And my months of working till midnight away from my girls are over!
Go check Alexe's blog for a full viewing of our new place. I'm too busy relaxing in my new living room to duplicate her many picture postings.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Turning into a busy March too.
Saturday night Annaliese discovered her light switch. Standing in her crib she can reach it, and has in the past flicked it on a couple times. On Saturday she suddenly knew what she was doing. I put her down, and didn't hear a peep, but then noticed the light coming from under her door. I marched in, to find her standing on the far side of her crib, waiting for me. I leaned on the edge of her crib and flicked the switch off. She marched over, flicked the switch back on, and looked at me with a big smile. I flicked it off, she flicked it on, and we did that a dozen times. Then A came in and I got distracted, so Annaliese flicked it back on, and dove onto her blanket and buried her head, bum in the air.
I flicked it off. She howled (first time, she had been smiling and mischievous up to this point) stood up, marched over, turned the light back on, and looked at me with the most hilarious look I think I've ever seen. Lower lip sticking out, brow furrowed as tight as she could get it, hint of an angry tear, defiant, challenging, and just a touch of an angry but humorous glint in her eye. I scooped her up and brought her back out into the kitchen, sat her in her highchair, and she ate a bunch of peas while A and I continued to make dinner and dance in the kitchen to the music A had playing on Pandora.
On Sunday I was priming the house, (inside) in preparation for the new floors, and sorting through the tail end of the massive pile of refuse we had accumulated behind the house during the renovation. I burned the porches last summer when I tore those off, but since then the entire back side has been replaced, all the siding, and then there's the scrap from the various new materials. It had all been piling up, and getting larger than was safe to burn. Not to mention all the treasures in there. The pile was I'd say 50+ feet long, 20+ wide, and at least my height. It took 2 weeks of sorting and burning to get through it, but we finished yesterday.
Annaliese was very helpful, playing in the line of emergency water buckets, begging for wheelbarrow rides every time I emptied it, and every once in a while picking up scraps of wood and putting them into the wheelbarrow. I've been working pretty steadily, with A managing the little one's schedule to keep her rested and fed. That means I'll look up every once in a while to see A and Annaliese leaving our house to walk across the street to join me. Annaliese usually notices me when they get to the street, and I love it when she starts yelling at me, waving both her arms, and getting excited about coming to see me. On Saturday A was taking laundry down on the porch and Annaliese noticed me all the way from there. She hollered, and tried to climb through the railing. Makes me feel super special.
And if I'm rambling, it's because I'm a bit tired, and have had a blurring day of bringing all my office work up to date and prepping for a busy week, here and on the projects at home. If you're still reading then I assume you're along for the disjointed ride.
A is doing well, though is battling her pre-disposition to worry. We're going to move into our new house on April 15th. There's much to be done before then. Much. But that's what she wants, and she wants things very strongly nowadays. The building continues to truck along. I'm still working on that Tues/Thurs evenings and some of Saturday, and it's getting to an exciting place. I have 5 windows left to do on the second floor. That should take me maybe another 2 weeks, what with the work I'm doing on the house. The house is Monday/Wed/Fri and Sundays. Which makes for a draining week, but there's obvious progress being made all around, and we've got a baby on the way. Not to mention I don't generally do things the easy way.
Speaking of, the little man seems to be coming along. A is eating well, resting, and generally doing everything right. She just has the little hereditary issue of getting anxious over things. Which makes for the fun unwinnable race of fixing the things she is anxing about, only to have her find something new. That girl can find things to worry about that I would never dream of. But she's cute, and in between pressuring our workers at the house, her cousin who's living with us for another week and working for us, and me to do more-faster, she's sweet and has that pregnant glow. I would hold up the fun dancing session we had in the kitchen just the other night as exhibit A, juxtaposed with exhibit B: the earth-shaking question of curtains for the new house.
That's pretty much everything that's consuming my days. The weather has had a nasty spell, but generally we're in Spring mode, with buds on A's freshly planted fruit orchard, daffodils everywhere, and two dogs that tend to disappear for hours at a time around the neighborhood. Haven't seen Dido for 2 days.
oh, I'm running for Alderman of Beat 3. Still haven't decided if I want to go for it hard. I'd like to lend my efforts to fixing the town, but I've never been one to ask people outright for favors, and asking 1,000 people to vote for me doesn't feel natural.
