positvely dreamy light fixture

Don't you love those moments where you find something you really like? I do. Recently in my never-ending browsing of Old House Journal and Old House Interiors, I started to notice ads for a place called Brass Light Gallery. I liked their ads and I noticed they are in Milwaukee, a mere hour and a half drive from us.

I went to their website and started looking around....and I liked what I saw. They don't have prices there, which made me nervous, but I am going to perservere and get some quotes soon.

I love the light at left (Bayview Ceiling fixture Goldenrod Collection)and want to get it for our bedroom. It shines up and down- how perfect! and it has craftman elements but seems somewhat transitional, which matches our home style.

You see, our bedroom badly needs a light fixture- wouldn't you say?


It's been like this, since the old jimmy-rigged fixture failed on us. When I get a price, I'll post it and let you know if it's do-able. Do you like it for our bedroom?

Gratuitous Peony shot

This year we got 4 flowers on our Peony tree. Last year, we only had one, but it was huge. These flowers are literally like 7" diameter.

The first year we had a tragedy with it. A roaming band of kids came into our yard and broke half the baby tree off. They also ripped out some of my tulips.

I confronted them one morning about it. They have since moved away and the Peony is recovering. I think next year will be it's "big year" to establish.

Here's a close up of one of the flowers.

What puts a twinkle in my eye?

Some women like jewelry, for some people it's food or a car, maybe even spending time with that someone special. Honestly, I like those things too. But putting that last coat of varnish on the shoe moulding for the kitchen, that made me smile...

This was me last night. After having a splitting headache at work all day, I decided to finish the shoe moulding so we could install it today. Instant headache cure.

At left, Steve using our new hand operated Jorgenson compound miter saw. He is now quite skilled at coping as well.


Here's a shot of some of the finished work. We have a few more boards to install as I kicked the drill and broke the last drill bit while I was passing through the kitchen.

Next up- finishing the shoe moulding in the entry and cleaning the entry floor.

Working on the house really does fullfill me. It actually makes me better able to deal with my annoying day job because I feel I'm accomplishing something for myself. I am an Administrative Manager and sometimes I feel like I have 10+ kids at work. All day it's people whining at me, "Jocelyn, Jocelyn, Jocelyn, I need you..." I rarely get a moments peace. "House"-work is quiet and peaceful and I get to work alone or with Steve, whom I like. It's good to be back!

Decisions...Decisions

We have to decide on some things soon for the 2nd floor project. Like....

What kind of doors we are going to put over the awning- do we put real French doors or do we put sliding doors that just look like real doors. We are looking at Pella and Andersen. We, of course, prefer the authentic door with sidelights or French doors for obvious reasons. But sliding doors will not take up space in the room and they are a bit less money. I think we are leaning towards real doors.

We selected the cabinets and we are using Kraftmaid Lexington style in Toffee. These are mid-priced and way nicer than what you see in most apartments. Steve is making a few custom maple shelves to go over the sink, which will make it a bit more custom looking.

Lighting-wise, we are going with all Rejuvenation and Schoolhouse Electric. It is going to be very nice. I am going to wish I lived up there!

For the ceiling fan, we saw an article in Old House Journal this month that featured more authentic vintage style fans. We like the Hunter Classic Series. Most of the ones at Home Depot are hideous monstrosities. We have an ugly one in our living room right now that we are going to replace with one of the Classic Series too.

There are other things, but this is all I can bear to think about right now. (Bathroom fixtures, appliances, kitchen sink!)

I neglected to report on our visit to the "Stripper Man" last weekend. I have to admit I was somewhat sobered and mildly frightened after meeting him. His shop was really bare bones. He said he had "just moved" from up the street. It was actually a store front with a beauty salon next door and I didn't see any respirators anywhere.

We came in and he was sleeping in a chair and he jumped up and said, "Sorry, I had a rough night." It's the kind of thing where you worry about him disappearing and us not being able to get our wood back. I am probably being a nervous Nelly. I mean, Steve called him 6 months ago and he was in business. He does work for Jan's and Salvage One. He's the under the radar cheapest guy.

My gut and my conscience doesn't like it but we don't have much choice as everyone else is 4 times more money and we don't have time to do it ourselves. We're just going to have to gamble a little on this one. It will probably be okay. Suspense in renovation yet again.

to save a facade...

We've all seen examples of muddling up a facade or building. We've all seen beautiful buildings of architectural significance snuffed out.

It's nice to see someone saving a spectacular facade.
I have heard from a friend who lived in Paris for years and worked in the construction trades, that developers in Paris were forced to keep the facades of buildings and preserve the character of the city.

Steve is often fond of saying (in his bitter moments) how a stereotypical American goes to Europe and loves the art and architecture but then comes home satisfied with strip malls and Walmart. They don't seem to realize we could be like Europe if we wouldn't keep tearing down and building newer and cheaper.

The facade at left looks a little bit Louis Sullivan-esque. And you know, they just don't make 'em like that anymore.

The Back Porch

We have an enclosed back porch. I doubt it's original simply because a wood porch would not last that long. The porch was probably enclosed in the 1970's judging by the panelling and the windows. Our posts need to be replaced that much is for sure.

We've talked about tearing down the porch and having a deck built, but it's possible we could just replace the posts and freshen it up. We're not doing that right now of course, but with our tenants moving out next weekend, we decided to address another issue related to the porch.

I didn't take a photo before, but if you look at the photo here, you can see where there was a wall earlier today.
See where the gray paint ends? There was a full wall with a door that separated the stariwell from the landing.

It was a very tight squeeze and no one could possibly move in or out through there. A larger person would almost have to sqeeze through as a matter of fact! Well, no more. Now the tenants can move in and out through the back.

The bonus is that it has a much more open feel and lets some more light into our kitchen.

Here's the view from our back door. We are thinking we will put a storm/screen door on so we can keep our back door open and not let critters or flies in.


I'm planning to repaint it and clean it up a bit. I pulled an old radiator cover out of the basement and I'm using it as a plant table. I'll paint it too and I'll have a nice herb/flower garden to look out on from the kitchen.

We got it!

We've got our permit! It's funny how all the angst of things led up to this simple solution. The main demons were the unknown, what the city would require and of course, if we could afford it.

Things are looking good with our budget and timetable. Our tenants have said they are moving out the weekend of May 20th and I've seen some boxes come in for packing.

We have signed contracts with our electrician and contractor. They are ready to start as soon as the tenants leave and we remove the trim for stripping.

This weekend we are headed to Home Depot to do the cabinet configuration for the kitchen with one of their consultants. We did this for our kitchen with Kraftmaid cabinets and it worked out pretty well. The lead time on cabinets is longest so we want to get them ordered right away.

