House in Progress Diary

Daily Diary Archive

In the Beginning

Of course, this is when all of the writing occurs. After midnight when everyone in the "transitional house" is asleep and the dog is snoring and I am up in the loft wondering, "What on earth have we done?"

What did we do? We bought our first house. Our second anniversary is Monday. And I have never been this thrilled, tired or scared since the week before my wedding. Though I was a LOT less dirty around the time of the wedding. Every day since last Thursday has been the same thing...work at my "real" job, go to the TH* (transitional home), change into work clothes, take the dog to new house and work like a gerbil sorting and hauling debris. Stumble home to peel myself out of layers of grime. And marvel at the amazing resiliency of a mistreated house.

I will catch everyone up on the story in the next few posts by cutting and pasting some correspondence that "sets the scene". Then we can get to the latest installments.

Every Day

Every day, there are discoveries at the new house. Those funny looking sink drains that I thought was just extra hardware? (They were thrown onto the hardware bench versus tossed out.)

Collectible flower frogs. Who knew?

At this point, we just want to peek behind the fireplace boards and get the first floor clean. And evict the raccoons from the attic.

Continue for more of "Every Day"

Credit Where its Due

J did a great job of providing the history of our situation in her previous post. I'd like to point out the great support and feedback we've received from the American Bungalow discussion boards. That group has provided us with great advice and encouragement through a challenging time. Thanks to each of them/you for your help and encouragement. I don't know if we'd have had the courage to buy this great old house if it weren't for the wisdom over at AB!

Plus, they deserve credit for this weblog! So many people had an interest in our situation--it was because of them that we realized that we had a somewhat interesting story to tell. (Plus we were trying to keep our relatives up to date on our situation...and they are scattered all over the place.) So yesterday I threw together this site and convinced J to commit to her job as an "embedded journalist" for our project! :-) If it works out, we think it will be fun to keep this site as a record of our progress and also keep in touch with the many friends we've developed through this experience so far.

So thanks again to the regulars over at AmericanBungalowMagazine.com. If it works out, we hope this new site is a useful (and fun!) way for us and for all of you to stay updated with each other!

P.S. - If you've never participated in that site's message boards, I recommend it highly. If you're interested in more background on our story, you can access the various posts/threads J has been involved in here.

Mysteries & Milestones

Parents came in for the cleaning "blitz" of the first floor. Photos should be ready soon. A & I bought ourselves 2 concrete pots for the front steps for our anniversary and then decorated them with red impatiens. We began trimming the hedges and mowed the lawn, set up the grill and have been sharing our abundance of overgrown backyard peonies with our neighbors.

It seems as if the "story" of the house's move-in condition has made it around the women's circle at church. Their enthusiasm to help clean is only matched by their curiousity in getting a glimpse inside of the "famously junky house."

Had a Geraldo moment as Dad and A pulled aside a board in front of the fireplace to see if the fireplace was still there ...yep, it's still back there. The front of it is gone, but the skeleton remains of the old gas fireplace. Wild. We'll eventually resuse the hickory boards for a built-in closet upstairs.

I should be able to publish LINKS to other pages at least...meaning, the pictures are going up. Not the Ofoto "before and after" shots, but we will be recording the work in progress and showing everyone what interesting "treasures" were left behind.

And we want your stories about these treasures! Maybe you remember your grandmother or great aunt having one. Let us know! We'll publish you.

Mysteries of the week:

Continue for more of "Mysteries & Milestones"

Where am I?

Whew. An all nighter. I haven't pulled one of those since college. But these days, it is the only time I have in front of the computer.

So, more new pages are up...more pictures. I go over to the house today to meet with the pest inspectors (gulp!) so I'll ty to take specific pictures for those who are interested. Then I have to make a slew of phone calls and tidy up the garage. So I'll be back this evening with more of the story about the house itself. Enjoy!

Clean for a Day

I've decided that FOX needs a new game show. Well, actually, it's a new take on an old game show. I'd call it...

CLEAN FOR A DAY

Rather like the "Queen for a Day" game show that our mom and/or grandmom watched, the winner would have all 70 years of dirt and grime and nicotine in his or her house (mid-renovation) sucked up into oblivion. They would be given a big bar of scented soap and led to a sybaritic white tiled room...with sun drenched skylights...to soak and talk on the phone to their friends or (if they prefer) to soak while watching a marathon of mindless TV or read trashy novellas. Water sprites would serve pina coladas silently and make sure that you don't slip below the water before being wrapped in dustless sheets on a clean, clean, cozy bed to snooze.

And there wouldn't be any raccoons for miles and miles around. Especially not howling on your roof.

I am exhausted.

I am exhausted.

First the raccoons. Two of four. With massive apologies to our newly-deafened sleepy neighbors, especially Krystina, Jay, Alex and Caitie (since the raccoons were on that side of the house).

Then, the accounting software at work was determined to break me today.

Then, my lovely mom-in-law and her lovely friend Millie went above and beyond to get me to a meeting for selling some of the camera equipment because the keys to the car went missing.

Things go better at the Chicago Camera Collectibles meeting. Great chaps. Know their stuff! I took a few things home again, but they were being kind about price and about a collection which to REALLY seasoned collectors must seem a little yawn worthy. They were terrific really.

I'm crawling to bed soon. There is $46 in my pocket which will be great to pay a little bit towards the rental fee for stashing our things when we couldn't move in because of all of the stuff. Plus a lot of new introductions into a pretty cool group of people.

Sorry, I keep yawning into my keyboard. More new items up on: What on Earth!?" Check it out...

5, not 4

I take that back. Make that two of FIVE raccoons. How did we miss that she had 4 babies? And that she is too smart to let the remaining 2 get near the traps? I cannot see a pretty end to this.

Not much today at the house. Except the advice that people gave us running through our heads..."everything will take 3-5 longer than you think it will." Yes. That is because you get so so so so tired.

Brain-numbing tired.

A and I are trying to think of ways to keep this fun and not let it drag our relationship around. We are trying to be pre-emptive. Advice from seasoned veterans on that one is welcome. He is working very very hard at the office and I bounce from part-time office to house and back. The movers are scheduled for Friday afternoon and I am just nervous about getting the rest of the first floor clean and hoping we can fit our furniture all into the first floor of the house. Plus, how much to unpack? I'm tempted to say "Nothing!" but then, where else do you put it?

At this point, there are enough things in the house for 3 garage sales. Everyone is also saying "Ebay!" but every item would be so time consuming that you could do this full-time for a year (or more). We'd like to donate one garage sale's worth to the Senior Youth Group at church so they can finance their retreat. One garage sale for us to help finance home repair and what it is costing us to delay moving in. And donate a number of items to World Relief and other worthy causes who could use basic household items. A few things we need to sort out and investigate. Like the lithographs from Japan and Europe. Artwork? Garage sale worthy? Who knows? The research alone is mind boggling.

I took a long shower today before going to a lovely goodbye dinner for our Pastor and his wife, who are retiring. I adore them. He married A and I, was my first "non-Catholic" pastor and they are such a beautiful, loving couple. I will never forget, after being dreadfully, doggedly sick for 3 months last year when we couldn't figure out half of my symptoms, I returned to church and sat on the back bench with A while he ran sound. It was a huge milestone for me to be up and out of the house. During the recessional and before the benediction, Pastor A strode down the center aisle of our large, lovely church--a tall distinguished man--heading straight for me with no hesitation and just wrapped me in his arms in a gentle, loving hug. I was so surprised that I still burst into tears at this memory. I was still pretty frail then and not getting around so easily and I was so moved by this homecoming. This neighborhood means so much more than this broken, sad house (that will be beautiful again). It is filled with beautiful families who feel like home. I did get a compliment on my hair tonight...one on how it looked and another on how good it smelled. What can I say? I cleaned up for this occasion :)

Today, I saw kids riding their bikes and playing up and down the lawns like I used to do in Pearl River, New York with my cousins or in Pittsburgh with the neighbor kids. This was IN THE CITY. In the suburb where we were, though I am fond of it in a way, I never saw kids without parental supervision every moment. This is better. Much better.

And I need to remember that when I am cleaning and dragging myself through the selling off of things and battling raccoons. It is the bigger picture of creating a home.

10 Bags of Trash

Okay, three raccoons transplanted. The mother and one of the babies still elude us. When we're finished with the raccoons, we can begin with the squirrels :( They are living above the porch.

Emotionally, I bounce all over the place about the house. As I wrote to my friend K when I wasn't sleeping well in transition and was trying to read myself to sleep, "I just finished the "Little House on the Prairie" books. Again. For the one zillionith time. I found myself saying goofy, dumb things like, "A, if PA can build a house ON THE PRAIRIE from NOTHING, than we can restore this house." And some days, I believe that. Other days, I go home and weep. Like tonight. Some relatives were visiting and were curious about the house. They were shocked and dismayed. Seeing it through their eyes, I was dismayed too. I am going back to read a few passages from Little House on the Prairie again tonight. Do all these people think Rome sprang from the ground fully built in a day??? Well, then again, Rome was probably never this filthy dirty.

Reading Mother Theresa's biography didn't help me either. I found myself crying, again, and thinking "I'm not worthy for God's world! I must get a sari and begin serving mankind immediately!!"

Well, tonight, wearing neither sunbonnet nor sari, A and I lugged 10 trash bags full of yard waste to the dumpster in front of my in-law's house. This is so we can leave more trash for the regular city garbagemen and work our way towards getting a garage back. I was in the same jeans that just WILL NOT come clean. Because the previous owner never cleaned. And now it is ground into my jeans. Honest. We were vacuuming 1-2 INCHES (no exaggeration) of dust off of boxes and trim. There were old mouse "party favors" STILL IN THE KITCHEN. We know there aren't any mice IN the house because the pest inspector and I crawled over that place for 3 hours. Only raccoons and squirrels. But, well, gross! If you had mice at one time and you knew about it (we knew she knew because we found an ancient trap)...wouldn't you clean your floor???!!!

