of two argyle sweaters back in the day (The were in fashion at the time, thank you!) but I never was a fan of pink and green and really can't wait until they backfill the foundation and bury that nastiness.

Although the rain did shut down the job and give us a moat as well as a pond, we were not completely idle.

In the "out with the old" category Kim used her Craigslist powers to sell our family room furniture as well as our refrigerator.

Wading through the morass of scam replies, Kim artfully plucked the legitimate potential buyers out. The buyer of our "This End Up" furniture was Bob. Bob is a father of two boys and had recently remodeled their basement to be a den for the kids. Familiar with the solid construction of crate-style furniture as he already had "This End Up" bunkbeds for his kids, he was happy to find we had everything he needed for the den. Kim and I wrestled the unruly furniture up from our basement, through the country's smallest kitchen and into the dining room and living room beyond. Even the sofa was no match for us! Despite putting a dent in our livingroom ceiling when he and his friend were picking up the furniture, it was a worthwhile transaction for all.

Our fridge went to an equally worthy recipient. Hanna is a college student moving into a new apartment with the help of her parents, up from Virginia for the day. Her third floor apartment has a "kitchen", as she put it (she made the quotation marks with her fingers) that consisted of a small stove and one cabinet. I assume it also had a sink but her point was she would have to use the fridge in the common kitchen on the first floor. Not looking forward to the prospect of having to run down and then back up two flights of steps just to grab something from the fridge, she checked out craigslist Sunday morning and found the listing for our appliances that Kim had just relisted that very morning. By mid-day, Hannah and her parents were pulling up outside to pick up the fridge. Having cleaned it up and moved it to the living room, I knew getting it into their SUV was not going to be the easiest task of the day and my heart sank when Hanna got out of the car in a fetching neck brace and sporting a semi-healed abrasion on her forehead. I knew she would be playing the role of supervisor in the appliance loading that would be taking place. Her father seemed quite fit, if somewhat slight of build, and thankfully he had brought along a dolly. We managed to get the fridge loaded into their SUV with minimal damage, all of it was done to the SUV's interior. I stiffled a laugh when Hannah's father said to his wife, " Remember when Hannah was small and she used to ride on your lap?" My efforts at stiffling laughter turned into a near choking when the wife asked, as she and her daughter were piling into the passenger-side bucket seat, "How are you going to get the fridge up the stairs?" to which the eternal optimist replied, "It will be a piece of cake!" I know the fridge worked well when it left here; I only hope they were able to get it into her apartment with no further collateral damage.

Staycation and the mini Grand Canyon

I was always fascinated by the children's book "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel"

This week found us in our own little picture book with the role of the Steam Shovel being played by Komatsu.

Like some prehistoric beast that likes to eat dirt this wonder chewed and spit out the seemingly endless hunks of clay revealing artifacts hidden below the soil for years. To me this was an archaeological adventure. What would we find? Jimmy Hoffa's grave, a rare dinosaur, or up through the ground came a bubblin' crude. Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea. OK so my hopes of becoming a Beverly Hillbilly were dashed when the precious artifacts were nothing but some old fence post, some old bricks and rotting tree roots. But the real prize was that we did not hit an underground river, well or septic system.

Flash back . . . .

Our "development" was once a golf course with majestic trees and water hazards and tributaries feeding into a larger creek. At the time these homes were built there was no consideration for environmental impact or the small guppy's ability to procreate and mingle with his friends. Instead the fertile soil was stripped and sold leaving orange clay and the once babbling brooks were filled with construction waste and dirt. When we bought this home we had no idea that on rainy days our backyard would transform into some sort of wild water ride for the dogs and squirrels. Rapids and ponds transformed the green grass into the Colorado River (ok, so I am embellishing just a bit).

Today . . .

With the huge hill of earth and the canyon that will be formed into our basement addition we had our own little "Staycation". Let's call it the Bombeck Mini Canyon. Standing at the edge of the 10Ft. cliff we snap pictures and ooh and aahhh over the ribbon of gray clay that streaks through the wall of earth.

This "Staycation" was short lived as just as quickly the footers were poured and the forms for the walls raised and filled. Standing at the window looking out to what once was a backyard I see the sun rising over the orange hill of clay casting it's rays into the cold metal forms and pause to think about that first cup of coffee while sitting in the breakfast nook with a good book.