Then we are going to meet our Stripper Man who will remove all the paint from the trimwork and doors. I can't wait to see his operation. Maybe he'll let me take some photos, we'll see.

He says he will pick up the wood from here too, which saves us some hassle.

In the kitchen, we are doing a few things differently than we did on our floor. We are using a corner sink for one thing, which will be a nice touch. We are also having some upper cabinets since the pantry upstairs will be made smaller for bedroom closet space and thus will need more storage. The nice thing is we've been through the whole kitchen and bath projects before so we know exactly what we need to buy for supplies etc...

We're keeping the maple floors and Steve is building a smaller version of some of the custom shelving too. I think it will be a pretty darn nice apartment by the time we are done- good enough for us to move into should we decide to...Stay tuned...

Please sir, might we have a permit?

Steve went down to the Permit Office this morning and we hit a small snag. He showed them our plans and said we were doing new electrical and drywall. And they said, "Anything else?" And he nonchalantly sid, "Oh, and we are adding a dishwasher." They then told him we'd have to have mechanical drawings, and a licensed plumber install it, etc...etc...

So Steve left, annoyed because we could have had all that ready had we known we needed it. Except for one thing. We don't want to take a chance that the city will tell us we need a larger than 1" water line going into the building for this minor change so we are going to skip the dishwasher...for now (ejem).

So he has to go back now next week and tell them that we eliminating the d/w because this is just a rental unit and we can't deal with any complications right now, etc... He was a bit disappointed, but it could have been worse.

We always want to do everything to code and we will even pay for permit fees, but we just can't go bankrupt renovating our house- we just have to draw the line there.

Just thought I'd post our experiences in case anyone can learn from them. Not such interesting reading I'm sure.

On a more fun note: Tomorrow I am going to poly the quarter round moulding for the kitchen and entry so we can install it as soon as the 2 coats are dry. We can also try our our new manual miter saw.

Can you repeat that please?

Life can be pretty funny at times. I got back from Las Vegas and I wasn't feeling so great. Got a sinus infection and then noticed this strange rash on my left thigh. It was itchy and red and I was worried (after watching too many Dateline shows about the subject ) that I was a victim of bed bugs! I went to the doctor and she told me that an irritated nerve and stress caused a recurrence of Chicken Pox!

I can demo a room, dry wall it, strip loads of lead paint off wood, dig a new garden bed with no ill effects. Put me at a trade show in Las Vegas for a weekend (sans drinking, smoking, or gambling) and become so stressed I get sick in a few different ways.

Yes, I'm a homebody.

Fortunately I only have it in a few areas and I'm staying home from work for a few days to rest up. It's just a mild outbreak and I only have spots in a few places, but it's icky to me.

On the home front, Steve is going to see the city for a permit tomorrow. He got a call today and they said he didn't need an appt. for our type of job- just walk in. So hopefully, he'll come home with the permits tomorrow!

And since I am low on energy and conserving, I am just going to congratulate Nick and Trissa over at Pigeon Point on their soon to arrive baby!! I'm happy for you both- hope you read this!

And Greg- I wish I had your energy ! I've been reading but not commenting lately- but I'm always lurking about.

And to all other housebloggers: Beware Las Vegas!

Meet Stanley and Stella

No, Stanley and Stella aren't our new tenants. But they will reside here for a long time to come.

They are 2 fastigated boxwoods we planted Easter weekend. It's amazing the difference greenery makes. They really soften the concrete steps alot. They will only grow 1 1/2 feet wide and 7 feet tall. And they are evergreen- we like 'em.

This photo is of Stanley. Forgive me for naming them, but he really does look like a Stanley doesn't he?

The past few weeks have been extremely busy for me at work. We were getting ready for a big trade show and then I went to Las Vegas for the show last week.

I think I've mentioned I work for a high-end wallcoverings manufacturer and we always show at the Hospitality Design Expo in Las Vegas. This was my first year.



I managed to walk the show a bit and didn't I just go and fall in love with this outdoor lounger from Janus et Cie. A steal at about $2K. I think it represents where I want to be someday as far as lounging with my sweeties (Steve and dogs), a good book, and a glass of lemonade.

I also got to buy 2 new dog beds from the Crypton line at wholesale cost. I guess you can see where my priorities lie.
These beds are sold by specialty dog boutiques in case anyone is interested.

As far as the 2nd floor project, we have contracts signed with our electrician and main guy. We are just hoping that the tenants will move when they promised. We are planning to ask them for an update this week. We are also contacting an attorney to see how to handle if they don't move out.
Hopefully it won't come to that, but I know that ultimately we will prevail.

Progress

I haven't been posting as much, but things are moving forward quite well on the 2nd floor project.

We have selected a contractor and that is Miro from Miro Home Improvement Inc. He seems very honest and reliable and he re-worked his price with our changes and he's within our budget. He wants to handle the demolition and when we told him his quote for demo was $3K higher than the demo companies, he was able to adjust his pricing.

We've also selected an electrican and made a decision about what to do with the wiring for the building. We are going to get a third panel for the common areas, which will give us the flexibility to move upstairs to the 2nd floor should we decide to. This will take away quite a bit of usage from the 100 amp panel on the first floor (electric dryer main culprit), which will enable us to keep the 100 amp service on our floor and not upgrade to 200 amps. We are going to put 100 amps upstairs and then 100 amps for the common area panel. We will also be getting 3 new meters and new service into the building- alot of stuff!

In case anyone doesn't know how it works with owner occupied two-flats, the city is concerned about owners being sneaky and putting common area wiring on the rental unit and making the tenants pay for the building lighting. In our building we pay for everything, but some people can be very sneaky and pull things like this. The city frowns upon that and we were concerned they might make us put a third panel in anyway.

We also got a letter from our structural engineer verifying that the roof is supported by clear spanning joists from masonary wall to masonary wall. Every other joist, there is a vertical 2X4 connecting the roof to the 2nd floor ceiling joists. This is good news because it technically is not a load bearing wall and this means we can move it with little trouble making the bedroom larger.

Steve has his appointment with the city the first week in May to go over our plans and get the "easy" permits with electrical. Since we are not touching the plumbing or structure of the building, we qualify for an "Easy permit." If we were doing the plumbing etc... it could take up to 3 months to get permits.

So after all the trials and tribulations, we are making decisions and on budget- things are OK.

The tenants are scheduled to move end of May, and since I feel like hissing like a feral cat every time I think about them, that's a good thing. Oh, and I got a raise at work that starts June 1st. Provided the tenants leave as promised, June looks to be a good month here at the homestead!