I am only thankful that I do not have toddlers at this point in time and I break out the bleach.

Closer...

The remaining raccoons are accounted for! No more raccoons in the attic! (Thanks to Lou from Critter Detectives for your hard work and perseverance!)

We think the squirrels may have been scared away in the raccoon scramble. Lou put some paper over the hole to test it and if they haven't broken through by tomorrow, we are boarding that bad boy up! Meanwhile, the stainless steel grille cage for the mushroom vent/fan goes on in 3 days when the attic is officially declared "raccoon free".

Today we moved our furniture in (all on the first floor) and we move in with cat and dog tomorrow. We also had our second dinner guests (after my parents)....A & L. We tested out the new grill in the back yard which will function as our kitchen until the weather becomes too cold for words. The current kitchen is a little hard to cook in.

And the "Silent Paint Remover" arrived. Everyone on the street and the alley has been offering us unlimited use of tools and equipment and that is really saying something. We have some pretty handy people in our neighborhood, all of whom know what kind of shape the house is in. After doing the math and adding up the cost of liquid paint stripper for everything needed inside/outside of the house AND the outside of the garage...the SPS was the way to go. It uses infrared heat, doesn't give off the fumes and other hazards related to heat guns, does tile/paint/varnish/and more, AND it's from (well, where else?) Sweden. So, we'll let you know how that goes. The guys on TOH gave it a big thumbs up. Hopefully, we will too. So now we have our own unusual power tool to lend to helpful neighbors because, well, with a contractor and handy ma'am for neighbors, what do you lend to the couple who have everything?

I feel better with our things in the house. Though I need to clean it again (this will be the fourth time) to get the rest of the dirt/grease/grime/dust that I didn't get first 3 times. Soft Scrub is my friend.

We're in!

(insert bars of dramatic organ music here)

We are IN the new house. First night. So, of course, I cannot sleep.

We have crammed our boxes and furniture all on the first floor since work will begin with gutting the second floor entirely. We will be saving every piece of trim, every door, every beguiling bungalow feature and dragging out everything else.

The house had only 1 bathroom and 5 bedrooms until 1951 when W decided to purchase "brand new watercloset accessories" and convert the upstairs bath into the strangest, elongated bathroom you have ever seen. While expanding the possibilities for bathroom usage, it is not the most elegant of solutions. The bathroom-related portion covers 1/3 of the room. The rest is just...well...open space. Plus, lack of proper ventilation has made a mess of things and a broken wax seal on the plumbing years ago that went unattended to made a mess of the ceiling of the bedroom in which we camping out. Since we have to lay at night and look at that for up to 12 months or more, we purchased 4 inexpensive tablecloths from Le Target and will be pinning these to the ceiling in the manner of a sultan's tent. Self-denial is a balm to the renovator's senses.

Continue for more of "We're in!"

Geez...Bees

Today was a little more, um, organized.

So we are moving the furniture into the right rooms but...ugh. It is unbelievable to be so dirty ALL OF THE TIME! Dave the Cat snuck onto the second floor today and came down happily two hours later with black paws. Fine, except his paws are usually snow white.

Have you ever tried to wash a cat's paws when they are unwilling? It is like trying to shake hands with a slot machine over an extended period of time. That arm just keeps shooting back.

Continue for more of "Geez...Bees"

Recleaning

I am so tired of recleaning. We're on recleaning #4. Or #5. Something like that.

So instead I offer you the newest edition of What On Earth? You get to guess whether the items are random or related.

If you haven't been to pages 1-7 of "What On Earth?", by all means please help yourself to the link in the right-hand column of this page. Sorry about the ancient page design. We're waiting for the new, improved version of Blogger and we're just holding ourselves together (barely) in the meantime.

Just like everything else.

More cleaning. More unpacking.

More cleaning. More unpacking.

We even went back to my husband's parents' house today to try to undo the damage that 6 weeks, 2 transitional adults, a hairy cat and a hairy dog will do. And I learned something. My pets are ambitious. Their "shed ratio" increases with house size. In the old condo, the cat was content with one chair in the living room and a bench in the bedroom. In my husband's parents' house? The cat was a fat, fuzzy, gray "Goldilocks-wanna be". This chair is too big. This chair is too small. This one is too warm. This one is too cool. And around and around. We lint-brushed cat hair off of each chair in the entire house, I think. Enough to make a new cat. And it doesn't help that our cat has hair the consistency of cotton candy. Enough said.

We've gotten many requests for pictures of the creatures. Here they are:
Coco and Dave the Cat

We are squeezed onto the one (relatively) clean floor of the new house and still are unpacking. And yes, there is still more stuff in A's parents' garage and basement. Mostly books. Because we cannot find the fasteners that put the shelves on the 8 bookcases that we own. We put them in a "safe place" before we left the condo. Which means that they are at the bottom of one of many boxes.

Lastly, it is 85 to 90 degrees in Chicago this week. Which should be okay because we have two large window A/C units on this floor. When the owner was leaving, she (probably guiltily) took us aside and explained that they were "a little unreliable". We were puzzled. We had tried them out during the inspection--we knew they worked. But now we know better. As in the entire front of the house (2 A/C units, living room, sunroom, entry way, dining room, front half of basement) is on ONE circuit breaker. Oh. As in we can have one A/C unit on AND use the portable phone. But add a light or TV to that combination and we are plunged into a sweaty, dark nightmare. Have we told you that all of the windows on the first floor are painted, stained and (in the kitchen) GLUED shut?

We don't have any massive monthly assessments anymore though. And our washer and dryer are in the same building that we are in. Life is good.

Some days are more adventurous than others.

Some days are more adventurous than others.

The one thing I like more than anything about this project is the people. Our cool neighbors, the talented craftspeople we are discovering, hearing from people who read the website and have their own stories to tell, fellow bungalow owners.

I haven't been in touch with my bungalow pals as much as I'd like these past 2 weeks. We are cleaning like mad. Floors are scrubbed and rescrubbed. The insides of closets, walls, trim, everything covered with grime and dirt. Plus, garage living and newsprint have not been kind to our things, so they all need to be washed and freshened.

Discovery. For better or worse, this whole project is about discovery. And vision. Can we make these walls bend to our will? Turn back the clock? Sometimes others don't see what we see and even tell us, "Yuk. Glad it's not me." And that makes me sad. I wish I could show them what we see. The fully remodeled upstairs that keeps all of the trim and windows and floors and lovely nooks, but straightens out all that was muddled. The lovely living room that is rebuilt with the original fireplace, stained glass windows and bookcases. The really sunny kitchen with its bungalow touches of cleverness and efficiency.

It's at times like these, when no one else can see your vision, that you do realize that your husband is your best friend and confidant, your best grill chef and organizer.

p.s. I'd like it to rain now, please. We need the cooler air. And the plants in the backyard, especially the rosebush which has painted itself against the white clapboard wall of the tiny garage, are thirsty.

Zen & the Art of Kitchen Cleanliness

I washed the kitchen floor 2 and a half times today.

I had to.

The first time around, I was just making mud.

I cooked on the grill for the first time all by myself because it will be our kitchen for the next year.

Which should make Christmas dinner pretty lively.

peace. and good sleep to all.

We've added comments!!

We've added comments!! Now anyone can comment on an individual posting by clicking on the "Comments" link below each entry. We'd love to hear your thoughts or ideas, so comment away! :-)

The First Survivable Floor!

Let's take a trip back in time and then look at...

THE FIRST SURVIVABLE FLOOR

I can only do the front half tonight...tomorrow is second half. Then we're back to the stuff we've found and BOY! Has it gotten interesting! (Are you intrigued? Please be intrigued. It motivates us to keep going.)

Living Room BEFORE we bought

Yes, this is where the fireplace and built-in's were. They will be back someday.

Continue for more of "The First Survivable Floor!"

Is this progress?

I just posted pictures of the first floor, "Before We Bought" and "After We Move In". I thought, "Weee...we are making progress here! This is livable!"

And then I discovered the drawbacks of photography.

It looks a little bit better 2-D. But to really appreciate the amount of space we have and the progress we have ALL (A & I, his parents, my parents, our neighbors who helped) made...you need to SEE it 3D. And SMELL it. (No moldy, dust, yuckky smells.)

Right now, it's about the quality of a college apartment. But with a lot more potential.

And better furniture. And healthier food in the refridgerator. And no finals. You get the picture.

P.S. Hey! A big shout out to all of the grandparents in our families following along as well as the folks from the American Bungalow Magazine forum...peace!

More of the First Survivable Floor

Let's take a trip back in time and then look at...

THE FIRST SURVIVABLE FLOOR

The second half of the first floor. Tomorrow, it's BACK TO THE STUFF.

Bathroom & Bedrooms BEFORE we bought

Continue for more of "More of the First Survivable Floor"

Another Day, another BBQ & Home Depot Run

Back to the stuff...tonight's edition of "What on Earth" (Batch 14) is in honor of our American Bungalow forum pal, Kitschywoman. It's a quiz for all of you playing at home, with a few ringers thrown in. Do you know your kitsch? Are you sure? Here's your chance to throw that gauntlet down :)

It was a busy weekend with A's family in town for the ordination of A's mom (go D!). Some of the group were going to go downtown to see a few museums on Saturday. After touring our home on Saturday morning, they decided that was good enough and they were free to ride the EL around the Loop and visit the John Hancock tower instead! (No fooling.) Yes, we're officially competing with The Field and the Museum of Science & Industry now.

Continue for more of "Another Day, another BBQ & Home Depot Run"

Lawn Care & the Ego

A neighbor who was mowing his lawn waved at me today.

That made trimming the bushes and falling in that thorny rose hedge last weekend worth it.

