Creature Bug

A House on the Family Farm

Even though I'll probably share some of the house-building adventures on this page, I wanted to have a separate spot for all the mundane details that I somehow find extra thrilling. So, to that end, I've created a new page to document the process of building our house. (There's also a little button off on the left sidebar that will take you there too.)

The current dilemma? Columns and half-columns. I'd love your input!

PS: I even have an aerial photo of the Family Farm linked on the new page, if you are interested in that sort of thing.

Week 205: The weekend the sun came out

Just after I'd complained about how cold it was, the weather decided to warm up for the weekend and it was fabulous. So fabulous. I think I could have sunburned my nose if I hadn't put on SPF 25 (protect your skin! very important!).

Although it would have been tempting to go to the beach for the day, instead we spent the hours of sunshine working on our backyard. If you aren't acquainted with the whole process that is Operation Backyard, then you should catch up at this post, where there are some nifty before and after pictures.

To catch you up just a little bit, here's what the backyard looked like a few months ago:

But then little backyard fairies flew in and transformed it into this:

 

Of course, those fairies had a lot of help from Lowe's, Home Depot, and my hardworking husband. In fact, come to think of it, those fairies didn't actually do anything. Except make sure that Operation Backyard went smoothly and no one was injured, and no boots got stuck in cement, and no one cried. I guess that's worth something.

This weekend our major task was weeding, as well as putting down wood chips and bark dust. In fact, for the first time in my life, I went to the garden store and got a yard of bark dust. Jason coached me through the whole thing, so I ended up looking like I totally knew what I was doing. I went in, asked for a yard of fir bark dust, drove the truck around back, and waited while the bark guy (not to be confused with "barking guy"...yikes!) took his tractor with a front end loader and dumped in two loads of bark. I didn't make a fool of myself by driving off after one tractor dump (that's only 1/2 a yard!), and gave the guy a thumbs-up after he was finished. I was so cool.

Other than all that work, we've been hanging around watching the grass grow. Literally. We're watching it grow.

We had planned on laying sod down and then voila! we'd have a lawn. But then for reasons which I cannot fathom right now, I said, "Let's just plant seed instead. It'll be cheaper."

Learn from me: don't plant seed. You think it's smart. You think you're saving money. But then two months later after snow, hail, sleet, and frost, your poor little patch of lawn looks more like a "la" than an "lawn." I have to give it credit though--it has survived and is working very hard at trying to grow. By the time real summer rolls around I think we might actually be able to walk on it. In hindsight though, I should have agreed with Jason when he said, "Should I go get sod?" Yes, he should have. Yes, I should have kept my big mouth shut about throwing down seed.

And that rhododendron bush in the picture? It was planted up above the retaining wall, but we had to move it. Jason dug it up, transferred it, added some fertilizer, and miracles among miracles it lived! I really want to take that rhody with us when we move because it has yellow flowers, and I hardly ever see yellow rhodies. Do you think the new owner would mind? They certainly won't appreciate a yellow rhododendron as much as I do.

As for the wood chips:

They make the play area nice and safe (no splinters! no icky mouthfuls of dirt!). You may notice that the retaining wall has two different styles going on here: manor stones and cinder blocks. The manor stones we bought back in November; the cinder blocks we already had. It would have looked nicer to have manor stones all the way around, but those babies aren't cheap. So we recycled what stones we had and called it good.

Just to get you oriented, across from the play structure we have the patio.

Here's a view a little farther back that takes it all in:

And then from here, if you turn to the right, you will see what we have yet to do. Brace yourselves.

I think we have some kind of plan for this area, but we haven't been able to sufficiently kill off the weeds yet. We've tried, and only now, after multiple spraying of poisons that are probably responsible for melting the polar icecaps, are we making headway. The bank of ivy, blackberry thickets, grass, and other assorted awful plants is a massive project. Care to volunteer to fix it?

I'll make you lunch. I'll make you dinner. I'll pay you $100, which, by the time you're finished will probably only be worth $72.14 considering inflation, but think how proud you'll feel after a hard day's work. Consider it, will you?

This picture. That's all we have left to finish our backyard. If only I could Photoshop the backyard to perfection. Wouldn't that be nifty? Ah well, we have accomplished a lot.

A lot.

And that is amazing.

Leaving What We Love

I've been a bit down this week. I suppose some of it is residual sadness from those handful of mean comments I got last week. It's not like it really bothers me or that I think about it all the time, only that it hurt my feelings. That small piece of sadness wandered over to my general state of being and resurfaced each day during particularly chaotic moments. As you probably know, sadness doesn't provide any kind of strength to get through chaotic moments. Instead, it pretty much leaves you in tears.

Adding to all this is the realization that it would be better to put our house up for sale sooner rather than later. We had planned on living here until the end of next school year, but with the housing market like it is--and the importance of selling our house before the construction ends on our new house--I think we've come to the decision that August will find us with a For Sale sign in our yard. This August. One hundred days from now.

I'm not ready for this to be my last spring living in Oregon.

 

Of course, I'll still be working in Oregon because no matter where we're living I'm teaching all next year, so every Tuesday and Thursday will find me back in town. But all week long I've been thinking about leaving my town, my home, my friends, my church...oh dear, I need to go find a kleenex.