Happy Easter...zzzz..zzzz

Just wanted to check in as I haven't posted this week. I had to "step away from the computer" as having started two other local blogs, I got blogged out. But I have decided to stick only with my houseblog for the summer and stay out of neighborhood activism in blogland for a while. It's just too much for me right now. Plus it's getting so nice out, I want to be gardening rather than at the computer so much.

Steve and I planted our annuals and two upright compact boxwoods to frame the stairway leading up to our front door yesterday. And I planted the cannas. But no photos because I lent my camera to my Mom for her visit to see my little nephew in CT.

Happy Easter! I'm going to lie down now and rest my weary self.

Suspense in renovation

Yesterday was the BIG day. Steve went upstairs to the 2nd floor apartment and cut a hole in the ceiling. We need to find out how the roof is being supported so we can address the issue of moving a wall to make one of the bedrooms larger.

The photos at left are of the space between the 2nd floor and the roof, which probably hasn't been opened up since the house was built. There was old-style cottony insulation there that you can see in the photos.

Put simply we need to know if there are ceiling beams that support the roof or if the vertical wall we want to move supports the roof before we move a wall.

We still don't won't know for sure what we have to do until we get word from our Structural Engineer. We emailed him photos yesterday.


We are going to move the wall either way, but one way will require a special permit and plans drawn up by the SE that must be approved by the city. The other way requires plans but no permit. We're talking about a difference of about $3000.00, which is alot when you are on a tight budget.

We've been told that typically it can take 3 months to get approval on these kinds of plans, unless you pay for an expeditor, which is about $1000. 00. So, cross your fingers for us that we won't have to go that route.

Here's a handy tip for anyone who has to cut a hole in a ceiling to see what's up there. Steve stapled a clear plastic bag to the ceiling around the area and then used a blade to start the hole and a sawzall to finish it. Because of the bag, the mess was pretty well contained.

Deal..... or no Deal?

We like that show here at our house. At first we thought is was dumb but then it's really the perfect mindless entertainment after lots of project planning and quote analysis- really.

Which brings us to our current dilemna: selecting a contractor. I am going to give a brief outline of all three contractors we've met with and gotten quotes etc... I think I know who we should select, but I am interested to hear your opinions of course. All checked out OK on the Better Business Bureau website. All spent about 2 hours+ going over the project with us at our home. They are listed in the order in which we met with them.

This person will handle rough framing, drywall, and finish carpentry for the project only.

Contractor #1 Miro
Referred to us by our favorite electrician. He is a young guy who learned the business from his Dad. He brought numerous photos of jobs and they were mainly kitchens and baths and the work was good. According to him he has done 4 jobs similar in nature to ours. He ALWAYS answers his phone when we call. He took us to see a few of his projects on a Sunday afternoon. We thought the work was of acceptable quality. He did not provide a formal quote but gave us a breakdown, but will let us write a contract and buy all materials. His quote was in the middle price-wise.

Contractor #2 Dan
We found him on Angie's List. He is a bit older but his business is relatively new-7 years. He said he's done one job like ours. His website shows a good caliber of work, but we want to see something in person. We spoke to a current client of his who raved about him (he combined a 2BD and 1BD condo into one in a lakefront high-rise for her). She asked me to call her back this week to schedule seeing the work. He runs his business out of his home and gave us a P.O. box when we asked for a business address-maybe a misunderstanding. He never answers his phone and it takes a long time for him to call us back. Sent us a pretty detailed quote on letterhead although he bid on items we did not request. His price was significantly lower and therefore tempting, but the communication issues are a concern for us.

Contractor #3 Marian
Also found on Angie's List. Had strong feelings against us refinishing the tub and was for redoing plumbing. Replacing the tub and plumbing isn't in our budget. Experienced. Knowledgable. Came with a laptop with many photos and left a CD with tons of projects (95% kitchens & baths)- all look good. His quote consisted of some bare bones info emailed to us with quite a few typos and many questions for us to follow up on. We have yet to address it. He called to follow up and said, "I want you to talk to me before you make a decision." We will honor that request certainly. His prices are the highest and we aren't sure why. We discussed doing no-permits with him so we would think the prices would be lower...

Here are the main things we are considering:
1. Honesty
2. Trust
3. Communication
4. Experience
and finally....
5. Can we work with this person?

Other general questions that we ask:
1. Have they worked on old homes? Someone could be quite competent at new construction but putting things back together in an old home involves a different skill set.
2. Do they have a business license? Are they insured?

The Care of Trees

This is kind of a nice segway after yesterday's April Fool's post. In case anyone doesn't know me that well- I am all about plants, trees and birds. A regular snow white some might say-- only I can't sing.

Last weekend we had a great company come out and look at our Picea Orientalis that we planted about 3 years ago. It had been growing well and we had dotted every "i" and crossed every "t" as far as looking after this tree. In case some of you don't know, last year was a very very bad drought in Illinois including the Chicago area. I've seen many a sad unwatered pine tree around the area dead as a doornail.

We watered this tree religiously and also treated it with WiltPruf every summer and winter. Below is a shot of the tree last summer. The photo to the left was just taken.


Sometime around late December, we noticed it had browned a bit (see above)and it didn't look so hot. My Dad suggested we call The Care of Trees and get an evaluation. A Certified Arborist and very nice and knowledgable guy named Allen came out and evaluated all of our trees. He told us that sometimes you can do everything right for a tree, but it's still "up to the tree." Sounds kind of like us humans doesn't it? It made us feel better of course, because we were worried we'd made some mistake that caused the browning.

He told us our tree would probably recover and we did not need to prune the dead ends, they will just drop off and be replaced by new growth. Pine trees are very succeptible to browning in winter because they don't harden off and go dormant. The winds and dry air can cause this.

Allen also told us about an organization we might be interested in looking into. They are called Tree Keepers and they offer a certification class for learning more about trees and soil etc... This is something I'd like to consider doing down the road.

I just thought I'd share this resource. We all know what an incredible presence and old tree is and how long it takes to replace them. I suspect that many of you valuing older homes would be on the same page with regard to old trees as well. How many of you remember climbing trees in your youth? I could tell you a story about me getting stuck in a tree, but I'll save that for another day.

Taking a break

Today Steve & I decided to take a break and go do something fun. The place we're going doesn't have a website so I can't show it to you, but I'll show you some photos of what we are looking for.

We decided that since we are always so busy with the house, one way we could save some time is if we get rid of all our plants and replace them with artificial ones. Good idea, right?