There is something about cleaning up our yard that brings out the approval-hungry teenager in me. "Love our lawn? Aren't we good neighbors? Aren't I a good person? Do you liiiike mmeeeeeeee????????"

Marketing companies must chortle in glee over people like me, grab their phone and dial up the advertisting buyer for Home Depot. "No, really!!! One more $80,000 ad in this Sunday's ad circular and she is all yours!!! On a silver platter! I promise you, man..."

I am so transparent.

Coco Takes One for the Team

The dog and I are sharing a new experience...allergies.

I just get headaches. The dog has these "5 in a row" sneezing fits that are so fierce, she bangs her head on the floor during the blowback.

So now when I hear her start to wuffle, I throw my body between her chin and the floor. I've only managed to prevent a few "sneeze hits". Generally, she is so startled, she forgets about sneezing entirely.

I'll have more exciting things to post after a holiday weekend working on the house. I will be attempting to make (ta DA!) curtains. Temporary ones for the downstairs windows which currently have sheets on them.

Wish me luck. I'm going in.

A....CHOOO!

The Biggest Pile of Trash Ever!

Okay, so I cleaned out part of the basement today. One of the TWO toolbenches. W was a real "do-it-yourself" guy. I found a bunch of old tools, parts of things and a LOT of dirt and rust and broken glass and pieces of wood and string.

Life is not all eBay excitement here.

Continue for more of "The Biggest Pile of Trash Ever!"

A New Site!!

Welcome to our new digs! We decided that we were having a lot of fun with this and that we should get a proper set of tools and our very own web address! :-)

We hope you like the new look. It also has cool new features, like the category buttons along the right. Try 'em out!

It's a HOUSE! (A crazy house!) It's a WEBLOG! (Mom, that's an online diary...) It's a, um, HOUSEBLOG! A HOMEBLOG! A CHAOSBLOG? Chaosblog seems most appropriate for the moment.

PS - Thanks to AJ for the webhosting. If you're looking for a good service try him out at aefjdesigns.com.

It's us against the weather

This isn't living. It's survival.

How did vintage bungalow people do it?

I mean, sure. Their windows opened back then. But they had petticoats too.

Yesterday, the thermometer topped 93 degrees outdoors. I don't even want to think of it indoors. Meanwhile, for the hottest part of the day, we (2 humans, a cat and a dog) huddled against the A/C in the bedroom with the door closed and prowled around at night. Until we all fell asleep at 4 a.m. That's when we found out that contractors don't work when the rest of us do...they are tireless.

Continue for more of "It's us against the weather"

It's too darn hot

Continue for more of "It's too darn hot"

Waxing the Tub

I waxed my bathtub today.

Just for the record, I do not wax anything else in my life. Car, floor, legs...(I'm a razor grrl).

But when Tim says "Wax the tub every 5 days for the first 30 days", I become a Turtle Wax devotee. A slave to bungalow renovation.

I also caulked some fixtures and reassembled them. (Caulk is messy.) And realized, dispairingly, that before we tile the walls in the first floor bathroom, we're going to have to go into the wall behind the fixtures and fix whatever is lurking there first. I guess I feel better that we don't have to go through TILE to do that...because the tile is already gone. But we have LOOKED at replacement tile...3 x 6 subway tile...so proper for a bungalow.

The Bug Slayer

Before I moved into this house, I was a total wuss about anything with more than 6 legs.

I mean, there were things with six legs I wasn't keen on either. Like the Palmetto bug. These bugs have six legs but THEY ARE LARGER THAN MY SHOE, therefore making them part of the "HTK" (Harder to Kill) category and super scary. (Click to make photo larger...IF YOU DARE!!!)

My friend, K, is going to bust me on this one because I think that is actually a picture of a giant roach. But a palmetto bug LOOKS like a Giant ROACH to me. So. There.

Well, we don't have these. But! We do have icky SPIDERS:

Continue for more of "The Bug Slayer"

We're a hit!

Today our site was featured on the popular site boingboing.net! (You can see their description of our site here.)

As a result we saw a HUGE spike in traffic today!

Many thanks to Cory and boingboing.net! :-)

Random...it's all random

This entry is totally random. My life has become random.

Things I'm thinking about:

- I do not miss cable TV except that I can't get any news of the outside world. This may be because I ONLY get my news from one source...The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Because if we weren't laughing, we'd be crying. (But it REALLY bothers me that you have to get through ads to get to their site now...Jon, I love you. Now stop that.) Okay. Enough politics. Or big JW is going to jump in here and rant at me. :)

Continue for more of "Random...it's all random"

I am SO difficult.

So, we continue to sally forth.

Today we awoke to a sticky kind of heat...the kind of heat that makes you wish that you could just sprawl in a kiddie pool all day long. Whoa. We COULD get a kiddie pool. There is no condo board here!

A is sketching different tile strategies for the bathroom. TILE is HARD. Not floor tile so much...we're digging that American Olean has 1" hexagon tile and other neat patterns with backing so you can install them in sheets. (Cheating, I know.) But WALL TILE.

That's a whole different story.

If you have good wall tile, go thank it before you go to bed tonight. Say, "Nice tile, nice tile" and brush your fingers along its straight, geometrically perfect grout lines.

For fun with tile, go to this site. Can you believe that this is my brand of FUN these days? :) I used to go clubbing. Now, I play with tile software.

Continue for more of "I am SO difficult."

Smelly Encounter

"Adventures in homeownership"

We took the evening off.

After I got home from work and used my new CLEANER OF CHOICE (vinegar) on a couple of things (it really does work)...

...we went sailing for the first time this season. A's family has had a trim little sailboat in the family for three generations so we headed out for the evening on Lake Michigan with our pals, AJ and L.

So relaxing. When the water is calm, the breeze is steady and its dusk...it's like sitting in your living room with the coolest view of Chicago in the world. And...you're moving.

Ok. So. Anyway. When we got home, we took the dog for a stroll around the new 'hood...

Continue for more of "Smelly Encounter"

No good, very bad, horrible day

Last night I used vinegar successfully to take some funky stains off of some vintage Pyrex glassware, but then set off a huge cloud of acrid smoke in the basement when I turned on the mangle to try pressing some towels.

At 3 am.

So A and I had to drag that thing into the back yard (with it screeching and protesting and belching smoke the whole way--I am terribly sorry for our neighbors) so we didn't have to worry about it exploding before morning. I turned the hose on it a few times for good measure.

It was the sorriest sight to see over morning coffee.

The poor thing looks like it tried to crawl out to the garbage and died on the way there, next to the sidewalk.

This sleep deprivation thing is a huge bummer.

{waving hello madly...}

You know...this Internet thing is super fun.

I had no idea the interesting sites that I would find by looking at people who had looked at OUR site. This is one big Internet-fest. Sorry I sound so much like a geek but honestly, this blog thing is a pretty new phenomenon to me. Though I really miss the Table Talk crowd at MWT for Salon.com. :(

And to those of you who are tuning in to just our site (like my family), roam around a little bit. These folks, especially some of the livejournal crowd, are very good writers and FUN!

Our top ten linked sites (according to web stats) are:

1. BoingBoing - This is some very cool stuff served up piping hot daily.

2. American Bungalow Magazine - If you love the site, the zine will have you swooning. Plus, such a helpful house restoration crowd.

3. Old House - If you have an Old House, you need this site. Not to be confused with "This Old House".

4. Purejuice - She's a great writer, she's got soul, and she's got a kickin' site. Also voted Livejournal user we'd most like to have a margarita and conversation with.

Rest of top ten if you click the link...

Continue for more of "{waving hello madly...}"

Electricity and I--Not the best of pals

Today, after I got home from work, I put on a brave face and started to sort and tag. For the garage sale, that is. Man, but researching what things should cost is stressful. There is a LOT of stuff in here. And a lot of it is worth very, very little. Trust me on this. Old does not necessarily equal valuable.

A good thing and a not so good thing happened.

I did drag our BIG PRIZE SCORE from the dangers of the unventilated bathroom to the dry comfort of the storage room in the attic. This part of the attic has a cute little door and everything. Very sweet...

As is the TRUNK! (Our aforementioned big score...)

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Say whaaaa...??? (To paraphrase Jon Stewart)

So, we are at that place where we feel like we are losing momentum rather than gaining it. After the initial cleaning and before we've had time to begin anything major and drawn out. Before the hot and muggy weather is gone.

Luckily, a phone call to L in Boston has me laughing instead of blue. Not only do her sister and brother-in-law live in a gorgeously renovated Victorian in Northampton, but they have put themselves through this more than once! Is there a type of -mania, like "kleptomania", except with renovation? What IS that Latin word for "renovates endlessly putting themselves through torture repeatedly"?

She's says I'll be alright. That is the absolutely most yucky stage.

Well, that's good.

So, before we fall asleep at night, A and I read our little "Do It Yourself" picture books and gear up for the weekend. Here's a snippet of our conversation from last night:

A: Listen to this. Who writes the copy that goes with these pictures? (reading aloud) “…sometimes, though, you want to go beyond the basics and experience the real pleasure of bathing. The deep relaxation of hot water. The therapy of quiet immersion. The peaceful pleasure of bathing with family or friends…” (stops reading) Whaaaaa? (makes funny cartoon shaking head noise)

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What have we learned so far about old things?

You know, researching the history of historical and vintage items is so much more difficult than we thought, After many trips to the library, and bookstores, and MANY searches on the web, I still have the following questions:

1) Who is the pottery artist named "de Vegh?"

2) What is the story on the Gefle company in Sweden?

3) Who is Lewis Weil?

And many others. It's back to the books on this one.

The objects themselves are interesting, however, it's the story behind each one that I find fascinating. I spied this on a book list somewhere and thought it might explain my general fascination. Objects of Desire: The Lives of Antiques...

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Is this renovating? Or dating?

The cable person stood me up today.

I feel like I am dating again.