I had this great idea a few days ago to take lots of pictures of the area throughout the next year, and then create an Our Last Year in Oregon photo album. I was going to start in May, but considering that our year may be shortened a bit--though on the upside/downside, it might take forever to sell our house and we'll still have a full year left in Oregon--I figured I needed to get started right away.

We headed downtown today to get some pictures of the cherry trees, although they are definitely past their prime bloom stage. Nevertheless, being outside in a large expanse of grass is actually very good for the soul.

There's lots of room to twirl around, take deep breaths, laugh at the crazy squirrels.

I told Jason I want to get this same kind of flowering cherry tree (it's some particular variety from Japan) and plant it at our new house, so that every time it bloomed I would be reminded of our Oregon home. He thinks that's kind of cheesy.

But I'm pretty sure the Gold Man thinks my idea is brilliant.

I'm not saying my goodbyes yet, mind you. We still have lots of living to do around these parts.

It's just that, gosh, I love this town. And leaving it is going to be really really hard, and that's something that hit me particularly hard this week. Of course, I'm not saying I'm not excited about building our dream house, on property, surrounded by our family. I'm not saying that at all.

However, the truth is even when there's something amazing up ahead, it doesn't diminish how much love you have for where you are and how hard it will be to leave that.

How very hard it will be, indeed.

*****

(c) Creature Bug 2008. All rights reserved.

Week 198: Hypotheticals

Tonight we met with Todd (designer for our new house) to go over some changes in the plans. The big changes involved the master bedroom, the garage, and one particular wall in the dining room/living room. We had a good brainstorming session, and I feel good that Todd will come up with something that draws from our collective design sensibilities.

The other smaller change involved reconfiguring the upstairs bathroom--the one that the kids will use. Well, smaller change for him. But really the whole reconfiguration is based on one big hypothetical: having another child.

Which isn't to say that I am having another child, only that I might. And if that other child is a boy then I want the bathroom to function well as the siblings share the space. If we have a boy. Which we might not. If we have another child. Which is more probable than even having a boy.

It's a conversation I've been having with myself (and Jason) for the last couple months, and even though it's not something I lose sleep over (at least, not too much), it's something I toss around in my mind as I look at house plans and we wonder exactly how to divide up room space. The whole conversation with myself goes something along these lines. Are we having more kids? If we are, then when would be a good time to consider having this other child (though I realize, of course, that this isn't totally in my control, but hypothetically speaking...)? Should I get pregnant while we are assured of Jason's job and therefore awesome health insurance? How will this affect my teaching load? How will we afford a new car since we don't have one that could seat three carseats? How far apart do we ideally want the kids do be in age? Do I really want to be moving into a new house pregnant? Wouldn't it be easier to be pregnant next year so that Rebekah the Amazing Nanny can help out? Am I even suited to parent three children?

On the other hand, the conversation sometimes goes like this. Please dear Lord, we are not having any more kids. That easily answers all those other questions.

I realize that I am blessed to be even in the position to be having this conversation with myself, knowing that there are some people who would give the sun, moon, and stars to be in my spot. I also realize there is a lot that's not in my control regarding the whole thing. But still. It crosses my mind. More than occasionally.

It wouldn't really be a difficult choice if I was excited about the prospect of having another baby. Jason and I have always kind of thought we'd have three kids. It's a nice compromise between our two families. There were two kids in his family, and he always wished there were more. There were four kids in my family, and I always felt like my mom was on the verge of a nervous breakdown from the stress we caused her. Three is good. A nice prime number. I don't care about the middle child syndrome because I figure once you have more than two, there are always middle children. Maybe you have one middle kid, maybe you have two or three. As my sister says, "Tyler and I are the middle kids in our family," and she's right. Oldest, youngest, and middles. You deal with whatever you get, and you parent accordingly.

The idea of a three-child family is more more appealing to me than actually having three kids. I'm not even dreading being pregnant anymore, which was the bigger concern last time around. It's the fact that most days I feel like I'm just treading water, trying not to drown in a sea of sippy cups, tiny socks, and play-dough. The thought of adding another child to the mix? Really? Me? The one taking Zoloft every day just to keep my head together?

I don't know. My gut says, "Wait a few years. It'll make it easier." My significant other (who also has an important say in the whole thing) says, "I'd really like to be out of the baby stage in a couple years instead of starting it all over again."

Seriously. I don't know.

It's not a decision I have to make right now, at this instant. It's not even a decision I have to make in the next couple months. It might be a decision we have to make this summer, if we're factoring in health insurance. I'm just thinking aloud here, not really expecting some sort of revelation. The only one who really knows the answer to the question "Are we having any more kids?" is God and my ovaries. Whatever my decision ultimately is, it's still not completely up to me.

Last week Sydney said to me, "I want a baby brother."

I smirked. "Did Daddy tell you to say that?"

"No. I just want one. I have one baby sister, and I want one baby brother."

"We'll see," I say.

She looked at me, smiled, and agreed. "We'll see."

*****

Just for spite, I'm giving away the pregnancy book I reviewed last July, Body, Soul, and Baby. If you're interested in winning it, leave a comment at that old post, and I'll choose a randomly lucky winner Wednesday at 8 pm PST.

*****

(c) Creature Bug 2008. All rights reserved.

Me + Barn Doors

A year ago I was flipping through the February issue of Sunset magazine--conveniently delivered to my mailbox monthly because I love it and all its celebration of the West (plus it features the fabulous writer Peter Fish). I'm always cutting this and that out of the magazine, usually garden tips. But this time my attention was immediately captured by the article called "Playful Family Farmhouse."