So, off we go to the Silk Plant Factory! The ficus pictured at left was priced online at a whopping $446.00! Who would have thought artificial plants would be so expensive?

Silk Plant Factory has ficus trees on sale for $399.88. We really can't afford them right now, so maybe we'll just get some ideas for today.



I found out they even make some plants called Preserved "Once Live" Foliage. Maybe we could use those in the yard and then we wouldn't have to water. More time saved! I have to admit, I had no idea such an option existed.


I can't wait to breathe in all that fresh air with all those plants in the factory. I'll let you know how it goes.

Awnings

As you can see, we currently have an awning over our front door. It comes in quite handy when it's raining or snowing and you are fumbling for your keys or carrying packages etc... We've never really loved this awning aesthetically however- it's aluminum and we don't feel it enhances the building.

One of the things I'm really excited about doing as part of our 2nd floor project is getting rid of that panel over the awning- the one that matches the front door- see it there?

We are putting in French doors with a wrought iron railing there bringing it back closer to it's original state. Because we will have doors that can open there and possibly tenants living up there, Steve is worried about the doors being left open and water getting in and damaging the floors etc...


This brought us to the issue of awnings for the 2nd floor. Steve set up a meeting with Chesterfield Awnings. We are thinking about replacing our metal awning and getting a new one for the 2nd floor- both made of cloth.

We like the Georgian pattern edge on this one. The sales rep said in our case either you would try and match the building's exterior with a red or brown tone or go for contrast. I think we are leaning toward matching the building.

I like the white edging on this one too. All you bungalow people out there, I see they put these awnings on many bungalows on their website.


We were told that typically cloth awnings last about 7-10 years. They aren't cheap, but they look very nice I think.


I am very excited about this part of the project because I think this will make our building look much nicer. There's something so welcoming about an awning.

Hope "Springs" eternal

The first flowers of the year- tiny crocus came out today bringing hope of more good things to come.

Working within the system

Recently M of Another Chicago 2-flat asked:

I'm curious as to what you're running into as far as requirements to bring things up to code. It sounds like you're being told you need to bring plumbing up to code if you touch it at all(?). But with electrical it is only the service and presumably the the areas you are actually working on?

The answer is that yes, if we touch the plumbing at all in this project, we will have to bring it to code, which means adding the booster pump and replacing all the 3/4" water lines with 1". The reason this came up is because we had been considering replacing the bathroom stack (drain) and the bathtub and sink connections to this drain. At that point we were told, we'd have to update it all and that this would maybe even require new water service to the building, which would be extremely costly since the water line is across the street.

It's pretty sad that they make it so you can't do ANY improvement to the plumbing unless you can afford to do it ALL. We figure that if in a few years time we have plumbing issues, we are prepared to open up a few walls and fix it then. We've been through worse- one open wall is nothing to us.

Regarding the electrical, we've been told by a few Electrical Contractors that if we are not touching the first floor in this project (we aren't) that the inspector won't require us to update anything inside the unit. But, since we are touching the panels and service, the service to the building has to be updated if neccesary. We were worried about our basement because it's semi-finished and somewhat hodge-podge. We are certain there is flexible conduit down there etc...
But they told us that unless there was something really alarming(and there isn't), the inspectors would leave that be.

One of the guys we talked with said we should put in the panel for the 2nd floor in pre-permit so then it would be considered existing and the permit would just include rewiring the 2nd floor to an existing panel. Otherwise, we would be forced to upgrade the service coming into the building, which would then open up inspection to the first floor. It's all sooooo complicated.

It's kind of like politics in a way.

Which is more scary?

I was thinking about something this week in terms of remodeling projects. Which is more scary? Hiring other people to do the work or taking on projects yourself? Personally, I find doing the work ourselves less scary. I know myself. I know Steve. I know how we work and that we will finish a job and do top quality work albeit at a slower pace, but the results will be good.

Oh, there's been the occasional nervousness of maybe we bit off more than we can chew. Or grumpiness from being tired and overworked. But it doesn't compare to the stress of dealing with contractors and getting quotes. Now if we bite off more than we can chew, we might have to eat mac-n-cheese for a year or wear socks with holes or something.

One contractor tells us we need to upgrade the electrical service to the building because it's only 100 amps. The next one we meet with says if 100 amps comes into the building, that means that each floor can have 100 amps maximum. Which is true? We called Comed and they can't even verify how much power we have. All they have on record is the 30 amps the building originally had. So, we need to meet with more electrical contractors.

Great Lakes Structural came over to discuss the beams etc... I won't give myself a heart attack talking about that meeting. We have a structural engineer coming this week to give us the low-down and maybe I'll post about it then.

My job now is to write up a contract and lien waiver for all the workers to sign. That way if they don't get paid by the main contractor, they can't come after us. blech. We don't have to do this when we are the workers...

Things we can do ourselves (and that we have time for)

In my last post, I spoke about the scary quotes we've been getting. I really appreciated the input and support we received from a number of you -you know who you are!

Rest assured, we are preparing for battle (Thanks Greg) and we are going to perservere until we find a way to get this project done cost-effectively and without sacrificing quality. Put bluntly, we don't want cheap shoddy work. We may move up there and it needs to be of the best quality we can afford. And besides, if this project goes over-budget it cuts directly into the engagement ring fund. I'm sure you can imagine how fiercely I'd be guarding those reserves.

What can we do to help cut costs if we can't do the bulk of the work ourselves due to time constraints? Well, we are already being our own independant contractors and getting our own permits. Steve is the man on this job since he works for himself and has more flexibility than I do.

But what else can we do?

We came up with a few things that we can do to cut costs. Some of the ideas we got from newspaper and magazine articles. Feel free to throw in your own- we can use all the help we can get at this point.

1. Painting.
2. Removing the wood trim and the nails before giving to stripper guy.
3. Sanding and finishing the wood.
4. Doing the job cleanup every day will save $3000 in labor costs for a 2-month project.
5. Stripping the door and window jambs and window sills.
6. Tiling the kitchen backsplash and Bathroom.
7. Buying and managing delivery of all materials, supplies and finishes.

So as you can see, we'll have plenty to do in the 2 months the project is going on.

Please sir, might I have some more....??

Steve & Jocelyn said meekly : "Please, sir, can we please have some more hair-raising work that needs to be done before undertaking the 2nd floor project?"

That's how it's been this week. I've had a little pit of anxiety in my stomach about this BIG project and managing the costs.

We realized that we need to address something before we renovate the upstairs. It can be done of course, but it will cost some money and since we have a finite amount, I tend to worry about running out. The posts attached to the overhead beam(seen left), which support the load bearing walls in our building are rotting and over the years the center of the building has dropped around 3/4".