I thought A and I were safely tucked away within the bonds of matrimony and suddenly we've been thrust into the front lines of THE HOME REPAIR GAME because we have bought a fixer-upper. Waiting by the phone? Yes. Wondering if they'll like you enough to come back? Yes. Moping around until you hear from them? Yes.

I'm in high school all over again. I'm scanning the "Ask Norm" column in This Old House magazine as feverishly as I used to scan the "Dating Tips" column in Seventeen Magazine.

So, we did a lot of stuff ourselves this past weekend while pretending like we didn't care that the most POPULAR contractors were spending time with OTHER clients. Probably cheerleader clients.

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A peaceful place

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Our Own Personal Niagara Falls

Today was a very unusual day.

Coco had a yucky day. She ate something that didn't agree with her and didn't feel well.

She didn't feel well many times. On almost an hourly basis for about 5 hours. This kept us on our toes all day.

And it rained VERY hard today. And also hailed.

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Everyone needs a buddy break!

You know, when this whole process becomes too overwhelming, we are thankful for our friends. Because they make us laugh. And think hard about world issues. And help us through the rough spots. (But...at the end of this story is a surprise appearance by the EMPEROR of creepy crawlies...be careful when scrolling.)

Today, K came in from Law School in DC...we were SO HAPPY to see her! She and her sister, B, as well as friends L & A helped A & I to celebrate a mild Friday evening in the flowery backyard. And to break in the new (old) lawn furniture! (Okay, okay...I'm the one next to L on the seat...with the blue dress. A is taking the picture.)

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The Gang's All Here!

Sometimes, while you are reading this blog, you may be thinking, "Who is nutty enough about a type of ARCHITECTURE that they would put themselves through that renovation stuff?"

Well, we are. But we're not alone!

We have plenty of Bungalow Pals who get us through our ups and downs. Including many on the American Bungalow Magazine forum. People who love bungalows are more than a "group"...they are a movement! Much like the movement between 1910 and 1940 when most of the bungalows across the country were built. Bungalows may look little but they live LARGE, are esthetically pleasing, and have a lot of heart AND soul.

We have many Bungalow Pals who have blazed the "un-muddling" trail ahead of us...and lots of bungalows we admire. The folks on the AB Forum are a nice group whether you have a bungalow or just want to talk renovation and interior design (and furniture and paint and so on). Maybe you have a Georgian, a Colonial or other type of home...this group that will invite you in, shake your hand and settle you down on the porch with a glass of wine.

We can't list ALL of them here--there are so many! But here are few cool places to check out...make sure you click the links to review THEIR before and after photos.

Suzanne's Sweet Bungalow

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Looking for Mr. or Ms. Good Wrench

Coco and I went on a mission together in the car.

We were looking for....craftspeople.

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Just a Regular (Fair & Balanced) Day

Okay. Remember this guy?

Alright. So HE is how my day ended. Let's start from the top.

5:00 am

Wake up in a seated position on the couch with the laptop in your lap and an aching neck. Because you still have insomnia and are having a problem synching up the "sleep" software with the "laying down on a comfortable bed" software.

5:15 am

Find the Advil. Do a load of laundry and wash the dishes. Feed the dog and the cat because they both are hanging on to your ankles. Think long and hard about someday being a parent. Decide to just leave it up to Providence.

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Nothing Much

Some days we make more progress than others. Today was one of the others...

We did have a nice dinner with my parents and grandparents, though. It just didn't result in any progress in our estate-sale preparation or our home improvement quest. Oh well...

Ssssh. Don't scare him away...

(whispering)

Okay, cool. We may have found an electrician. A guy that digs plaster walls, has loads of experience and is very pleasant. We saw his work in progress on C & D's house and called him. He has the precision of a surgeon when it comes to plaster walls and ceilings. Until we are sure that we haven't scared him away, we will have to refer to him as

Mr. X

(cue organ music here!)

Continue for more of "Ssssh. Don't scare him away..."

Eventually, life finds YOU...through the internet

Okay, before I launch into our very fun experience yesterday, I just want to give you a small visual update.

THIS room used to be FULL to the BRIM with things. And now, most things on the second floor have been researched, tagged, photographed and put in their proper temporary storage place. Either for sale or for keeping. We worked on this floor today. (click to make things larger):

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Mom, do not read this. I'm serious.

Another scorching day. Another day spent by the A/C unit.

I didn't know whether I should write about this next topic or not. But, in the absence of further progress on the "de" construction (and at the insistance of my dear spouse), I shall now bring up a very VERY serious topic with all of you.

The matter of what to do with your wedding band during home improvement projects.

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What are you DOING here? It's a HOLIDAY!

Really. You need to take a break from looking at home, um, improvement. It's Labor Day. Meaning a day to celebrate by NOT laboring. A day to fire up the grill and invite some pals into your backyard so they can look in horror at the mess you've bought.

Like we are.

So, while we are out in the yard, we can offer up these sites that we find interesting, clever and amusing (and educational!) and that we aren't usually able to feature because they have NOTHING to do with our topic. Home De-construction.

Check them out. You'll enjoy yourself. And have a happy Labor Day. From all of us at Home in Progress.

Chaos Kitty: Simply elegant and funny.

Ze Frank: Still the master of creativity and having a good time on the Internet. And, he mentions his mom a lot in his blog...always good to give a little love to the mom.

Things that are broken make me want to fix them. (Except companies. I've gotten out of that now. Because, well, they don't want to be fixed.) Plus, Mark Good is a very nice down to earth guy who knows his stuff.

This American Life...the real one.

My life right now. Except I'm in one house and these guys are everywhere.

Chicago Uncommon. Some of the most beautiful photography to be found documenting a city I love.

___________________________________________

Ask my mom. She will tell you that I was born marching to the step of a different drummer. Which means that these following links will be of no surprise to her. But, if you just want to keep to the lighthearted portion of this holiday....do not cross this line, please.
____________________________________________

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What are you looking for?

We were enjoying ourselves thoroughly at our BLOCK PARTY tonight. :) Neighbors are cool. Plus, we are thoroughly convinced that we live on one of the coolest streets of neighbors in Chicago. They've been doing this block party thing for 20 years! There was live music and great food...it was much fun.

So, with little time before I head downstairs to rummage, I checked out our "stats" on the site, which I do occasionally. It's fun to see which countries access the site and so forth.

I'm always intrigued by what people are LOOKING FOR when they stumble across our site via an Internet search engine, like Google or Yahoo or MSN.

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Shh! Be Very Very Quiet...

...and no sudden moves.

Our favorite electrician out of the bunch we reviewed is BACK! We are so excited. More about Mr. X later.

It's all in the details.

Some days I am quite sure I know why we bought this house.

Other days, as I am vaccuuming yet more dirt from the floors, or brushing plaster dust from my clothing, or washing my 4th set of dishes that day, I think...

What did we SEE in this place?

Okay. Okay. It was the location (in A's old neighborhood near his parents and near our church). It was the neighbors...awesome. It was the "flow" of the house...very nice. And it was the details. They obviously blinded us to all else.

The built-in cabinets>...(click on a picture to make it larger)

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Never Ever Alone

If you double-click on this picture, you will get an impression of what it is like to grab a quick burger between tagging and cleaning in our house.

You are never, ever eating ALONE!

And, by the way? Since we published the search engine phrases that have led people astray and to OUR website, we've actually had a few funnier, some definitely puzzling, and more gross ones, like:

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A trip to the Restoration and Renovation Expo

Today we went to the Restoration & Renovation Expo at Chicago's Navy Pier.

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Happiness CAN be found in an Appliance

Well, not complete happiness forever and ever. But a little "whee, kicking up my heels" happiness for the moment. And that is nice.

Our very small dishwasher...She is working! And that is HUGE! Even though she is not. Huge that is :)

She joins the ranks of admirable appliances here at Chez Mess. Mr. Vacuum, Mr & Mrs Washer and Dryer and Mr. Electric Lawnmower.

A long time ago, I used to think that washing the dishes was soothing and pleasurable. Here, it is the battle of Sisyphus against grime and dirt.

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What do you want, Coco?

Would someone out in Readerland please read this dog's mind and tell us what she wants. Please? (click on the picture for the full effect)

Because we honestly DON'T KNOW.

Her nightly ritual at 9:45 pm has become *grrr, grrr* then BARK! BARK! BARK! then a series of meaningful looks that plead..."you KNOW what I want. C'mon. Give me what I want."

But we DON'T know. We know it's not "out". We know it's not "play". We know it's not "toy" or "cat". All attempts are met with only frustrated sighs and dog groans.

I guess I don't even need to say that this never happened in the old house.

As I type this, the cycle has been repeated twice and it is beginning again. From the top. With the *grrr's*.

WHAT DOES SHE WANT????!!!!!!

Dust you can write your name in

Today, we tried and tried to get the best of our "to do" list, but some days it IS hard.

The dust left in this house does not help. In the beginning, it got into everything...our hair, our clothes, our food. We clean and clean but it will take awhile...and that is BEFORE the work begins! It is dust you can write your name in.

I wasn't kidding! This is the top shelf of a bookcase we tipped over to carry down the stairs.

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Nooooooooooooooo!

Not a garbage strike! No, please, not that!

And, what will we...I mean, where will...what will we do with the LITTERBOX????

Come to think of it, the collectors probably should get more money based on our house alone. Sigh.

Sick. An Tired.

I am sick. I am also tired. Mostly this is due to the cold season coming on (I work near pre-schoolers and with folks in college.) I tend to pick up every "bug" imaginable.

How tired am I? Last night, I climbed into bed with my dinner (a stack of plain rice cakes) and my book. I don't remember anything until waking up this morning with the book on my stomach and a totally complete rice cake STICKING OUT OF MY MOUTH!

I hadn't moved all night. Even to chew. I was THAT tired. I must have breathed through my nose, which is a miracle.

Why neither pet took advatage of my plight shall always remain a mystery.