Anything else? These updates are never very complete, but hopefully they convey a general sense of how things are going.
Cheerios.
And Picture:
Windows, in poor light, freshly installed.
Pre-windows.
Annaliese's first snowy morning.
My beautiful building.
This was the sun setting as I drove home some time in the last 2 weeks.
ahhhh.
You MUST go to A's blog to see the video of this.
An my darling. glowing, in't she?
New house, coming along.
My little girl.
If you ask Annaliese "what does a dog say," she says "woof" and losses it in a giggling fit.
I flicked it off. She howled (first time, she had been smiling and mischievous up to this point) stood up, marched over, turned the light back on, and looked at me with the most hilarious look I think I've ever seen. Lower lip sticking out, brow furrowed as tight as she could get it, hint of an angry tear, defiant, challenging, and just a touch of an angry but humorous glint in her eye. I scooped her up and brought her back out into the kitchen, sat her in her highchair, and she ate a bunch of peas while A and I continued to make dinner and dance in the kitchen to the music A had playing on Pandora.
On Sunday I was priming the house, (inside) in preparation for the new floors, and sorting through the tail end of the massive pile of refuse we had accumulated behind the house during the renovation. I burned the porches last summer when I tore those off, but since then the entire back side has been replaced, all the siding, and then there's the scrap from the various new materials. It had all been piling up, and getting larger than was safe to burn. Not to mention all the treasures in there. The pile was I'd say 50+ feet long, 20+ wide, and at least my height. It took 2 weeks of sorting and burning to get through it, but we finished yesterday.
Annaliese was very helpful, playing in the line of emergency water buckets, begging for wheelbarrow rides every time I emptied it, and every once in a while picking up scraps of wood and putting them into the wheelbarrow. I've been working pretty steadily, with A managing the little one's schedule to keep her rested and fed. That means I'll look up every once in a while to see A and Annaliese leaving our house to walk across the street to join me. Annaliese usually notices me when they get to the street, and I love it when she starts yelling at me, waving both her arms, and getting excited about coming to see me. On Saturday A was taking laundry down on the porch and Annaliese noticed me all the way from there. She hollered, and tried to climb through the railing. Makes me feel super special.
And if I'm rambling, it's because I'm a bit tired, and have had a blurring day of bringing all my office work up to date and prepping for a busy week, here and on the projects at home. If you're still reading then I assume you're along for the disjointed ride.
A is doing well, though is battling her pre-disposition to worry. We're going to move into our new house on April 15th. There's much to be done before then. Much. But that's what she wants, and she wants things very strongly nowadays. The building continues to truck along. I'm still working on that Tues/Thurs evenings and some of Saturday, and it's getting to an exciting place. I have 5 windows left to do on the second floor. That should take me maybe another 2 weeks, what with the work I'm doing on the house. The house is Monday/Wed/Fri and Sundays. Which makes for a draining week, but there's obvious progress being made all around, and we've got a baby on the way. Not to mention I don't generally do things the easy way.
Speaking of, the little man seems to be coming along. A is eating well, resting, and generally doing everything right. She just has the little hereditary issue of getting anxious over things. Which makes for the fun unwinnable race of fixing the things she is anxing about, only to have her find something new. That girl can find things to worry about that I would never dream of. But she's cute, and in between pressuring our workers at the house, her cousin who's living with us for another week and working for us, and me to do more-faster, she's sweet and has that pregnant glow. I would hold up the fun dancing session we had in the kitchen just the other night as exhibit A, juxtaposed with exhibit B: the earth-shaking question of curtains for the new house.
That's pretty much everything that's consuming my days. The weather has had a nasty spell, but generally we're in Spring mode, with buds on A's freshly planted fruit orchard, daffodils everywhere, and two dogs that tend to disappear for hours at a time around the neighborhood. Haven't seen Dido for 2 days.
oh, I'm running for Alderman of Beat 3. Still haven't decided if I want to go for it hard. I'd like to lend my efforts to fixing the town, but I've never been one to ask people outright for favors, and asking 1,000 people to vote for me doesn't feel natural.