We need to address this structural issue before drywalling etc... because when you lift a house, the walls can crack and things you don't want moving (like pipes) can move as a result of the lift.

Steve spoke with a company that specializes in repairing structural problems over the phone and we got two options. The ultimate fix would be to remove the wooden posts and beam, raise the building, and replace them with a steel beam and posts. That would cost a mere $11K. The second option would be to remove the rotting posts, lift the building, and replace them with new wooden posts only. That would cost about $4300.00. We asked him how long the wooden post solution would last and he said our lifetime. We are not planning to go for the steel beams. I don't think I need to explain why.

Interestingly though, Steve was watching This Old House this morning and they had a segment on doing this exact replacement project with steel beams and posts. Granted the episode might have been a few years old, but on the show the price tag for steel replacement was only $2000.00. We don't know what to think now. We have to get some more quotes I guess.

In addition to this issue, we discovered that the power coming into the building is only 100 amps and by today's standards, we need 200 amps. Added cost: $3000K.

Then yesterday, we met with a plumber (the fun just never stops) and he presented to us a number of upgrades that would need to be done to reach code requirements for a multi-unit building: Replace the hot/cold piping with 1" (current 3/4" and they are only about 3 years old), install booster pump (helps water pressure to 2nd floor), replace bathroom stack (drain) and connections, and add a dedicated drain for the d/w. Estimated cost $9K-$12K. I've decided I hate City of Chicago building codes.

We asked the guy for a written quote and he said that he would not provide a quote until we hired him, which Steve thought was ridiculous. How can we compare quotes without having one?
So yesterday, we literally spent all day with an excel spreadsheet and going over quotes and budget crunching numbers to come up with decisions for this project. We just can't do everything that could be done on the building at this time. We're doing alot, but we can't do it all! And, I want to make sure we have some money left for our apartment for the den remodel and the floors to be refinished. One thing we had to cut was the rooftop heating/cooling system. But we figure later on we can go with Unico and we love our radiators anyway. We are also holding off on touching plumbing. We will deal with opening a few walls if we have to in the next few years. Blood from a turnip- say no more.

It was painful, but we came to some decisions yesterday. This is probably the most angst I've had since I last conducted a job search a few years ago. During the meeting with the plumber I felt like hyperventilating but I kept myself under control. I have to admit that dealing with this project has made me a tad short tempered, which I don't really like but kind of can't help.
But, the good news is: Steve and I mostly agree about what is most important and what we want to do now and we have a budget that we can live with.

Today, we're going to look at some projects of one of the guys we are considering hiring. He seems pretty good and we may go with him.

This coming week, we will be hiring an asbestos abatement company to come in and get this stuff out of our basement. It seems some of the support beams have pipes going through them (God knows why) and working with them will disturb the asbestos. It will be a good thing to get this stuff out of the building for good anyway! Some of it kind of crumbly as you can see in the below photos. Scary!

Comparing Quotes- 2nd Floor Project

The moment of truth has come- we have quotes to compare! According to all the experts, you are supposed to get at least 3 quotes for a big job like ours. They also recommend not selecting the least expensive one.

We've met with more companies than that, but we only have 2 quotes so far. These quotes are from people that have been in business for less than 7 years, but have at least 10 years experience. One of the guys is arranging for us to inspect some of his finished work. One is the renovation of an old home maintaining the original trim. The other is new construction. We are most concerned about reusing the trim because as anyone who had drywalled where once there was plaster knows, this is a bit tricky.

We are pretty much serving as our own contractor on this job. Steve and I together make up that contractor. I am responsible for sourcing and purchasing most of the finishes in the apartment: cabinets, lighting, appliances etc... Steve will monitor the job site daily as he works from home. He will also be building a medicine cabinet (he says) and shelving for over the kitchen sink identical to ours.

Next step is to get some trim test stripped by the guy who quoted us $1/per foot. We are going to remove some from the den in our unit and use that since we can't very well remove trim while the tenants are upstairs still. And we are going to Home Depot to have the kitchen cabinet configuation mapped on their computer.

Speaking of the tenants,this morning when I opened the front door, I found a crumpled up piece of paper on the floor. Of course, I picked it up and uncrumpled it to see what it was. Turns out it was the acceptance note we had given to each tenant upstairs stating we accepted their early termination. So, someone is mad- At least it's not me this time!

Tapestry Tile

As promised, photos of the framed Motawi tile we bought last weekend. It's called Tapestry and it's a nice addition to our dining room.

As far as house projects, we worked on our extremely long to-do list for the 2nd floor project. I feel better now that we have decided to simplify it a bit.

Does anyone else read Old House Journal and moon over the stunning historic homes in the back of the magazine? Some of them are quite a steal compared to Chicago market prices.

Sometimes I think about selling this place someday and buying one of them. Maybe when we retire...

What to do with all that money?

We all wish we had this problem right? Well, maybe sometimes. Steve and I are re-evaluating our plans for the 2nd floor rental unit remodel. Things kind of came to a head this week when we were talking to a heating contractor who said that a $1500 permit was required to block off the street and hoist our proposed roof-top heating and cooling unit onto the roof. Oh, and mechanical drawings are required and the city is VERY stringent about roof-top units because of some unfortunate incidents where units were installed below code and collapsed on some firefighters-very bad. This could cause delays in getting a permit.

Steve mentioned extending the tenant's lease. Yes, he actually did this. I'm sure you can imagine my reaction.

I started thinking that we should step back a bit and simplify our plans. Maybe we'll keep the Cadillac of heating for now (radiant heat) and get a portable a/c for the unit. We have so many other things that need to be done, it just seems unbalanced to put everything into a rental unit.
Cutting out the heating and cooling system will save us a bundle.

So, this weekend we are assessing our plans. We have a few quotes and some more coming so that part is coming along. We found a few guys on Angie's List that seem okay. Of course, we'll check their references etc...

This is by far the biggest project we've worked on. I find it much more manageable when we do the work because it goes slow and doesn't seem as risky as trusting contractors. Isn't that sad in a way? You hear/read so many horror stories, it's quite disconcerting.

We are planning to hang up our beautiful new framed Motawi tile so I'll be sure to post that when we do.

We've been to the mountain

and we have seen the light!

Actually, we went to the Motawi tile factory in Ann Arbor.

All together now, "we're not worthy!" and again, "we're not worthy!"

Their tile is so beautiful and much more amazing in person. In case you don't know, we put a few of their tiles in our kitchen as accent tile.