CUBS WIN!!!

Cubs Win!!!!

The last time the Cubs won a (postseason) Series is BEFORE THIS HOUSE WAS BUILT!

Which means that there will be a lot more of this happening around here for a little while.

Yeah. The last time there was no house. No TV. And that chair certainly wasn't around. Wow.

This is all a mind blower. Right, A? A? A?

Something tells me I'm on my own for researching and tagging for the next few weeks.

HouseKEEPING...in progress

How does one live in transition? Live in a house while work ON the house is ongoing?

You go a little nuts trying to keep up. Then you set your priorities and your expectations around everything else sinks very VERY low.

Then, you go into a frenzy about every 2 weeks crying out, "Please! No more dust!! NO MORE DUST!!!"

Because, every 2 days when you dust (no longer is it 1 week or 2), you have this:

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This might finally be a reality show we can relate to

I'm not a big fan of reality TV.

I don't consider it very "real". Even shows which are fun about home improvement are a little SURreal...where's the disagreement about door placement? Where are the 18 trips to Lowes or Home Depot or the local lumberyard?

And NO WAY can you do the amount of work they're doing in 60 minutes. With commercial breaks.

BUT! TBS and Lowe's have just announced a NEW reality TV show called "House Rules." If it shows just ONE real thing about a couple working on a house that is a mess (some quiet crying maybe? Or a trip to the Emergency Room?), I will consider this to be "the real deal".

If you are or were one of the couples who responded to this site, hats off to you, mates. You are brave souls.

Continue for more of "This might finally be a reality show we can relate to"

Early morning, thinking about remarks made about "treasure hunting"

It is 5:00 am and I cannot sleep again. There are many things weighing heavily on my heart and mind. I won't put them here.

I stepped outside of the back door this evening and found this little tree just blazing Fall glory with all of its might...the leaves actually seemed to crackle and burn with colour.

Fall is such an appropriate season for letting go...but it is difficult, because the colours call our attention to the beauty of everything that will soon be hidden.

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Which is MORE frightening?

Which is more frigthening? You decide...

The STEPFORD WIVES?

(A bunch of housewives in the 1970's become faceless, expressionless zombies, who are pleasant, malleable and ignorant. But WHO or WHAT is making them THAT WAY? Intrigue, gender power wars, the "perfect wife", robots, murder, strangeness.)

Or.....

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Sanity Retreat

This weekend we had a "mini-retreat" from the house. We spent a night at a Comfort Inn in Milwaukee (J had to fly out the next morning), and a hotel room never seemed more deluxe!

Working light fixtures, clean floors, no dust! Who would have thought that these "normal" comforts could seem like such a treat!? Actually, the best part was the jacuzzi tub we were upgraded to when our first room was by the elevator and too noisy. After a bath we were cleaner than we had been since June!

Coming back wasn't a downer. It was just nice to spend a night with the comforts that we'd grown so used to until we took on the challenge of the live-in renovation. I'm sure there will be more "sanity retreats" in our future...

Smells like...? A new game. Unfortunately.

So, we had a smelly basement and thought we had fixed it. We felt so clever. So superior. So...naive.

It's back. The SMELL IN THE BASEMENT!

Why I can smell things before A can or even when he cannot, I have no idea. Luckily, other people do. Otherwise, A would think that I was a complete nut.

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"I will not pick at the house...I will not..."

I can't help it. It's like...well...it's like playing with a thread that is unraveling from your sweater. Or scratching a mosquito bite.

You KNOW you're not supposed to do it. But, it FEELS so good. You know?

I get that way with this house. So much stuff peeling and flaking and tearing away and drooping around here. It's so HARD not to pick at it.

So, I'm on the phone and completely engrossed in the conversation and my eyes naturally drift to my kitchen floor. And to the obvious border that USED to be the outside wall of the house before they moved the back door 3-4 feet to the west.

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Happy Halloween Coco!

Coco and I took first shift of trick-or-treat duty since A was commuting from work.

She decided to go as the "Wolf who Ate Grandma in Little Red Riding Hood"

I told her it was a very scary costume. Good choice!

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Restoration with Love

As a couple, you don't get to spend a lot of romantic time staring into each other's eyes and being mushy when you have a lot of work to do on a house!

So, you have to get creative. So, maybe you're stripping the tile backing off of a wood floor one day. Your dear spouse is working in the basement or off to try to find tile under the tar in the bathroom.

So you proceed to strip the floor...around the carpet anyway. 89% of the thick black dust in this house can be traced back to this flaky floor.

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We love dads

What a weekend. It WAS work, work, work. But, oh so worth it.

A's dad was in town this weekend and so was mine! It was Dad heaven! Dad's are great for many reasons, one of which is that they offer help, advice and skills with home repair.

See TV Dads for more dads. Except our dads are married dads. Remember...always give props to the moms too.

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You know, I was just talking about web stats...

...to my pal, BFx. And since tonight's other posting, about electrical work, is not finished (and I'm actually tired before midnight...hurray!) then what better time to scan our more fun stats, "countries that are vising us" and "Most Popular Search phrases"?

Hmmmmm.....

Top of the list are the ones you'd expect...the United States, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Japan. They like the voyeurism of watching a young couple freak out about the house...

Not expected? So many visits from the US Government and Military, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, TOGO (!!) and Uruguay.

(Many pardons to the 20+ other countries not mentioned...we love you too!)

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Overwhelmed

This weekend we were overwhelmed. We worked on the house, got little sleep and volunteered to host an event gone awry in our future bedroom.

Twenty folks were originally going to take a hayride on Saturday night. It didn't work out. So we offered up the now empty second floor for an inpromtu "hayride substitute evening."

And now we know that 20 people can fit into our future bedroom. Not that we will EVER EVER need to know this once it is ACTUALLY a bedroom.

I'm really tired. And babbling. I'll stop here to prevent further embarrassment. Go about your web surfing as usual, everyone. Thanks.

Sleeping in Seattle

Surprise Norm! By now you know we weren't at home posting in our diary this weekend after all. We were celebrating your 80th birthday with you in Seattle!

And it was a lovely, grand affair. Besides the fact that J was able to meet many Seattle and Bellingham relatives she'd never met (whose warmth defies description)...A & J were also able to spend a little quality time with H in Bellingham in her beautiful home on Friday evening.

It was a weekend of clean, soft sheets and relaxing soaks in a bathtub...ahhhh! The decadence of a beautiful morning view while quietly sipping coffee.

The last night there, the big surprise was on us. We felt like we had won the LOTTERY!

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No more travel allowed

Dave the Cat makes his position on our 48 hour absence pretty clear.

No more travel unless we:

a) take him along, or
b) go without luggage.

Happy Thanksgiving!

NEWSFLASH! Young TAD LINCOLN saves the White House Turkey from executioner's clutches!

And meanwhile, bless these women. After I read their lists of how they prepare for Thanksgiving, I was thankful that I was not doing the same. Especially "vacuuming the ceiling".

Sleepless.

That's it. Sleepless tonight. Wide awake. And just waiting for the dog to stop snoring.

Last night we put up some nice Christmas lights. (You will have to click on pic to see them...kind of....real life looks prettier.)

They kind of take the attention away from the huge crack in the side of the sunroom. We'll be getting that footing repoured in the Spring.

And A lit the Christmas Candle his dad had brought back to us from Norway. It is a long white taper that counts out the 25 days. It burns brightly and slowly :) I suppose many Norwegian children silently pray for the wax to melt a little faster towards Day 21 or Day 22. All of us are able to push the buttons of our childhoods at this time of year and feel similiar things.

And if we need to make new memories, we make new ones to replace the old ones. Better ones. A and I are lucky....we remember very good ones.

Though I miss a tree so much this year. These is no time, nor space, nor energy. But I'm looking ahead to next year already. Nothing can stop me then! Real tree, smell of fir and pine, white lights....magical.

It's electric

I should actually have a "Don't Do It Yourself" category for this one.

So, after my "sleepless" post a few nights back, I was bored and decided to "fix" our floor lamp. It's a lamp I've had since I moved to Chicago in 1988 and I love it. It was last in our lovely old condo...clean, pretty, fixed old condo.

(You're going to want to double-click on ALL of the pictures to see them more closely.)

< Small, but CLEAN, old condo. Some days I really miss it.

The main cord with the plug had "rotted through" as A found out when he switched it on the other night and the frayed part went *SNAP! CRACKLE!* Not good.

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Finding a Vintage Medicine Cabinet

So we really wanted one of these for the first floor bathroom but can't bring ourselves to plunk down the $400+. We pondered trying to make our own...whether that would be the start of a fun new hobby or a huge disaster wasn't clear.

But then we went on eBay and immediately saw this!

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In which I do the best Godfather impression I've ever done

I am very thankful for email right now...very VERY thankful. Because I have lost my voice. Entirely. Gone. Due to a bad viral infection. (Though I'm sure inhaling 90 year old plaster dust and mold helped too :)

During the few times a day I can whisper something, I sound like someone from The Godfather:

(Theme from The Godfather plays softly in the background. Jeannie sits upright in the front parlor, a comforter tucked around her and her glasses on her forehead. Her eyes are closed. The phone is ringing but no one answers it. Aaron crouches down on one knee and touches her arm lightly to get her attention...)

Aaron: "Jeannie, what can I do for you?"

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Hmmm

Today the knob fell of the front screen door. We're trying not to take it personally. It just seems so much like a scene out of the The Money Pit.

Ugh.

Take THAT! And that's a warning for the rest of ya'

The knob on the old aluminum screen door in the front of the house wouldn't go back on. Hmmmph.

So we took the wicked thing right off the house. Hinges and all. (Hint: Click to make the photo larger.)

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Sometimes, it's hard being Coco

(Click on the images to make them larger)

I mean, really.

Leaving the warmth of the house when you have to "go out" isn't always appealing...