And then I saw them.

Barn doors.

I love them. I adore them. I want to run out and buy barn doors right this instant just to keep under my bed so I can dream about them.

Seriously, though. It was love at first sight. I cut the page out of magazine and swore that no matter what, if I ever built a house it would have these doors. And those floors. And cubed shelving filled with books. And a window seat. But probably not that many pillows because even I have my limits.

Every time we interviewed a designer for the house I would bring out the picture of the barn doors, point and say, "This is what I want." Then I would watch for his reaction, and if ever any designer even thought about rolling his eyes, I was done. When I showed them to Todd, he said, "Cool," and meant it. He was hired. Just to affirm our decision, I noticed that on the house plans he sent us, he has clearly labeled "barn doors" separating the dining room from the office. I'm giddy with joy.

Of all the features the new house is going to have, these doors are high on the list of what I'm most looking forward to. Not only do I just think they are so fantastically cool, the magazine's caption that accompanied the doors made me realize that it was exactly what I wanted.

"Double-duty spaces, inspired by The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live (The Taunton Press, 2001; $23) by Sarah Susanka, make room for everyone’s needs. The Phillipses’ office is also the library and the stage for the kids’ performances (sliding barn doors serve as curtains)."

The doors. The reference to The Not So Big House. The library. And most importantly, the doors serving as curtains for performances. Could there be anything so perfectly suited to my interests?

Yep. Me and barn doors...we're just meant for each other.

*****

(c) 2008 Creature Bug. All rights reserved.

Starting with the dream

Even though I looked at approximately five bazillion house plans on the Internet/in magazines/in books, I never found the perfect one. I think it's probably easier to find a plan when your options are limited. If you're building on a regular city lot, with a street in front and a backyard in back, well, you just look for a plan that you like and there you go.

But when you're building in a field where there are views out every window, when you know that to the south will be where the girls will play, to the east is where the gorgeous sun will be rising, to the north is the fruit orchard, and to the west is where the garden is growing--it's a lot harder coming up with plan.

A lot.

To complicate matters slightly, there is the whole "having a budget" and wanting to minimize our carbon footprint. It's enough to make my head spin.

Ultimately we knew we'd just have to hire someone to draw up plans for us. We interviewed a few different designers and chose the guy who specializes in Bungalow style homes--as opposed to the guy who specialized in Modern but said he could design Craftsman because "it's not that hard." Even though we're leaning more towards the Craftsman style than the Bungalow style, they have enough commonalities that we knew we would be speaking the same language.

We talked with Todd, our designer, and I pulled out The File that holds all the ideas and dreams that I've been storing up for ten years. Ten years of magazine pull sheets, ten years of sketching, ten years of determining what exactly I wanted in a house. Of course, a lot of ideas have been thrown out over the years because what I liked ten years ago isn't necessarily what I like today. And after living in my own house for seven years I have learned what works and what doesn't.

What doesn't work?

• A laundry room in the garage. I hate this about our house, but I have had THREE men visit our house and mention what a great idea it is to have a laundry room in the garage. Yeah, boys, you can do my laundry for me when it's 25 degrees in the garage.
• Hanging cabinets in the kitchen that obstruct our view. We couldn't tear them out though because we wouldn't have any place to store our plates otherwise.
• Carpet in the dining room. We managed it for five and half years and then finally replaced it with wood floors (LOVE THEM).

Other than that, we really like our house. All 1440 square feet of it. I honestly could live here for the rest of my life, but moving to the Family Farm is where we're headed. There are pluses and minuses to moving, but right now I'm focusing on the pluses (because the biggest minus is leaving town, and can't think about that right now). It's exciting, but also nerve wracking, trying to decide what you want a house to have. A house that you will more than likely live in for the rest of your life. We want to make smart decisions that we won't regret as soon as we move into the house. Decisions like:

• Having a kitchen island, with bar stools, where the kids can eat
• Having barn doors separate the office from the dining room (I'll have to scan the picture I have...it's one of the things I'm most looking forward to)
• Having a pantry
• Having a master bedroom on the main floor with an old-fashioned claw foot tub in the master bathroom
• Having lots and lots of built-in bookshelves
• Having an interior wall for the piano
• Not having areas that will be hard to clean

Last week we got some preliminary designs, and we've been poring over them every day. We're still trying to decide which direction the front of the house should face (we're thinking west), and then also decide where to put the garage and driveway. The biggest issue right now is square footage. We love what Todd came up with, but we could never afford it. Without a basement it's almost 3000sf, and we are tentatively planning on putting in a basement even though concrete has skyrocketed in cost. I'd rather not have a house payment that prevents us from ever going on vacation. Or, you know, buying food.

Nevertheless, a dream starts somewhere. Best to start big and then tailor it back from there. When Rachel was over earlier this week, we brainstormed about house possibilities and things that work and don't work (as Sawyer and Sydney played and reminded me that I TOTALLY want a place for kids to play that isn't my living room!). It's good being able to bounce ideas around with someone else, and hear from others about house features they love or wish they could change.

So...in the spirit of gathering wisdom, I'm asking for advice.