Here's a close up of one of the tiles we used. Each one of these 6"x 6" tiles was around $35.00...

but in the back of the store, there is the factory and also a room with much coveted over runs. The over runs are about half price.

We picked up one more like this one to use for the 2nd floor kitchen rental unit. How many rentals have this kind of detail- not many that I've seen. Now if we can just find some nice appreciate folks to move in!


...just imagine doing a whole fireplace. wow.


Here are some shots of the inside of the store/factory. They sell framed tiles with quarter sawn oak frames. I took part of my tax refund and bought one. I just couldn't not.

We were visiting Steve's family in Ann Arbor and made time for a a little excursion. We also found a cool store that sells Edward Curtis photos but these were a bit pricey for us at this point.


Here's another shot of the store...



I bought a Motawi T-shirt. What can I say? I'm a Motawi groupie.



Now all together again, "ahh .....Motawi...."

This is a must visit for arts and crafts lovers anywhere near Ann Arbor.
Handmade beea-utiful tile!

I don't think May 31st will be soon enough

Almost midnight and for over an hour someone has been walking around upstairs over my head. I couldn't imagine who since Thadeus in Africa. I'll have to tell him someone's been rifling through his things when he returns. yeah right.

I just came back from upstairs. Youjay says, "what noise do you hear? Come in and see."

The timing couldn't have been more perfect. Some bimbo girl WHO DOES NOT EVEN LIVE HERE opened the door to Thadeus' room with frigging high heels on. She looks out at me, cell phone hanging from her ear.

I said, "She has been walking around with high heels on."
She says, "I just out them on. I'll take them off."
I said, "I've been listening to you for over an hour and a half since I went to bed."
I said, "You do not even live here. I do not know what it is going to take to get through to you guys."

Youjay said, "The best thing is just to leave," and closed the door.

There's still alot left unsaid. I have a phone appt. with an attorney on Sunday.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

a letter from Thadeus was outside our door this evening...it was a nice letter. It was a letter that almost made me regret my hard feelings, but then I'm only a human who needs her sleep and likes peace and quiet when she's at rest, which isn't too often.

It started like this...

Dear Steve and Jocelyn,
I'm deeply sorry for all the inconveniences we may have caused you. It is not intentional nor an act of defiance from any one of us.

It continued on and I won't put the whole letter here because I'd feel like that was mean. I was raised Catholic so for causing anyone bad feelings I feel bad --but not that bad because they have upset me alot and I am right now listening to them walk around all night tonight again.
You just can't ask people not to walk around but I have examined our walking patterns and we just don't move around like they do. We sit at a desk or on a couch and get up occasionally. Up there it's like they are walking back and forth constantly for like 30 minutes straight and I'm not kidding. And then there's the running....

The best part of the letter was when he wrote that they have decided to move out at the end of May. I wish it was sooner, but maybe they want time to save money. I don't want to look this gift horse in the mouth.

The end is in sight anyway. And we have a tenant-free summer to look forward to.

Angie's List

We are at the point now where we need to get quotes for the work upstairs. We have asked around and gotten a few referrals, but it wasn't enough. So, we decided to consult Angie's List.

I wonder if any of you have ever used this resource? If so, we'd be interested to hear about your experiences.

It's a national site, so many of you could use it in your area. They have a Quick Tour on the site that kind of gives you the low down. I know many of us are DIYers but there are times when you need outside help! ...except for Gary of course :o)

This week Steve contacted 5 general contractors with "A" reviews on Angie's List. We got 3 return calls within 2 days and 3 appointments set. I think this is pretty darn good compared to past experience. Maybe it's because this is a pretty good sized job.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Angry Steve

I woke up last night at about 1am and I heard strange noises...
As I came out of my slumber, I realized it was Steve talking to someone.
At first I thought he was sleep walking/talking.
As I started to become more awake sitting up in bed in the dark,
I realized he was talking to Thadeus!

It seems that Thadeus had pulled one of his Thursday night walkathons
over our bedroom and Steve's sleep was disturbed for about an hour.
I had slept through it this time, but Steve, he had had it about up to his eyeballs.

Many times we've laid in bed staring up at the ceiling wondering what on earth he could be doing at 1am in the morning walking back and forth opening drawers and just basically walking around and around a 10'x11' room.

Well, last night we got an answer, but we don't believe it. See what you think.

Steve calling Thadeus....

Thadeus: Hello?
Steve: (read extreme accusatory tone here) What are YOU DOING???
Thadeus: Steve, I don't think that's an appropriate question.
Steve: It's 1:00 in the morning. What could you possibly be doing?
Thadeus: I'm studying.
Steve: Well, what do you have a book in your hand and walk around? I thought people sat in a desk to study.
Thadeus: Well, do you want me to walk on air?
Steve: Can't you at least take your shoes off?
Thadeus: I don't have any shoes on. You want to come up and see for yourself?
Steve: No. The point is that from 10pm until 7am there shall be no noise in the building that disturbs any other tenants as outlined by the Chicago Multi-unit Noise Ordinance and that is to benefit both of us. And that is in your lease- read your lease.
Thadeus: blah blah I work nights blah blah Eugene leaves for work at 3am blah blah. I don't complain that the garage door is frozen shut.
Steve: Well, when you have freezing rain, which happens occasionally, sometimes locks are frozen. We can't control the weather. You should tell us when the lock is frozen and we'll de-ice it.
(My feeling is that if it were me renting the garage, I'd keep some de-icer on hand but then I'm a DIYer)
Thadeus: I don't complain when your dogs are barking.
Steve: Well out dogs don't bark after 10pm at night. And we're working on training them.
Thadeus: Well I guess it's probably not appropriate that my Mother and her 3 young adopted children who are moving to the US should move in upstairs?
(Steve is thinking in the back of his mind they have no legal right to move in)
Steve: You're absolutely right Thadeus. The building cannot support that level of usage.
(If you recall, when they had 6 people over there during the holidays, the toilet backed up several times and the plumber was out twice)
Thadeus: I guess I will have to move out early because they are coming here.
Steve: Well we have a rider in your lease and we can discuss a specific time later.

We just flat out don't believe he was "studying". You sit still when you're studying. The problem here is that we and they are on completely different schedules. Not to mention, I don't know when this guy ever sleeps. I think he's sleep deprived. He gets in all these car accidents, which to me indicates sleep deprivation.

This is great news though IF THEY ALL LEAVE. We have to see about getting them ALL out.
If not, we'll have to serve 30 day notices to the other occupants who are not on the lease and maybe even evict them. But we have both decided that if Thadeus leaves- they are all out no matter if we have to evict them or not. The other 2 living up there are less considerate than Thadeus in general and less responsible. Oh what fun.