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We Stay True to Our Word

As if protesting the screen door's demise, two of the metal shelves in the basement collapsed. No collateral damage. But true to our word, out they went.

Are we being tested? It feels like a revolt is brewing in here. It is really difficult not to take this stuff personally.

Who is out there? Hallooooo?

We haven't had a lot of time to check the stats side of the site lately, but I have to say...

A majority of you are looking for solutions to a similar set of problems that we're experiencing with the house. In summary, these problems (so far in the month of December) seem to be:

Number 1 issue! Almost 300 of you were looking for help with your steam radiator and boiler within the last 16 days.

Number 2 issue! 200 of you were looking for information about tubs. Slipper. Clawfoot. Subfoot. Repair. Refinishing. Salvage. A real range of issues here.

Number 3 issue! 150 of you were looking for information on removing part of your structure that is LOAD BEARING. See my panicked notes below.

Number 4 issue! Fishing coaxial cable through the walls of the house. 100 of you in the last 16 days.

Number 5 issue! Smelly. Smelly. Basements. 40 of you in the last 16 days.

Well, at least we don't feel so alone :)

Here are some lessons we've learned about what you're looking for and a quick list of the more, um, unusual requests on the site.

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Between floors

Sometimes it is better NOT to know things.

Like, what your house looks like between floors. The first and second floor in this case.

I stuck the camera up as high as my arm could reach and took these pictures because I couldn't see up there myself. I didn't want to drag the stepladder up from downstairs.

I regret that now.

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Pieces of the house...Peace on Earth

Well, it's Christmas Eve.

And why look at pieces of the house? Like the living room ceiling?

When you could be looking at this.

Peace.

I had vanished into something better

Mood: Overwhelming sadness.

Nothing is as important in the world as the ones we have loved. Not this work. Not anything.

Patricia Liguori -- - Pat and her brother, Jim - The girls showing some leg -

I thought the earth remembered me,
she took me back so tenderly,
arranging her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds.

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Real Life

Well, I'm telling this story for a reason. Besides the fact that I think my Aunt Pat would have found it funny.

(Thank you all who have sent condolences and shared experiences of your own. You have truly comforted me and I appreciate it.)

Rule #1, 2, 3 and well, ALL in home renovation.

PLAN FOR THE UNEXPECTED. Or, maybe that should be "don't try to plan TOO much because things will go wrong and real life will intervene and the house is not always the top priority and sometimes the timing of these are when they are timed, for better or for worse."

Case in point: Early in the evening on Christmas, we receive the call that we were hoping to escape this Christmas at my sister's house in Pennsylvania. We needed to rally for a funeral and fast. Second one in less than four weeks for the family. We are in shock and in motion.

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Quick rewind and wrap up

We wanted to share the a few things before we plunge into the New Year...2004...with a fresh start.

We have had between 50,000-60,000 visits to this website since we launched it on July 4, 2003. That blows are our minds and we thank you. Who knew a little site put up to entertain our family and friends back East would connect us to so many cool people?

As thanks to those who have bought items from our Estate Sale and eBay (the funds from which go to keep this website going and towards the renovation), we are keeping a list of names and dates--and hometowns if we have them--that will be put into this bottle:

...and enclosed in the walls of the house. In decades to come, when someone else finds the bottle, they (hopefully) will be able to publish the list on the Internet and help descendants understand how their relatives contributed to the rebuilding of this modest little bungalow.

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Home Improvement Design Ideas

Many years ago, J started a scrapbook.

It was a collection of all her hopes and aspirations for the design of her future home.

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what a pair

This is how we spend our Saturday nights.

It's too exciting for words, isn't it? (Home improvement does nothing for your complexion or your eyebrows. As you will see here. But I know you all want a mask like mine, don't you? You know you do.)

The highs and the lows home improvement

It is 3:00 am. I cannot sleep. I stay up and read a book that I had chosen in an airport (where? Minneapolis?) when I was desperate for some distraction.

We had 1500+ books here when we moved in. With hundreds left, I had held back the most intriguing titles--this strange and unexpected out-of-print library--for "gobbling up" at night. I cannot resist these authors.

This current book is not from the library...it is called "An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan" by Jason Elliot. It is an amazing story which is playing a cruel game of catch with my emotions...first, this quote from St. Exupery:

On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur
L'essential est invisible par les yeux

(One sees truly only with the heart
The essential is hidden from the eye.)

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This bathroom floor is GONE

Bride-to-be, KJ, was visiting from Alaska for the holidays. So, of COURSE we put her to work!

She TAWANDA-ED* that floor! She's swinging that hammer so fast you can't even SEE it!

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No clumping

If it snows on the steps and sidewalk, and a "handy household hints" guide suggests sprinkling kitty litter on the snow to make everything less slippery...?

Do NOT use kitty litter that CLUMPS. Just use the regular kind. The stuff that is like sand. Better yet, use sand.

Or you will be cleaning shoes for the rest of the year.

Just a tip. That is all for now.

Dave's Back

I think "sauntered back" wouldn't begin to describe the chutzpah with which Dave wandered into the kitchen this morning.

This is after we:

- Scoured every closet, drawer and cabinet.
- Checked under every piece of furniture -- 3 times.
- Walked around the block in the cold calling his name forlornly -- 4 times
- Used the big flashlight to look in the walls and between the floors where we had openings
- Went to bed sad and frustrated, wondering how fast we could put up posters in the morning

We still have no idea WHERE he WAS. And he won't say. But he is WAY "over me" as I try to take a celebratory photo of him.

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Free money? Really?

It is amazing, with a weblog and email address that is so public, how many people PER DAY write from a foreign country to tell you that they have an uncollected inheritance that YOU can get a cut of if you just provide a little personal information. Like your SS#. Or your bank account numbers.

We are contacted by an average of 3-4 princes, princesses, businesspeople, damsels in distress, colonels, generals and such of said country per day. We could be ZILLIONAIRES!!!

Are ALL folks who maintain weblogs this lucky? Or is it just us? Wait! Another one just came in! Continue....

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Ugliest bathroom? OK, maybe not...

When we first bought our house, American Standard just happened to launch their "Ugliest Bathroom in America" contest.

For obvious reasons, we figured we'd have a fair shot.

How wrong we were! The winner was just declared and boy, it is U-G-L-Y, ugly!

Check it out: link

Sign us,

For once REALLY happy not to have won.

Let's Tour the Workshop!

Today was a heavy cleaning and tidying up day. That gave A a chance to spend some time downstairs organizing the workshop. With so much work ahead of us, we've really needed a good space for project work and to keep our growing collection of tools organized.

After many months, it's finally coming together:

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Showers are so beautiful

Taking a shower when restoring a house is a necessity AND a luxury. This is why, even though only the yucky one is working, we are thankful to have ONE.

We are SO CLOSE to a new bathroom overall (it's a matter of days now) and our current things KNOW this. THUS, they feel no need to hang on to this life.

Unfortunately.

I went upstairs to slip into a little "water paradise" when, um, the handle broke off. (Seems to be a theme now.)

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21st century Home Voyeurism

I was a kid who always liked to stroll sidewalks at night when I lived back East. And I'm an adult who cannot shake the same habit.

I am a 21st century home voyeur.

A few friends and I have shared the habit over the years. Lest we sound like social deviants, let me explain more clearly. I've NEVER been interested in seeing PEOPLE at home.

We NEVER WANTED to see people. In fact, that ruins the effect. Because the point is, of course, projecting yourself into these different habitats and trying them on for size in your imagination. Which house would "fit" you?

The best houses for viewing leave all of their lights on and you can just peek inside lighted windows and see kitchens, stairways, living rooms, ceiling lights...dreaming, assessing and thinking of what you might do differently.

**

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Gifted & Talented Neighbors

I really LOVE our neighbors.

No, really. REALLY!!

It's been snowing here almost every day for a week. K, our neighbor to our left, and I have begun walking in the morning to jumpstart the day. We head over to the campus or to the nature preserve (Yes, this is IN the city...Chicago is a city of trees). This is AFTER we have tried to beat each other out the door to shovel the other person's sidewalk.

It's become quite funny...who willl get to it first? Who will win? It is a strange feeling to suit up for the cold, grab your shovel, open the door and....

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You Snooze, You Lose?

When I was a little girl, my dad used to tell me, "You snooze, you lose." Meaning that if you didn't pay attention, you might miss something that you want.

Dave was snoozing and won. Disproving Dad's law.

The little weasel got my spot in bed!

We are cowards...COWARDS!!!

Why? WHY? Why did we get ourselves into THIS?

Honestly. There is so much dirt/dust and peeling paint and broken stuff that last week I froze in my tracks, horrified at the thought...

WE ARE PAYING GOOD MONEY TO LIVE LIKE THIS.

That's right. PAYING. No one is paying us. We are paying OTHER PEOPLE. Specifically, people from the bank and the city tax office and people who help with specialty repairs. Repairs that involve....oh....running water. Heat. Lights.

I feel like I am on the set of a really bad C.O.P.S. episode. Everyday. Except without the illegal drugs that the bad guys get.

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Search string house haiku

Some people see poetry in the search string phrases that people use to find the site. Though I have to admit..."smelly drains" does not inspire me to write poetry, usually.

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Preserving houses and marital bliss too.

Whole house restoration (deconstruction plus construction) creates a house full of DUST.

A houseful of DUST creates a houseful of ALLERGIES.

A houseful of ALLERGIES creates a snoring WIFE and DOG.

It was A's birthday today. I tried to find him the perfect gift.

Happy Birthday A :)

Earplugs. Preserving marital bliss along with old houses since...well...since they were invented probably. tm

Add Us to Your My Yahoo! (RSS Rocks!)

Today Yahoo added a cool new feature--you can now track other websites on My Yahoo! As Yahoo users who read lots of other blogs ourselves, this seems really cool.