Even though I know that people live differently in their homes, I'd love to hear what features you love/hate about your house. Things like: is it really worth it to have two sinks in the master bathroom? Is having a sink in the kitchen island something you wish you had, or couldn't live without? Do you think a mud room needs to be separate from the laundry room? Do you think the laundry room should go upstairs with most of the bedrooms (a big debate in our house right now because our main floor needs square footage trimmed off, but I feel panicked about the very thought of putting the laundry room so far away from the kitchen)? If we end up having three kids, what sized bedroom is optimal for sharing (we had planned on three bedrooms--plus ours--but that will probably have to be trimmed down)?

Here's your chance to impart your housely wisdom on a very receptive person. No idea is a bad one. Except carpet in the bathroom...that's a bad idea. Otherwise, I'm taking it all in.

*****

(c) 2008 Creature Bug. All rights reserved.

Backyard Update

Although it's the middle of winter, that hasn't stopped Jason from working tirelessly on our backyard. Between studying for his graduate exams, training for a marathon, watching football playoffs, and the ever constant "amazing husband and dad" role, he gets out there and works in the rain and cold.

If you need refreshing on the story--is it possible you don't have the whole sad story memorized by now? that's odd--here are those details.

But now, much progress has been made.

A brief photo history of the project:

As of this weekend? Behold the glorious muddiness of our future backyard.

 

The fence line has been changed, part of the cement path has been torn up, a tree stump removed, a blue tarp discovered a foot beneath the ground, and five million trips made between the driveway (where the pallets held our backyard goodies) to the backyard (where the goodies needed to find a home).

Once the muddy ground has been prepped appropriately with sand and gravel Jason will place the paver stones that look like this:

Aren't they splendid? We love them. Oh, and just to remind you, that deck that they're sitting on is gone. Gone, gone, gone. Gone are the splinters. Gone is the funky wood smell that would soak into Daisy's fur. Gone.

Another significant step was completing the retaining wall.

 

This was a huge project, not because of the stones, but because Jason had to excavate a few feet of dirt by hand. He spent many evenings in the cold, dark, rain shoveling that dirt away. And those who live in the Willamette Valley can shudder appropriately when I say: Red Clay. Good for vineyards. Not so good for backyard excavation. Except! Don't have to worry about mud slides because red clay doesn't slide. Not much, anyway. There's the obligatory silver lining for red clay.

The next big step?

Putting these piles of materials to use. There are other steps beyond that--like getting sod, and moving Sydney's play structure--but that's still a couple months out.

In the meantime, we do the dance of joy in the muddy pit that will soon be a dream yard.

*dance*

Groundbreaking

It's official.

We broke ground on the future site for our new house. Well, sort of.

Tuesday, a guy was out to dig perk holes. You know, because the land was feeling pretty sad in this January weather (thank you, I'll be here all week). We couldn't be there, but my dad made sure to take plenty of pictures of The Event. Any event where there are backhoes involved is An Event, so naturally my dad even got a video of it on his super spiffy little camera that he refuses to give to me even though he gave my youngest brother one (she said bitterly).

True, these aren't holes that are going to be permanent, but they are somehow necessary to building the house. I don't know exactly what perk holes are, but I think it has something to do with whether or not we can put a septic tank in. Or a drain field. Whatever it is, I just want to make sure that I can take a nice hot bath in our new house, and this guy was the man to make sure that'll be possible.

Thank you, Mr. Perk Hole Digger. My future relaxation depends on you.

Here's the land as it faces south, where we will be just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Tyler and Sarah. Sydney can hardly contain herself, knowing that she's going to be living right next door to her bestest friend in the whole wide world.

And here's the land as it faces north. That's my parents' house on the left, otherwise known as the house I lived in my entire unmarried life. What you can't see in this picture is that over by the tallest tree in the picture is my grandma's house, and off the northwest is my aunt and uncle's house, and due west is my cousin's house. Yep, it isn't called the Family Farm for nothing.

Actual construction won't begin until this summer, and the move-in date is still many months beyond that, but every house has to start somewhere.

Ours starts with a perk hole.

The Beginning of the Middle

All right. Let's give you an idea of all the backyard excitement that is keeping my husband outside, even in this terribly cold and rainy weather. And while it's true that he is doing all the work, I'm still the one inside. With the kids. Who I am inside with every day of the week. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. No sirree. No complaining. Just saying. My job isn't easy either.

For review. This is what our backyard used to look like.

Oh, sweet pool. We had some good days. Swimming, frolicking, sunbathing in my smokin' hot pre-pregnancy body. We had lots of not good days too. Ones filled with moss and green water and yucky mildewy ickiness. And in the end we had to let you go because we had a child who threatened to fall in at every moment. Plus, I didn't have a smokin' hot body anymore, so what good were you? Sorry.

So, in the spring of 2006 (that's right...the year of our Lord, two-thousand SIX), we ripped it out.

Of course, by "we" I mean Jason, his dad, and his uncle. I did my part by taking pictures, also equally as difficult.

We thought we would fix the backyard that summer, which would have made the most sense since most normal people would rather not have a big ugly pit in their backyard. But then there was the other house ordeal that tied up all our money. We hoped our tax-refund was going to help us out, but then that had to go to...yes, you guessed it...the other house ordeal. So we waited for Oprah to help us out, and when that didn't materialize we just waited.

Ah ha! The wait is over! Sort of.