Weekend in Connecticut

I made my trip to see my new nephew Ciaran (pronounced "Keer-ran") this past weekend. I got trapped in CT due to the storm. It sure was pretty though.

Ciaran is a gailic name in case anyone's interested. It means "little champion". Can you tell my sister and her husband are both Irish and competitive cyclists and one a former rower at that.

No surprise we watched the Olympics all weekend. Gosh those athletes are all so good looking in an all-American-type way- it's really kind of an oddity.


Here's the proud auntie with the little cutie pie.

I know I shouldn't put political commentary on this blog (I try to avoid that since we have such a harmonious scene here) but I can't resist saying that although I'm sorry the man was shot, I am really enjoying all the Cheney jokes and the fact that the man might actually be forced to explain something to the public and the press. It just kills me because it really seems like the last thing he would ever want to do.

More on the house later!

The entry- Teamwork & Trimwork

Yesterday Steve and I worked on installing trim in the entry. We are probably about 2/3 of the way done. We were lucky because most everything went up nicely.

As I've said before this room is pretty small, so it's hard to get really good photos. We are planning to add 2 vertical pieces of oak on that wall, which will match the opposite wall.
The past few weekends Steve had rebuilt the framing around the side windows because it was not built properly in the first place. The thickness wasn't level with the outside wall and it didn't look seamless. A minor detail, but these are the details homeowners tend to be willing to address as opposed to when this building was entirely a rental.

Since he finished that we were able to install the trim.



Here's the same side of the room before demolition. What we have left to do are some of the horizontal pieces of trim that frame the room and the vertical decorative design and a few pieces of baseboard and one piece around the front door.

I felt SO HAPPY to get the room to this point. It takes a while, but it practically brings a tear to my eye to see things come to fruition.

I demoed the room around mid-June. And progress slowed to a halt over the holidays. My motto is it may take a while, but it's not a race and what matters is that you make it to the finish line with panache. That has to be my motto because these projects take us a while and we learn as we go.



Here's a couple more shots of the room when I first took the wallpaper off and now.

The void being filled

As you can see at left, I finally was able to satisfy my need for removing paint from wood. As I stood heat gun in left hand, scraper in right hand, feeling the burn in my forearms after a few hours, I thought to myself,"I missed.......this???"

I tarped off the room and had a fan blowing the air out to keep the fumes down, but I didn't wear a dust mask. Therefore, last night I kept smelling melting paint even though the work was long over with. My eyes got a little irritated too, but not bad.

But, I did manage to expose some nice oak! It adds so much definition to the room. The colors underneath the layers of whitish paint were in this order going back in time: lilac, baby blue, a dullish green, yellow, tan, and then finally and blessedly: shellac. God bless shellac for its protective barrier.


The stickers to the left are on the door in the den that leads to the basement. They are on the inside facing the basement. We think they are kind of interesting and plan to keep them when we clean up the door. We have no idea how old they are. They look kind of old.

I just now googled "The Culpeper Minute Men" to see if I could find some info and lo and behold I did. Culpeper is evidently a very historic place in Virginia and their militia were called "The Culpeper Minute Men." The top sticker is a replica of their flag. They were attached to the First Virginia Regiment, led by Colonel Patrick Henry, who is famous for his statement, "Give me liberty or give me death!" One of their members, John Jameson was instrumental in exposing Benedict Arnold, whom we've all heard of.

Replicas of this flag are sold on a number of sites on the web.
Interesting.....

It's official

We have had our property downzoned from B-3 to RS-3.5. For those of you who don't speak Chicago Zoning Codes, this means that our property and our neighbor's property are now zoned for a single family or two-flat and cannot be leveled to build monster condos.

The former B-3 zoning was actually a business zoning, which would allow a building to be built from property line to property line- right up to the curb. We had visions of some monster condo being built where Mark's house is and right up to the property line. Now, this can't happen and we have made an effort to preserve our building and our neighbor's.

Now, If I can just get them to put that Stop Sign in.

Help Wanted

Putting a call out for referrals in the Chicago area. We are in need of some outside help for the 2nd floor gut rehab.

Steve has been working on drawing up the plans to get the required city permits, which will involve moving a wall here and there to make for a larger master bedroom. Truth be told, even this larger bedroom still doesn't seem big enough to deserve the word "master." What's up with that terminology anyway? It sounds like a plantation house or something. That has never occurred to me before- how strange. Anyone know anything about the etymology of this term? (Holy tangent!)

Back to business. We are looking for a few good men (or women) tradespeople with rough and finish carpentry skills to frame out and drywall the upstairs as well as put the trim back in so that it looks (ejem) good.

If you have any referrals, we would love 'em. We need to get some competitive quotes for this job. We've gotten one decent quote, but we know we need to get at least three.

We have already gotten quotes on the roof replacement, tuckpointing, heating & cooling, and electrical work. We are planning to do some things ourselves such as painting and tiling and probably some finish carpentry.

The void continues

Sigh. Warning. Don't read this post if you abhor whining. Work was so busy this week that I stayed late every night and was slammed from the moment I came in the door. I even went home one night and spent 45 minutes responding to emails I couldn't get to during the day due to being so busy.

At work: Someone had a baby, someone else quit with one week's notice, and someone else just walked out in mid-December. We hired three new people, but they are new so can't do that much.

I am pooped and so I'm not stripping wood this weekend. Now, a normal person would be happy about this, but not me! And on top of this, Steve hurt his arm (God knows how) and is sleeping on the couch. Now a normal person might see their boyfriend sleeping on the couch and be like "Oh, how sweet." But not me. I am like, "He should be working -look at all we have to do- we haven't finished anything in months- blasted holidays damn winter- damn it all." Fortunately, I am able to keep these thoughts to myself for the most part.

I am going to a yoga class now and hopefully this will improve my mood.

It's important to document this part of the restoration process of our home as it is definitely a very real element.

The void

Okay, I am now experiencing "the void" that is me not working on house projects. Yes, I'm taking a yoga class, and reading some good books, and I enjoyed the holidays, and my sister had her baby and I'm planning a trip there in a few weeks to meet the little fellow.

But I have that itch to pull out the heat gun and start removing paint on the remaining painted trim or rent a Silent Paint Remover from Clark-Devon hardware and strip a painted door. Or have a bookcase made to order or something. And yes, I've been trolling eBay too but haven't found anything of interest so far.

The problem is I prefer to avoid lead particles floating throughout the house. Oh, I could strip a door in the basement I suppose, but I prefer to work outdoors. And it's just too chilly for that.