Anything else? These updates are never very complete, but hopefully they convey a general sense of how things are going.
Cheerios.
And Picture:
Windows, in poor light, freshly installed.
Pre-windows.
Annaliese's first snowy morning.
My beautiful building.
This was the sun setting as I drove home some time in the last 2 weeks.
ahhhh.
You MUST go to A's blog to see the video of this.
An my darling. glowing, in't she?
New house, coming along.
My little girl.
If you ask Annaliese "what does a dog say," she says "woof" and losses it in a giggling fit.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Busy February
So backing up a bit, it's been busy around here.
I started the month down in New Orleans for my company's annual client conference. I organized a volunteer work day for anyone interested in coming in a day early and pitching in on a house in St. Bernards Parish, and was pleasantly surprised to have 30+ folks from all over the country coming in early and rolling up their sleeves. As a side note, the St. Bernards Project was the most effective, relaxed, and productive non-profit I have ever encountered. They had materials and one volunteer on each site, (we were spread between 4 houses, 30+ people, and the houses were not large,) and there was less than 5 minutes between arriving at the work site and everyone actively working. The house I worked on was fully insulated by our group of 6, other houses were sheetrocked, mudded, and one experienced "mold remediation", all thanks to a group of "suits" that were willing to dive in.
One house when we started:
When we finished:
Now on to my daughter. She's growing like a weed, running around, expressing her very strong opinions, and exploring the world. She's taken to climbing, and very luckily seems to have a decent sense of balance. Her on my stomach, all her.
The climbing is a bit more worry some. So far she's a little less certain on the decent, but she's figured out that a hand-hold is vital. Case in point, she brought me her shoe the other day, I opened it up and held it down for her to step into. She backed up, put a hand on a dining room chair, and then held her foot up for me.This is a bookshelf I made a few years ago, it's now in her nursery. I think it's going to have to be moved before she goes any higher.
And cause she's adorable.
Cousin Nick is working diligently on the re pointing project. After getting fed up with the wasted time taken to move scaffolding around, I made this purchase. Got a great deal, and have several requests to rent and/or purchase it once I'm done.
The house is coming along. The wood siding is mostly in place, with a couple of gables to go. This is what it looks like in raw wood. We are nearing the lower end of our cash reserves, so Alexe and I have started working on the portions we can do ourselves. What with Saturdays and Tues/Thurs evenings already dedicated to the building, we don't have all that much left in the schedule to contribute. However...
With a wonderful partner, and some decent weather, look what we accomplished in 5.5 hours yesterday. That's including setup and cleanup time. (This is primer, paint will be nest weekend.) Amazing how the proper tool can make a job fly. Those airless sprayers, (another tool that paid for itself in a day,) are amazing. Don't those overalls just melt you? And look at little A. She spent most of the day on my back in her carrier, but had some breaks to wander around, and one hour long nap in her stroller in the kitchen. Overall she was a champion.
Lunch break, courtesy of an amazing wife and mother.
Finished product.
And this is what I did on Saturday. All the front half rounds are installed, (that lift is amazing) and the two center windows are in. Alexe has completed the 2 coats of blue on the store front, and we have cleaned the interior for the movie on Thursday night. As soon as my arch is done, (it's taking far more coats than I thought to build that arch out of mortar...) I will remove my forms and the concrete border will be burgundy. All in all we're coming along. (With a very serious prospect for long term rental of half of the first floor, which we are very excited about.)
So. The little boy that is due in May has been treating Alexe very kindly. Periodic cravings for yogurt seem to be the worst of it. (That's right, in case you forgot, that lady standing on a barrel painting away is 5 months pregnant. Such a package.)
And cause she's adorable.
Cousin Nick is working diligently on the re pointing project. After getting fed up with the wasted time taken to move scaffolding around, I made this purchase. Got a great deal, and have several requests to rent and/or purchase it once I'm done.
The house is coming along. The wood siding is mostly in place, with a couple of gables to go. This is what it looks like in raw wood. We are nearing the lower end of our cash reserves, so Alexe and I have started working on the portions we can do ourselves. What with Saturdays and Tues/Thurs evenings already dedicated to the building, we don't have all that much left in the schedule to contribute. However...