There is still the issue of, you know, doing the work. But Jason and Sydney are getting it done. I know some folks like wood decks, but in these parts where it rains approximately 10 months out of the year, it takes some work keeping decks in good shape. My solution! No more wood decks! I want concrete! I want stones! I want to walk around in my barefeet without getting splinters so that I don't feel compelled to overuse exclamation points!

The decking to the left of the picture is gone now too, I just didn't get a picture of it because it's been dark and dreary around here for ages. But where all that dirt is? That's where the patio is going. And the area between the patio and the former-pool pit? That's where the retaining wall is going. And the former-pool pit? Probably grass.

I'm sure our neighbors are rejoicing almost as much as we are because they have had to look at this eye-sore of a backyard for more than 18 months. Every time I see them I feel compelled to apologize. As well as talk about what fun I have with my kids just so they know we aren't terrible parents and didn't sell our pool for meth or something. "We're teachers," I chatter on. "We go to church! And our house isn't full of 25 miniature poodles. That has to count for something. Would you like some chickpea chocolate chip cookies? "

Oddly enough, our neighbors don't seem to be around much these days. Funny.

Here's proof that I'm not just making empty promises about fixing our backyard. The Eagle Has Landed.

So, the first thing was to build a new shed in our side yard so we could get rid of the old shed in our backyard to make room for Sydney's play structure and a garden.

Jason had to hold onto the power tools or Sydney would run off with them. Power tools are so much fun.

And when the power drill's battery gets low, taking an ax to the old shed is good fun too. "I probably should be wearing eye goggles," he said as he swung the ax through the metal shed. "That'd be a good idea," I said.

As of this morning, all that junk has been hauled off, and Jason has begun digging out the area where the retaining wall is going. After that, there's more deck to be torn out before the paver stones get to go in, but we're making progress.

ROCK ON, little backyard. Rock on.

The First Steps

We've always known that someday, in the eventual-theoretical-future world, we would move to the Family Farm up in a little town northeast of Vancouver, Washington. My parents live there; my brother and his family live there. My grandma, my aunt and uncle, and my cousin's family live there. At the Family Farm we really do farm families. That's what we grow. And a few blueberries to keep the birds happy. Plus, an occasional weed or two.

I grew up there, and Jason's parents live not too far away, so it's good for being around family. Even though it's an exciting thing to consider, I'm not getting too emotionally vested in it because I don't want to think about leaving the town we live in. I don't want to think about leaving my friends (and don't worry, friends! I'm not moving yet!). I like my job. I like my church. I like where we live. Leaving doesn't really sound like that much fun, even though it will be great to live closer to family.

But what does sound like fun is building our own house. Coming up with plans, and picking light fixtures--that sounds like fun. I have a file folder full of ideas and sticky notes that say "These lights!" "this tub," "love these barn doors." I'm focusing on the good stuff that will come from moving, and won't worry about the moving part until we actually move.

Since, however, we are thinking of moving within the next couple years and it does take many moons to build a house what with all the permits and fees and people needing to build things with their hands and dig stuff with big machines, then we have started the process of talking to builders.

Tonight we talked with a builder/architect. We shared with him some of the things we like and don't like, and what we want to have in our dream house that we plan on living in for the rest of our lives. Then he sketched. Kitchen here, dining room there, bedrooms, places to sit and relax and grow up. And there it was. A house.

I have lots of scribbles of how I want the rooms to function, and it was so interesting to see someone else sketch our vision without looking at plans I had already drawn up. What he came up with was something I hadn't even imagined, which was good because that's what I wanted him to do. We talked about lighting and winds and weather patterns. We talked about flow and spaces and the feeling of a house.

And then we talked about money.

We have a budget. It's a fairly modest budget because we definitely don't want to tie ourselves down with a huge house payment. I firmly believe in the power of the Not So Big House, and had thought that by building a medium-sized home (under 2500 sf) we could have a medium-sized budget. However, we do have definite tastes about craftsmanship and style (we're looking along the arts and crafts style), and this poses some issues for the medium-sized budget.

It was a good reality check, and I came away from tonight's meeting feeling like I have a better understanding of what we can expect to build. We still have more builders to talk to and more architects to meet with. Maybe they'll have different news to offer us, maybe not. Either way, I'm so glad we're starting now. It'll be something else, building a house. Fortunately, we're not building it right now because I'm still looking forward to living here and enjoying our new backyard. Which reminds me: I need to post some pictures. I'll get on that soon.

Anticipation

Yesterday, a Lowe's truck delivered seven pallets to our house. Our driveway is full of manor stones, paver stones, bags of crushed rock, and a box full of nuts and bolts and sheets of metal.

We are building a retaining wall.

We are building a patio.

We are building a new shed.

We are getting a backyard.

I promise pictures will come, but for now I'm just basking in the glow of delight. Finally.

The day's end

Okay, so I'll tell you part of the reason why I've been in a no-good, awful, horrible mood today, but you have to PROMISE not to laugh. At least, not so loudly that I can hear you.

I'm blaming my misery on Oprah. Well, not directly on Oprah, perhaps more on her producers. I got my hopes up--ridiculously so--and then as the days have crept by since April 14th I've become more resigned to my fate. My fate, that is, of not being chosen. Even though I was not entitled to being chosen, I was still just hoping a tiny bit that I would be. The whole thing is proof positive that I am not getting enough sleep. Also, being spit up on half a dozen times a day appears to be taking its toll. It is the only way to explain how insanely and oddly disappointed I am right now.