So today, I baked cookies and did laundry while Steve is working on the entry trimwork using our trusty new Power Planer. I lent my Mom my camera for her visit with my new nephew so no pictures I'm afraid.

Maybe next weekend I can start something. I do have a turkey in the freezer that needs cooking too...

Recycling Your Christmas Tree

The City of Chicago will mulch your x-mas tree for free, but of course you have to bring it to the site and bring the mulch back home. Since we don't have a pick-up truck or even a car, I came up with another way to re-use our tree this year.

Ingredients:
x-mas tree past its prime
stale bread
peanut butter
apples and oranges
wild bird seed mixture
niger seed
suet bar
pot for planting
backyard


Recipe:
Cut off the lower branches of the tree so it fits into the pot. Dig a shallow hole to rest the pot in so it doesn't (hopefully) blow over.

Spead peanut butter on bread and dip into bird seeds. Shove pieces of bread and fruit into the recesses of the tree. Hang a suet bar.

Optional: use trimmed boughs around the tree for more bird shelter.

Should result in a virtual fiesta for the neighborhood birds and somewhat ease the conscience of those guilt about wasting a perfectly lovely tree!

Look who got a new power tool!

With the demise of our neighborhood wood shop, Steve has been taxed when it comes to projects. He used to be able to walk 4 blocks to the shop carrying a few boards, run them through the band saw etc... and walk back home and install them. Now, the nearest wood shop is a 20 minute car ride away and we don't have a car so that makes it even more of a challenge.

We haven't been able to finish the entry trim work because Steve hasn't had time to get to the wood shop. We figured out a solution though. No we haven't bought a table saw. That would be about $2K for the quality Steve would need for his projects.

We got a power planer. To be specific we got a Bosch 1594K 3-1/4" Planer Kit with a Bosch VAC002 Adapter 35mm-1 1/4" . We read reviews on Amazon and I had remembered reading about House in Progress buying a planer for their trim work sometime recently and we saw that they chose the Bosch as well. So we're in good company. We bought the shop vac attachment in case we do this inside and to minimize the wood shreds everywhere.

There were mostly positive reviews on Amazon. A few reviewers criticized the fence saying it was shoddy and the fact that the hose attachment did not come with the unit. Some others said that the fence was good though. We will find out for ourselves soon enough. If we have any problems or good things to say, you'll hear about it right here of course.

Now Steve can plane down the boards to whatever size we need and we can finish the trim. Now if only the wood shop would reopen. I'm hoping Greg's fairies can help us with this one.

Everyone together now, "I believe in fairies , I believe in fairies ..." You know you do. Maybe the fairies can take our tenants away to NeverNeverLand too...

Would you throw this away?

I decided to share this little anecdotal story about our tenants on the blog after telling my Dad the story last night. When Steve relayed it to me, I just laughed at the absurdity.

As you know we had a toilet overflow upstairs and pour water down into our unit. Steve was pretty mad because he feels that for a toilet to overflow like that, it had to be acting up for a while and they didn't say anything. Plus, he blames the fact that they treat this place like a flophouse and always have friends coming and going, which is true. So far, we see no apparent damage to our ceiling or walls, but time will tell.

Since then, we've had a plumber out twice to snake out their toilet ($50 a pop)and then Saturday it was acting up again and Thadeus came down to let us know. We had bought them a plunger right after the first incident because the one they had was totally useless. Steve also showed them how to shut the water off on the toilet in case it ever happened again.

Well, Saturday when Steve went upstairs to plunge the toilet, the following conversation ensued:
Steve: Where is the plunger?
Thadeus: We threw it away.
Steve: Why would you throw it away?
Thadeus: It had feces on it.
Steve: I can't believe you threw that away. We bought that for you. You could have taken it in the basement and rinsed it off. I can't believe you threw that away.
Thadeus: Oh, we will buy another one.

Honestly, I don't think they have the stomach or wherewithal to really plunge a toilet. What's so funny to me is that they have no problem leaving food around, attracting rodents and leaving milk to sour and stink up the back porch, etc...but they can't plunge a toilet and problem solve enough to think how to clean off a plunger. Maybe rinse it in the toilet after you've plunged it?

No, to them a plunger is like toilet paper (which also touches the dreaded feces) and must be thrown away.

Life as a House

Looking back on this year, I could come up a really long list of all the minutae that we have completed, but then I've covered most of it on the blog. The main acheivements (on the house) this year were (of course) finishing the kitchen and almost finishing the vestibule/entry.

We still have the pantry to do, but it is working okay as is for the time being. In the entry, we have the following left to do: install remaining trim and fix the interior lock on 2nd floor entry door. Not too much really to do there.

I don't really think about how much faster this work could be done if we paid someone because quite frankly, we didn't want to do that. We just refinanced and are using that money to renovate our rental unit upstairs. The jist of our whole strategy is this: If we do as much work ourselves as we can, we will be able to afford a nicer home with more expensive and high quality accoutrements than if we used that money to pay someone else to do the job. In any case, half the time the work we see paid tradesman do is sub-par compared to what we are able to do ourselves. We take a while to do it, but when it's done, it's done right.

This is going be a banner year for us. We have plans to have the building tuckpointed, a new roof put on, the upstairs completely renovated and tackle the den/office in our house, which is the one room that has not been touched at all. I am very optimistic that we will have the floors refinished in our home as well, which will bring things to a very finished state. Oh, and we will be rid of those pesky tenants to boot.

And having the bulk of the work behind us will enable us to do something we haven't gotten around to, get married! Ever since Steve and I met, we've been working on this place. Most people get married and then get a house and work on it. To us, the need of the house was more pressing than our need to make our union official. It would be different if either of us seemed unwilling to marry the other- but that just is not the case.

I come from a pretty untraditional family (in some ways) and I get pretty much zero pressure from anyone to get married or do anything in particular except maybe take a yoga class once in a while. Steve's Mom has brought up the subject in a mildly exasperated tone. "When are you guys going to get married?" but we don't see her too often as she lives out of state.

I have to admit my response to any pressure is to rebel especially because me and Steve are already totally committed to each other and being married is merely a formality in my mind.
I didn't used to be this way. When I was younger I planned to be married by 23, and have kids at 27. But what did I know back then? As time has gone on, a big wedding, dress, and event has just grown passe to me. Sigh. But hey, it will cost less this way.

I know we will be working on our home for years to come. It's what we both enjoy doing. And when we finally do get married, we will come home from our honeymoon to a place that we both love being in- a place that represents the fullfillment of our dreams. Home is truly where our hearts are-- (as if that isn't obvious by now).

Happy New Year to everyone and I hope your dreams continue to come true in 2006!