porch!!

I am so excited because we can walk in the front door again; and it goes out to (part) of our new porch! It is turning out great (although I think we could have had narrow windows in the basement...but oh well). I will try to post some pics tomorrow, right now the two floors are framed with boards over the solid parts (so you can see all the windows/doors). Next I think is the roof.

pics!

I promised some pics so here they are: first just after they poured the footings last week:




and then today some of the framing - they are making a ton of progress (but it is supposed to snow tonight...)




and just because heres the king of the hill with the fabulous "new" snowblower.

Concrete

Today they poured the floor for the west wing! They did the footings last week, and this should be the last of the concrete work. Now it can snow (and apparently it will!) without bothering the project too much. Our contractor was going insane with the 5 feet of snow we had in Dec - it's still heaped up all around but the roads are all clear. Inside I haven't done as well, I have all these ideas for where to put the piles of stuff, but we don't have the space yet. Also it is time to decide on carpeting and rocks (for the fireplace and porch), and paint etc. So if you have any ideas let me know!

Remodeling news

I must post more often here - the laundry room is done and glorious. At least nice. And someday I will move all the stuff piled in the garage back into the room. Maybe. Some of it.

But in larger news, we are adding on the West Wing! J has wanted to do this from when he moved in (15 years ago). It will be a larger living room with somewhat vaulted ceiling (not a big peak, but higher than our other ceilings). Also there will be a "bedroom" and office below the LR. Best of all the entryway will be pushed out 4 feet and a new door will open onto the fabulous new front porch! I think it will look great, always wanted a porch and bigger entry. And there will be steps up to the new deck which will be outside the LR, and connect to the rest of the wrap around deck on the back of the house. So exciting, and I think the contractor is a good guy.

american consumer

Well, I'm doing my bit to help the economy. I decided they will never have the sizes of rugs I want in Not-so-big City, so I just ordered a bunch of stuff online. Hopefully they will be close to the right color. Since it is for the laundry room I'm not that picky, but I did pay more for the rugs than anything else (except the washer). J worked on the dryer vent thing this am, it stuck into the room about a foot, and the way things hooked together it was about 3 feet away from the washer. NOW it looks perfect, is about a foot away and exactly the right amount for my wheely cart I bought for soap and stuff. AND the recycle bins fit EXACTLY into the space between the dryer and the cabinet. It is meant to be. Really excited for guests to come (M&D were first, but it is much better now)! Now I must pick up the child from school...

moving into the 21st century (slowly...)

Today I finally applied for our TV Converter Box Coupons - since we have rabbit ears or nothing on our tvs, I expect we won't be watching much after Feb anyway. But at least now we have $80 of coupons coming. Then, of course we'll have to hook up all those fun devices. And then, J tells me, none of our recording devices will work (automatically anyway). Which is a drag, because that is my favorite thing about the tv now, watching previously taped shows when I want! Oh well.

Ds eye appt

Well, I haven't posted here in forever, but I decided to separate my "work" and "family" blogs once again. They kinda merge, but there is a lot of stuff that is pretty separate. Today D had an appt with an opthomologist - his primary care physician said his eyes MIGHT not be tracking together. So the specialist - and he is perfect in every way! Yay - 20/20 vision in both eyes (how did THAT happen, everyone else in the family is blind)

When I picked him up at school today, the parking lot was so warm. This is my favorite time of year, and I think today is the last sunny day - they are predicting rain and a big temp drop tomorrow. As usual, I wish I had spent more time outside, we haven't even gone to the trail this year (for bikeriding). Sometimes I feel so isolated here.