Perhaps I should explain.

Several weeks ago I wandered by Oprah's site and saw that she was having a contest that made my heart beat just a little bit faster. It was contest for a backyard makeover. Oh. my. goodness. gracious. This was my chance.

If you've been around here long enough you enough that our backyard is a disaster. There was a pool, now there's a pit. There was grass, now there's mud. There was prettiness, and now it's the reason I don't raise the curtains on my windows anymore. To be fair, it was third in my list of priorities of change. First the wood floors. Then the leather couches. Check, and check. Third on the to-do list: backyard.

Still waiting.

Even though there are some minor repairs I could do to curb the catastrophe of the backyard, so much of it revolves around the deck being fixed. I'm not keen on planting pretty pretty flowers and lovely green grass only to have them smushed to a certain death when the deck is repaired. I have, therefore, been waiting. Not patiently (ask Jason and he'll vouch for that character flaw) but waiting nonetheless. The tax refund brought me hope, but then an unforeseen money issue came up and *poof* tax refund gone. Backyard repair postponed indefinitely.

So I got out the video camera. I wrote the script. I edited the video. I sent it off to the powers that be at Harpo Productions in Chicago. I prayed fervently that someone would take pity on me. Heck, I had plenty of pity to loan them from my own personal stash. I figured I had a 1 in 500 chance of getting it. I have no scientific basis for those odds; I just pulled them out of the air. The contest ended April 14th. The winner would be contacted by the producers by April 24th.

I know, I know. There's still time. My phone could ring tomorrow. Possibly. Maybe.

Probably not.

I mean, really. Who calls with good news on a Tuesday? No one. Unless you were born on a Tuesday, in which case everyone that your parents called would have received good news because you being born is worth of the "good news" classification. OTHER THAN birth announcements, Tuesdays are not inspiring. They are the sophomores of the week. Not new; not old. Just passing time.

I realize how silly I was to get my hopes up. But you have to understand how much the problem of the backyard weighs on me. I'm at the point where I'd consider selling our house just so I could get a new backyard, that's how desperate I am. I would even sell the car and ride the bus for the next year just to be able to go outside with the girls and not panic that Sydney will fall off the deck. If you're thinking it's a matter of hard work and *presto* the yard will be fixed, that's not the case. It's a matter of money.

In all seriousness, I'll be okay. There are worse things than not having a backyard. People all over the world don't have backyards, and they are perfectly happy. I realize how shallow it seems to be so worked up over a patch of weeds and few splinters. I know I'm an idiot for not wanting to invite people over simply because our backyard isn't up to par. It's a character flaw that needs work.

Until I become a better and more mature person who focuses her energy on real problems, rather than petty ones, I'm working through my disappointment.

Maybe, eventually, I'll even forgive Oprah. I'm not perfect though. It could take awhile.

Accomplished

I realized the other day that I sometimes write about things I'm going to do, but then don't post the results. So, here are a few of the things we've been working on around here.

The curtains I referred to in my last post. I'm awfully proud of myself for getting them done, and they do wonders for blocking out the early morning light.

A few weeks ago I redid/updated almost all the framed photos in our house. My big project was to get new frames and pictures for our hall photos. I managed to include 8x10s of both girls, as well as me with Jules, and Jason with Syd. The 5x7s are of our parents and our siblings. And the center photo are black and white photos of my grandpa holding Sydney when she was just a week old, and Jason holding Jules' hand when she was a month old.

Since I'm still holding to my no chocolate/no candy resolution for Lent, I have started finding alternate forms of dessert. Here are some delicious--if not proper looking--lemon scones. So yummy, especially with the mock clotted cream I made for them.

I've saved the best for last: stage one of our backyard plans. Sydney has a place to play! A swing! A slide! An area surrounded by wood chips that Sydney takes such joy in shoveling around! Even though it's on the far end of our backyard--so I have to look out our bedroom window in order to see her--it's still such a treat for us. With all these lovely near-spring days we have already made good use of our play area. Hooray for us!

Week 141: Organized Therapy

I apologized to the photo lady at Costco today because I have been in there no less than half a dozen times in the last four days to pick up pictures.

"If I were really organized, I would have just sent in one nice big order instead of all these tiny orders."

She shrugged. "Being organized is overrated."

And oddly enough, I felt better. That's why we go to Costco. For photos, for cheap lunches, and for a little bit of philosophy (fortunately, that last bit is free, which is good since it's darn near impossible to escape that store without spending more money than you planned on spending...but I digress).

So being organized is overrated, but that hasn't stopped me from spending nearly every waking moment of the last few weeks going through the house and trying to get stuff in order. It started with me having one of those light bulb moments about our coat closet. There I was, sitting on the couch, nursing Julianne, looking at a magazine article about Valentine's cookies, when suddenly it dawned on me. Our coat closet could be our office. Measuring 5' x 4', it's spacious enough. It's centrally located. It has shelves. It has a trap-door to the crawl space where we could bring up the wires for the computer.

I found everything I needed at The Container Store, and waited for Jason to come home to tell him the great news. I can't tell you how giddy I was. No less giddy than if I had discovered our house had a second floor. What? There's more space in our house? Eeek!

Jason came home. I pounced on him (not literally, or not quite literally). He said, "Where do we put the coats?"

OHHH! THE COATS!

And so--quite rationally--I broke down crying. My plans were ruined.