With a wonderful partner, and some decent weather, look what we accomplished in 5.5 hours yesterday. That's including setup and cleanup time. (This is primer, paint will be nest weekend.) Amazing how the proper tool can make a job fly. Those airless sprayers, (another tool that paid for itself in a day,) are amazing. Don't those overalls just melt you? And look at little A. She spent most of the day on my back in her carrier, but had some breaks to wander around, and one hour long nap in her stroller in the kitchen. Overall she was a champion.
Lunch break, courtesy of an amazing wife and mother.
Cute too.
Finished product.
And this is what I did on Saturday. All the front half rounds are installed, (that lift is amazing) and the two center windows are in. Alexe has completed the 2 coats of blue on the store front, and we have cleaned the interior for the movie on Thursday night. As soon as my arch is done, (it's taking far more coats than I thought to build that arch out of mortar...) I will remove my forms and the concrete border will be burgundy. All in all we're coming along. (With a very serious prospect for long term rental of half of the first floor, which we are very excited about.)
So. The little boy that is due in May has been treating Alexe very kindly. Periodic cravings for yogurt seem to be the worst of it. (That's right, in case you forgot, that lady standing on a barrel painting away is 5 months pregnant. Such a package.)I threw new fuel filters into the diesel station wagon, and it seemed to perk up the acceleration. New tires and that should be on the road this week. Hmm, anything else? Probably. I hope you all are keeping busy and/or happy. Spring is coming down here, (saw daffodils yesterday,) and the world is a beautiful place.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Almost finished my storefront!
So there were some delays. I started ripping out my glass and the entire frame around my storefront the week after Christmas. I took a week of vacation to get everything done, and made great headway, until it started raining, and the new glass order was delayed. I was going to try putting my original glass back in place for the big panes, but after breaking one while taking it out (it was under so much pressure in the torqued frame it cracked after I released the first clip) and then trying to cut down the sheets to fit my newly-square and plumb openings without success, I bit the bullet and ordered all new tempered. The pictures are in no particular order, but right here is a night shot after the glass is completely installed, including my lovely new transom windows. To see what it looked like when I started, scroll down a few posts. (And to put this in perspective, the store is 50 feet across, and the top of the transom windows are about 12 ft up.)
Though I still have some painting to do, this essentially took a week and a half of full time work, and less than 2k, including all new glass. Though I've had set backs on my second story window installations, this certainly came in on budget and in time.
I'm still working on my arch. Notice the lovely brick arches that used to float across the front? When the previous owners installed the concrete ripple board over where my transom windows are, they took hammers to those arches so the concrete boards would lie flat against the building. I've build my form along the bottom edge, and will build out a 1.5 " relief that follows the arch profile all the way across. The it will all be painted burgundy.
The inside is much lighter now, and if you recall from earlier views from the inside, the large concrete display ceilings that were sagging and cutting off the light are no more.
From some time in the process.
Me and my baby in her new backpack carrier. She loves it, and will ride there happily for hours as I work or run errands in town.
It's very well designed, all the weight on my hips like a climbing pack.
And our house two blocks up the street. Wiring is done today, roof only waits on the ridge caps, and we're preparing to put the new siding on. Then it's insulation/sheetrock/kitchen/bathroom/paint/trim/floors. Getting there.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
January 5th, 2009
And I'm too busy to upload pictures here one at a time, so I've posted a bunch here: http://picasaweb.google.com/smartinof4steve/2008ChristmasVacation?authkey=TQoa83-hpMU#
Along with some comments.
A nice 2 weeks off for the holidays, most of which I spent ripping out my storefront and rebuilding it. The frames were all rotten, much of the glass separated, and there was a very heavy layer of unsupported concrete above the glass that was blocking the natural light. The tempered glass order was delayed, and it started to rain near the end of the week, so the final paint is not on, and the glass isn't in place, but it looks a world better, and should be completed in my regular work schedule ( Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturday) some time next week.
Our house is coming along, now that the rain has stopped a day here and there. The tin roof is mostly on, the windows are in, the house is wrapped, the electrician is working, the siding is being delivered form the mill, etc. etc.