Thanks to the magic of RSS (geek info here), this can make it easier to keep up on our 'progress' without having to remember to check the site for updates.

You can add us to your My Yahoo page simply by clicking here:

Vision Test

This is a simple test of your vision and the quality of your monitor...match the three pictures below with the correct label:
1. A white cow in a snowstorm.
2. The Beatles' White Album
3. Our first floor bathroom project

A	B	C

Reminder: You can click on each image for a close up if that helps. ;-)

2004 Chicago Bungalow Expo and Seminars

For you locals, we just noticed today that the Chicago Bungalow Association has posted their 2004 seminar series and a "save the date" notice for the 2004 Expo on May 1st.

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Slave to Bungalow Restoration

You'd think, being a homeowner and all, I would just get with it already and buy that spine that I've been dying to own. The one that would allow me to be firm yet fair.

When it comes to home improvement, I am a jellyfish. An amoeba. Spineless all the way.

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It's Mimi!

Completely off topic, one of our fellow (but more famous) Chicago "bloggers"--Mimi Smartypants--will be interviewed on Chicago's CBS Channel 2 news Thursday night.

Check her out! But only if you like smart, sharp humor as a topping for your sarcasm and irreverance. ;)

Coco on a birdseed bender

Sorry for the late post. Coco and I were up all night after her "birdseed bender."

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The Money Pit of My Life

Did you ever have one of those years in your life where you felt like ever dollar you have ever made was just slipping out of your hands?

Yes. Right. Well, this is one of those years for us.

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Giving Birth to a Blog and House...No Hat Trick Yet

My mom is a little disappointed. We talked on the phone last night.

You have to know that this is the woman who, upon first driving out to our bungalow from her house in Virginia, leapt out of the car and dragged the following item up the front steps:

(via Babyjogger.com)

Subtle? My mother? When it comes to cheering on her brood towards procreation, she is about as subtle as a brick dropped on one's head.

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Spring. It's here.

Today was a very sunny day. And more on the warm side. Which means only one thing...

IT'S TIME FOR SPRING CHORES!!!

And twice the amount of work we are usually doing. How do we know this? Because the book that my sister got us for Christmas says so.

Is she trying to tell us something? I think so.

Continue for more of "Spring. It's here."

Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

My artist friend Liz creates magnificent cards of her own design and sends them in beautifully decorated glassine paper envelopes. They always cheer me up. (Plus, her handwriting is amazing. It is art too!)

Years ago, she and I were having a bad day at work and she created a different kind of card highlighting the character from one of our favorite books, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" by Judith Viorst. So, it wasn't an original design, but it summed up how we felt about some folks who we wanted to send a card to on our terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

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Sorry we were down all morning.

Sorry about the site being down. It was a surprise to you and a surprise to us...thanks to A Johnson of AEFJ (our host) who quickly brought us back up again and didn't even bat an eye. He is truly a wonder and we thank him profusely.

We might as well confess that we think the jump in traffic occurred because the April edition of Chicago Magazine hit the newstands this week. And we're in there...somewhere...about people who maintain weblogs in Chicago.

There are very nicely illustrated pixel people that depict A and I...either pixels really improve your looks or the illustrator has earned my undying admiration for giving me the, er, figure I always wanted but never had.

(This is NOT the illustration :) This is courtesy of This Old Toy)

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Renewal and hope

Hope looks like the first crocus.

Sounds like the whistle of the mailman coming up the walk.
Smells like new paint and clean laundry.
Feels like a new season gliding in behind the old one.

Just another soggy Sunday

Spring is here and April showers are a little early. Which is fine with me. Because I enjoy warm rain in the spring. It is squishy and clear and drippy and clean.

I was stripping the built-in cabinet and listening to the house in the quiet when I heard a *plonk, plonk, plonk* I mean, *drip drip drip*...this is a sound I know. But plonk? It was like hitting one note on a xylophone...or a....

pipe?

Continue for more of "Just another soggy Sunday"

Argh.

Sorry. Short entry today. Work, work, work and the car was broken into. (They didn't steal anything, but we have to replace that window.)

We did find this interesting site from the City of Chicago that shows the latest crimes committed in each neighborhood as well as information on Community Policing.

More at 11.

(Well, not really.)

"Arrange Whatever Pieces Come Your Way."

Continue for more of ""Arrange Whatever Pieces Come Your Way.""

A clean, sunny window

I need to stop thinking so much. I WANT to stop thinking so much. I tend to imagine the worst possible scenario and then push way beyond that.

I'm one of those people who ride in the passenger seat of life, furiously pumping an imaginary brake with her foot or making little gasping noises when an 18-wheeler comes too close.

Via Lizart

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Advantages of home renovation

Having hit the lowest point in my online diary regarding the home renovation (it can only go up when you're down), I also have a burning need to figure out the benefits of our situation...slanting floors and all.

And it's tax week, too.

#1 Change. We don't feel at ALL guilty creating massive chaos to get the house to be exactly how we want it. It is ALREADY so bad, we have unlimited choices on how to fix it.

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A night off....wheeeeeee!

Last night, we snuck out of the house like two guilty, gleeful kids. Went to have dinner at a local Japanese restaurant with some new pals and laughed until I inhaled my drink. (Bad idea...breathing liquid. Good idea? Dinner out with achingly funny, whip-smart kind people.)

Of course, we got lost in our OWN NEIGHBORHOOD on the way to the restaurant. An important indicator of how we need to get out a wee bit more.

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Spring Maintenance

Each time the season changes, we have to learn how to maintain the house...which is quite different than restoring it. Maintaining is done year after year. It is the necessary investment in time that you make to protect your financial investment in the house.

Sunday, we worked on the exterior...weeding, patching gutters, inspecting the roof, taking off the storm windows and putting up the screens (hooray!) We also hauled a lot of stuff out of here for disposal.

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Faithful Companion

We love our dog, Coco. She's not the "brightest bulb on the tree" but she is such a good, good dog.

Yesterday, she was POSITIVE that she heard Aaron coming home from work. So, I let her hang out on the front porch to greet him while I did some work in the front room.

And there she waited. Patiently. For 45 minutes.

THAT is devotion. A little early, perhaps, but devotion nonetheless.

You Know You Live in a Fixer-Upper When...

...on Saturday mornings, contractors working in the neighborhood ring your doorbell just because "I'm working down the street and noticed that your place could use a little work."

Sigh.

Hitting the Bottle

Tonight, after a work filled weekend (we'll fill you in later), we took a few hours off to go "a little crazy"...out for some posh Vietnamese cuisine (yum!) and then on to some highbrow entertainment.

Via StLukesPR.org

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So many adventures, only 3 hours

From 7:00 am to 10:00 am today, we have had a plethora of adventures.

(What a good word...plethora. Say it out loud. Sounds good, doesn't it?)

7:00 am We pulled M's old dining room rug outside to finally air it out and beat the dust out of it. Meanwhile, we found a few large water damage spots underneath it (sigh).

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Things I Learned from My Web Stats

You know, the statistics from this web site are pretty interesting to us. Many folks find their way here via a home improvement topic or maybe a phrase that exists in our "What on Earth?" section.

And some search engine phrases...well...we don't know how they connect to us.

But we learn a lot from them.

For instance, a searcher recently typed in "how fast does a spider run?" and it directed them to our web page. Because we HAVE discussed spiders, but have not answered this specific question, I became curious. How fast DOES a spider run...on your bedroom ceiling...at 2:00 am?

Luckily, this site had a clue. It tells us that a spider can run 330 times its length in 10 seconds. That is too fast to make me comfortable. That means a one inch long spider can sprint from 27.5 feet ACROSS THE ROOM to ABOVE MY HEAD in 10 seconds. If I don't see it before it sees me, that is.

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We're Moving! (to Another Room)

Today we prepared for the next wave of attack on the house by moving our things to the other first floor bedroom.

This will allow us to remove the ceiling from the first bedroom. It's in pretty bad shape, so it was coming down eventually, and at this point we'll need to get in there to sister the joists below the master bathroom upstairs.

So, in a way it was "moving day" almost exactly one year after we moved out of our condo! Aside from the new bedroom being slightly smaller, the biggest change is probably just the scenery...

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You Know You Live in a Fixer-Upper When...

...you know that a "Code 3" at Lowe's means they need more cashiers.

Contractors! Contractors! Contractors!

They seem to come in bunches! We'd been working on our own for a while now, when all of the sudden we've had three in a week. Last Monday it was attic insulation removal and decontamination, Thursday it was an estimate on the chimney repair, and today it was another estimate--air conditioning.

The nice thing about the A/C one is the more direct benefit we'd get from it, versus the repair-related work. The down side is that we're going to end up taking night shift jobs to pay for this all.

While sympathetic, the A/C guy seemed cool (pun intended) to my suggestion that they consider doing it for free as a tax-deductible act of charity.

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"Not much. You?"

We've been behind in posting this week because very little "Progress" is taking place. E is in town and is our guest for a few nights as his brother graduates from seminary this Saturday.

Regular life intervenes sometimes...

p.s. Rev Michael Louis Pflager and Rev. Dr. F. Burton Nelson received the honorary doctorates at the ceremony. Sometimes the good guys, who stand up for social justice and REAL compassion, do get recognized...

Where is my local hardware store?

After having one of our tools break the other day, I realized that big-box retail has really changed shopping. There's something to be said for the local hardware store that knows your name or the Sears store with their walk-in lifetime exchange guarantee. (They do still do that, don't they?)

For some reason, one of their commercials really sticks in my head from when I was a kid. A guy walks into Sears with a broken hammer (or was it a crescent wrench?) that he's had forever. He apologizes for not having a receipt, but the salesman says, "That isn't a problem." He walks over to exchange the tool for him. That was it. People in commercials sure were nice back then.

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Lathe Makes Good Firewood

House Call...of a Different Kind

We are very, very lucky to live in a neighborhood where our friendly vet ONLY makes housecalls.