Okay, not ruined. But had to be tweaked. Even though the coats could be moved to the garage, Jason was not in favor of that idea (him: "It'll clutter up my garage"; me: "And I guess our coats will be cold when we put them on"). Also, we happen to store folding chairs in our coat closet which also cannot be moved since the shed they used to be stored in developed a leak when the roof caved in from snow. However, the filing cabinet from our bedroom could still be moved into the closet, as well as some other office-y things.

Once the filing cabinet was moved, I was inspired to move the office desk out of our bedroom as well (and into our spare room that we usually rent out). So after cutting a few holes, we were able to convert a bookcase into a mini-office station. Then I wanted to get rid of the other filing cabinet in our room that I had been using as a nightstand, so as a cheap alternative to buying new nightstands, we got nice wood TV trays that work perfectly.

When Sydney saw the new arrangement in our bedroom (that is, sans huge desk and filing cabinets) she exclaimed, "Look at all this space! I love it!"

It's nice to feel validated. Even from a toddler.   

Since I was already in the mood of getting rid of things, I went through the closets and got rid of lots more. Lucky for me. And lucky for Goodwill.

Eventually, the spirit of organization took over my little red head, and I decided to update all our framed photos, a task which ended up involving me buying new frames for the hallway.

All the picture organization stuff is what led me to Costco multiple times, and also prevented me from writing too much here because I was using all my computer time cropping photos. Let me tell you, it took serious discipline to keep my little blogaroo from turning into a photo blog because all I wanted to do was post pictures and not write anything. Well, here's one of my favorites anyway:

In the end, I would say that this whole organization thing has gotten a bit out of control (something tells me I might have thrown away something important), but it still feels oh so good to get it done. It has actually made my February rather enjoyable because I feel like I'm getting a head start on spring cleaning.

Being organized makes my life simpler, or rather makes my environment simpler. And sometimes, in the midst of the chaos of real life, that's the best we can hold onto. This past week has brought us sad and difficult news from some close friends of ours, and unable to do much except pray, I have turned to organizing my file cabinets, my closet, my junk drawers, my books. Emotionally, Jason and I are reeling; visually, our DVDs are alphabetized.

At the end of the day, the coat closet essentially has remained a coat closet. But that's okay.

Open House: Master Bedroom & Bath

Here it is: the final installment of my Open House series. If you're interested in the commentary on the other rooms, then just scroll back through each of the last several Sundays.

It is no coincidence that the master bedroom gets featured last. In the list of "room priorities" this is the room that sadly gets neglected most of the time. For a long time, I didn't know what to do with this room. It's rather large--almost the size of the living room--and it has vaulted ceilings. Over the past few years, however, we have made some positive steps. Finding a paint color we like for the bedroom and the bathroom, decorating the walls to our satisfaction, getting a queen-sized bed.

The worst feature about this room is that it now also houses our office (didn't think the computer would fit in with the nursery decor). If we downsized our wardrobe, we could easily fit our office in the walk-in closet, but then where would all my clothes go? So, until we get some lovely media armoire, we just have to put up with the desk, cords, and filing cabinet. Ah well, we can't have everything now can we?

Pictures of the master bedroom and bath can be found in the photo album, starting on photo #55.

I hope you have enjoyed a sneak peek into my house. It's been good for me to get past my insecurities and realize that when it comes to homes, we'll never keep up with the Joneses. That's okay. When we made the decision to be teachers, and later when I made the decision not to work full-time, we knew that there would be certain extravagances we'd have to give up. Nevertheless, I am still blessed with so much: A wonderful supportive husband, a sweet beautiful child, another lovely baby soon to be sleeping under our red-tiled roof. Indeed, there is more contentment to be found in that last sentence than in a wealth of expensive furnishings and artwork.

I am blessed. And you can't put a price on that.

Open House: Baby Sister's Room

(Almost done with my Open House! First installment here; second here; third here; fourth here.)

I had a long time to think about how I wanted to decorate the nursery, but up until a few months ago the most I had picked out were the colors. Last summer we painted the room sage green and robin egg blue, two colors that were relatively gender neutral.

One night--after seeing the moonlight filter in through the window, projecting a tree shadow on the wall--I was inspired to create a big tree mural on one of the walls. Yet after several sketches, I discovered what I really wanted were primary shaped trees with red birds. Sydney has red kites, and so I thought another "flying" motif would be appropriate. Hence, the red birds.

I later found out that red birds are considered the Christmas bird...so I think I made a good choice.

Other than the mural, the walls are a bit bare because I'm holding off on putting up all the wall decorations before I have all the framed art (my mom is doing another genealogy tree for the room similar to the one Sydney has). Two things are up though: a growth chart in the same style as Sydney's, and an activity/inspirational calendar called Baby Be Loved. (I highly recommend this book because it has some great activities and ideas, and it's just perfect for hanging above the changing table.)

I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how the room turned out. Especially considering the only new thing in the room is the paint, the growth chart, and the size 1 diapers (poor child, not even a stitch of new clothing or blankets or toys! Ah, the budget saving beauties of a second child of the same gender). To see pictures of the room, start on photo #43 of the photo album.

Next week is the final installment: master bedroom and bath.

Open House: Sydney's Room

(...Continuing on with my Sunday Open House series. The first installment is here, the second is here, and the third is here.)