My girls continue to bring me waves of joy, and remind me that my favorite thing is not so much swinging a wrecking bar, but wandering around in the beautiful outdoors listening to the young and slightly younger ladies of my life yammer on about whatever they're interested in at the moment.
Which doesn't take the pressure off to wrap up some of these projects, but it's a sweet reminder of why.
Along with some comments.
A nice 2 weeks off for the holidays, most of which I spent ripping out my storefront and rebuilding it. The frames were all rotten, much of the glass separated, and there was a very heavy layer of unsupported concrete above the glass that was blocking the natural light. The tempered glass order was delayed, and it started to rain near the end of the week, so the final paint is not on, and the glass isn't in place, but it looks a world better, and should be completed in my regular work schedule ( Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturday) some time next week.
Our house is coming along, now that the rain has stopped a day here and there. The tin roof is mostly on, the windows are in, the house is wrapped, the electrician is working, the siding is being delivered form the mill, etc. etc.
My girls continue to bring me waves of joy, and remind me that my favorite thing is not so much swinging a wrecking bar, but wandering around in the beautiful outdoors listening to the young and slightly younger ladies of my life yammer on about whatever they're interested in at the moment.
Which doesn't take the pressure off to wrap up some of these projects, but it's a sweet reminder of why.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Saturday night, what's been accomplished.
And Happy birthday to my papa, who's 64 today.
I'll let most of the pictures speak for themselves, but those white corrogated things that used to be on the front of my building, they were not fiberglass as I suspected, but rather some sort of concrete board, in 10 ft sections, weighing several hundred pounds each. They were difficult to get down without smashing the front windows. I'll leave it at that.
Here's a reminder of what the place has looked like since we bought it.
I refinished this door.
This is how the building looks now. Center windows removed, awning and corrugated crap removed.
Paul Parker, 94, used to own my building, and Wade my 82 year old barber.
Paul came by to see what I was doing to his building. He took a tour of the upstairs also, walked up the stairs himself, all the way through the upstairs, down the back stairs, (I supported him on those, they're a bit steep) and then he walked himself home, 3 blocks away. Incredible fellow.
Our friends John and Becky opened their restaurant on Thursday. I went for lunch today, and this is what I ate. It was the best meal I have had out in MS, bar none. Everything is homemade, the flavors were incredible. Incredible dressing on the caesar salad, really tasty crawfish bisque, real mashed potatos, southern style green beans (meaning with-bacon), tasty slim sweet potato fries, and meatloaf. I always try the meatloaf, it's a good measure of a place. Everything was delicious.
Sash, 2 coats of oil based primer.
I did this much last night. Nothing else to do on Halloweeen.
Our new house.
New footings poured.
Footings for the new wrap around porch.
I'll let most of the pictures speak for themselves, but those white corrogated things that used to be on the front of my building, they were not fiberglass as I suspected, but rather some sort of concrete board, in 10 ft sections, weighing several hundred pounds each. They were difficult to get down without smashing the front windows. I'll leave it at that.
Here's a reminder of what the place has looked like since we bought it.
I refinished this door.
This is how the building looks now. Center windows removed, awning and corrugated crap removed.
Paul Parker, 94, used to own my building, and Wade my 82 year old barber.Paul came by to see what I was doing to his building. He took a tour of the upstairs also, walked up the stairs himself, all the way through the upstairs, down the back stairs, (I supported him on those, they're a bit steep) and then he walked himself home, 3 blocks away. Incredible fellow.
Our friends John and Becky opened their restaurant on Thursday. I went for lunch today, and this is what I ate. It was the best meal I have had out in MS, bar none. Everything is homemade, the flavors were incredible. Incredible dressing on the caesar salad, really tasty crawfish bisque, real mashed potatos, southern style green beans (meaning with-bacon), tasty slim sweet potato fries, and meatloaf. I always try the meatloaf, it's a good measure of a place. Everything was delicious.
Sash, 2 coats of oil based primer.
I did this much last night. Nothing else to do on Halloweeen.
Our new house.
New footings poured.
Footings for the new wrap around porch.
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