With my first pregnancy, when I found out I was having a girl I knew I wanted a yellow room. My childhood bedroom was a yellow room, and I had fond memories of it. So I figured I couldn't go wrong with yellow (the color here, btw, is "Tigger's Tummy" from Home Depot's Disney paint line).

How to decorate was quite the question. If you have ever looked through baby catalogs you will know that there are A LOT of choices when it comes to themes. And even though Winnie the Pooh, and Noah's Ark, and ABC's, and ladybugs are all cute themes, they just weren't what I was looking for.

And then I woke up one night and knew what I wanted: red kites. Firstly, I had read that babies are stimulated by bright shapes. Secondly, Jason's dad is an avid kite collector (and he is very good at flying them!). Thirdly, one of my favorite children's books is called The Three Questions (based on a fable by Tolstoy) and it has a red kite on the cover. And finally, kites reminded me of being able to fly, to soar, to dance in the wind. All these factors made kites the perfect choice.

Someday I'll be ambitious enough to make a kite bedspread for Sydney's bed, but for now the bright colors seem to be fun enough. If you want to see more pictures of Sydney's room (and her bathroom) then check out the photo album (starting with picture #32).

Next week...pictures of the nursery!

Open House: Entry & Livingroom

(The first installment of my Open House series is here. The second installment is here.)

When we were in the market to buy a house, Jason and I looked for months. We had some idea of what we wanted, but couldn't necessarily put our finger on anything definite. Except one thing: it had to have a view.

We had been renting a daylight basement outside city limits, and that place had a gorgeous view. Hence, we were spoiled and wanted that in our new place.

It's a bit tricky to find a place in our town with a view unless you're willing to spend a lot of money. We lucked out. When we walked into this home, we went straight for the living room, looked out the wall of windows, and said, "This is it." The house certainly had issues (some of which are the windows themselves because they are terribly inefficient), but we overlooked all that. We put in our offer the Monday before Thanksgiving, and found out the day before Thanksgiving that they had accepted. We got the house.

Sometimes this house drives me crazy, but today I'm reminded that almost exactly six years ago when I walked in here it was perfect. It was home. And as long as we live in this town, it'll be our home. It'll always need work, but one thing to check off the list: a new couch. We finally got it (Friday). Want to see pictures? New pictures for my Open House Album start on #20.

Open House: Guest Bedroom & Bath

(The first installment of my Sunday Open House series can be found here.)

When we moved into our house nearly six years ago, the one room that needed the most work was the "shop" off the garage. The room, attached to the house but only accessible by an outside door or through the garage, was most definitely not a dwelling area. It had a big work bench, a pot-belly wood stove, concrete flooring, and florescent lights. We used it as a storage room, and put it on the list of "things we'd get around to fixing up eventually."

"Eventually" came sooner rather than later. A year after we moved in, a winter storm ripped off the roof over this room and we had a not-so-lovely water feature and skylight. We were quite distraught over how on earth we would manage to pay for repairs, when Jason's mom suggested we call our insurance agent.

Enter State Farm, who came in and replaced the roof, all the sheetrock, and installed a space heater. Estimated cost of repair: $10,000. Our cost: $500. Thank you, Home Owners Insurance.

I had originally thought the room would be a pool/rec room since it's located off the deck where we used to have our pool. But that proved to be impractical since we only used the pool a few months out of the year, and didn't need the space for other entertaining. So a couple years ago we decided to start renting out the room to college students. Even though the room doesn't have a full kitchen, it does have a mini-fridge and a microwave, as well as a tv, desk, and internet access. A year ago my parents paid for the addition of a bathroom (so the college students wouldn't need to use our guest bathroom inside the house), so it has turned into quite the nice space.

There aren't many decorations in there because the room is usually rented out. We had planned on renting it out again this year, but long story short, we didn't. Hopefully next school year we'll be able to rent it out again. Sometime in the future, the room will make a good play room, but not until Sydney gets a little older since the room is a bit removed from the house. Until then, it's just nice to have a little apartment to use however we please.

Pictures for the Guest Bedroom & Bath are in the Photo Album, starting with picture 14. And if you're ever visiting the area...we have a place for you to stay!

Open House: Kitchen & Dining Room

"You are a king by your own fireside, as much as any monarch on his throne."
--Cervantes, Don Quixote

Even though I love looking at pictures of other people's homes, I rarely post pictures of my own house. There are many reason for this. First of all, I can't take good indoor pictures. I want them to look like pictures from Better Homes and Gardens or Real Simple, but they just don't turn out that way (something about the lighting...). Second of all, I have been a bit insecure out my house. This insecurity has even prevented me from inviting people over to our house because...oh, crazy reasons, I suppose...because there are things about our home that aren't that great. The unfinished backyard, the orange countertops in the bathroom, the cracked wood around the window frames, the paint on the door frames, the mismatched furniture. We've been here almost six years, and so part of me thinks, "It should be done now!" (Of course, as many home owners will tell you, not too many homes are ever really finished.)

Anyway, this last summer I worked hard mentally and emotionally to get past this. It's silly to be so self-conscious about our house. I don't need to make excuses for our home; I love it (or most of it) and I love that we can afford it. What does it matter if it isn't as new, as big, as expensive, as nicely decorated as someone else's house?

So, part of my stepping out of my comfort zone is to feature an Open House every Sunday for the next few weeks. First up: the kitchen and dining room.