Less overhead...easy on everyone.

So Dr. Jim came this weekend and Coco was a very brave patient as she had some growths removed from her sleek brown head, her nose and her ear (she was starting to scratch them...that's when we decided to call him in.) He had only expected to give her a heartworm shot...right there in the dining room...but quickly and easily performed a little surgery with antiseptic, needle, local anesthetic, sutures and Nurses JM and Aaron attending.

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What Women Want

Do women want diamonds and pearls? And silk dresses? Or furs?

(Double-click on any of the above to take a closer look...they are from a copy of Harper's Bazaar)

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Restore America (with lots of cash)

HGTV continues to churn out 30-minute programs as quickly as they make home improvements look like they'll take. (And that is SO WRONG!) The latest show we've been Tivo-ing is Restore America, a show focused on historic and vintage properties.

Better than average, the show still suffers from the two shortcomings common to nearly all such shows:

- It looks too easy.
- Someone won the lottery.

That said, the episode we just saw was kind of cool, featuring three restored properties that included one California bungalow.

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Working Weekends

What? Doesn't everyone have creeping black mold in their computer room forcing them to work like this?

I have a deadline. To finish this media project before it kills me.

"This Old, Stuffed House"

OK, so another funny milestone along this strange journey. Yesterday the story of our house adventures was on our local public radio station, Chicago Public Radio, on the local show 848 and during All Things Considered.

This Old, Stuffed House
Lisa Labuz ? Correspondent, Chicago Public Radio News
We hear the story of a Chicago couple that bought their first home...and got a whole lot more than they bargained for.

You can listen to the story in their online archives if you have Real Media Player. Click here. Or click on the June 7th broadcast and scroll down to that segment....or search for "stuffed house" on the Internet.

PS - Yes, we're fans and members of public radio. You should be too, even if you live outside of Chicago their programming is worth an online listen! Join here.

Congratulations Kjerstin & Joe!

Aaron's sister is married! Congrats Kj & Joe!

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Am I Obsessed? Mmmm...yes.

I am realizing that our digital camera is revealing more than just the interior of our house...it is exposing how my mind works.

And that is really frightening to me.

Everyone ELSE was fascinated by Alaska's majestic beauty as seen from the lovely town of Seward at the edge of Resurrection Bay, surrounded by gorgeous mountains and icefields.

I was worried that the little guy on the sign wasn't running fast enough to escape a watery death.

Continue for more of "Am I Obsessed? Mmmm...yes."

More on Home Improvement Shows

So, we flew back from Alaska on United and their June issue of Hemispheres magazine featured an interview with Norm Abrams from This Old House. Hemispheres is actually a great magazine, so not surprisingly the interview was well done. It focused on the legacy of the venerable home improvement show (now in its 25th year), the status of home restoration in America, and even how This Old House has gone rather high-end in recent years.

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What's Happening?!?

We are researching ways to restore the brick for the chimney and side walls, as well as equipment for (maybe) installing central air.

And not kill our budget.

And work outside of the house at our real jobs has been pretty crazy.

But in an interesting development, it is the thousand legger time of year again for all you fans out there. Here's the lovely speciman we found in the bathtub.

Restoring Homes, Restoring Communities

Two great community-focused ideas came across my reading list over the past week that seemed to have great potential:

• Hyperlocal Citizens' Media - This short piece focused on a project up at Northwestern University (our old neighborhood) to create an online community: GoSkokie.
  
• Tool Lending Libraries - A movement to provide tools like books, allowing anyone with a library card to check out, say, a jackhammer for up to three days. Neat!

While both great, couldn't these be even better together? I think a local website that focused on a neighorhood and facilitated the sharing of information and resources could be incredibly powerful. Existing libraries or community centers could even act as a hub for this type of thing as an extension of their existing services.

It would take a pretty tech-savvy neighborhood to work, but you never know...I was impressed to read recently how a a neighborhood listserv was used to share community news over on the Little White Bungalow weblog.

what you set your heart upon

I haven't written much on the blog in the last few weeks. It isn't that I have run out of things to say about the house and the work on it (oh no!) But my body seems to be working against me these days, which makes posting a bit harder.

Even though I live in Chicago, sometimes my body goes to bed in Apia, Samoa (4 am CST). If I get to bed on time, it wakes up in Praia, Cape Verde. (3 am CST)

Map courtesy of Holt, Rhinehart and Winston

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Hungry for Conversation

Often in the middle of an attack of insomnia, I will turn to Coco as my sounding board. I register complaints, fears and dreams about this house project with her.

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It's a JUNGLE out there!

But this year, it is not a JUNGLE in HERE...thank goodness.

We had a raccoon family living in our attic. This family has decided to live in the grape arbor a few doors down. Easy pickins' eh?

Click the picture to get a closer look. It's like playing Where's Waldo?

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It is war.

I know. I know. They can be helpful. They kill other bugs.

But the bathroom is mine, darn it. I'm defending it with my life (and a great big old flyswatter.)

They have the basement, the attic, the crawlspaces, one of the first floor bedrooms, the second floor and garage. I want to have the little part of the house that we are camping out in. (About 600-700 square feet).

(Yes, he is 2.5 inches long...plus some probably.)

Continue for more of "It is war."

Fourth of July

We worked and worked. Right through the holiday. Next couple of entries we'll let you know how it went.

Right now, I'm just going to share some snaps of the debris after dinner in the backyard.

Mark (Aaron's dad) snuck up on us with some Black Cats :)

Continue for more of "Fourth of July"

The Most Important Tool...

It has been amazing to discover the most important side benefit of all to keeping track of our Home Renovation Adventure!tm in photos and a daily diary.

Most Important Side Benefit

Keeping your sense of humor.

*I think Home Renovation Adventure! sounds better than Home Renovation Nightmare!, don't you? Much more positive. It's all about "spin," you know?

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Every other store? Hardware store.

I was searching for something on the 'Net tonight, stumbled across this photo, and it made me laugh.

(Original image courtesy of Ozaukee County, Wisconsin.)

Continue for more of "Every other store? Hardware store."

internet Access Problems

sorry for the lack of posts...our DSL has been down the last few days. It is easy to forget how s l o w dial-up is!

Anyway, SBC is sending a tech specialist out tomorrow so hopefully we be postng again regularly soon.

Murphy's Laws of Broken Things

Is there a law that Murphy proposed that maps the relationship of things that break occuring at points in linear time?

Because, if there is, it would probably read something like this:

"One major appliance or vehicle breaking down and needing major attention that requires payment for repairs will inspire a Mechanical Item Revolt whereby ALL mechanical items will be affected."

Therefore, the lawn mower decided to join two cars, the DSL, the washing machine, the sewer line, the grill and the oven in the Great Mechanical Item Revolt, Summer of 2004.

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Telling Entirely Too Much

This entry will not have a photo.

Living in chaos (walls down...stuff everywhere) it is common for us to run around in the morning trying to escape from the house for work, errands, appointments. This involves climbing over, around, down and through things. Quickly. The dog is trying to follow you and panting. The phone is ringing. The cat is meowing. You look for your glasses and often find them on your head. Well, I do anyway.

So it shouldn't be a complete surprise that after flying through the house, fishing around for keys, loading things in the car, dropping things off, popping in at my mother-in-law's office, looking for change for the meter, whipping through Target and taking the car in for its air test that I would be distracted.

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Insomnia Games with Coco

Shhh! Aaron's sleeping and so is Dave the cat. I thought Coco was too, but she is trying to get my attention. She's led me here...

...to the refridgerator.

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Coco, what are you waiting for?

Coco is waiting. Watching. WANTING. Something.

"What is it, girl? Is it air conditioning? You want some air conditioning?"

I think that's it. August in Chicago. We could all use some right now.

p.s. Coco's giving a shout out to Cincy pal, Scout!

Scout is at the ready to relieve Coco on A/C Watch. 'Cause dogs hang together like that, y'know?

Trading Spaces - Behind the Scenes

Apparently, the crew of Trading Spaces descended upon the Chicago suburb of Glen Ellyn last week. The article confirms what you'd expect--the work became a neighborhood spectacle and there were two contractors behind the scenes for every person on camera. It sounds like the speed of everything makes for a hazardous work environment, too...

"Pastor...shot herself with a nail gun Wednesday night and had to be taken to the hospital, according to neighbors."

Ouch!

Ugh.

Today, I want to run away from home. Well. Maybe not "from home." From "this house."

No particular reason, except that I feel burnt out on broken house/car/body. All the party people renovation people in the house, give me a "Yeh! Yehhhhhh!"

I woke up late this morning, which meant that I woke Aaron up with a shout from the kitchen, "How much do you love me?"

Everyone who is married will recognize this for the unfair and manipulative question that it is. For him, I'm sure it was like being woken up at some twisted marriage bootcamp.

"Very much, ma'am! Reporting for duty, ma'am!"

Continue for more of "Ugh."

Low tonight? 50 degrees F

Yeah....we love AUGUST in Chicago.

What is up with this weather? Pollution blotting out the sun? Global warming? Or a REALLY big bird? Your guess is as good as mine.

(Sorry, I HAVE to include this because it is one of the most unfortunate logos EVER...

Continue for more of "Low tonight? 50 degrees F"

Killer house

We think that this house is trying to break us.

We are trying not to take it personally.

Now that MY back is better, Aaron has thrown out HIS back. And, at 6'7", he has a MUCH larger back to throw out.

Before & After...The Armstrongs

(subtitle: A very real renovation story)

We don't know if Heather and Jon live in a bungalow. And that isn't the point anyway.

Heather's account of their kitchen renovation in her 8th month of pregnancy is so poignant, so hilarious, so...so...full of Chuck goodness that it is worth passing along.

I cannot say anything more. Click here for The Armstrong Kitchen Remodeling Disaster

p.s. I was catching up with The Rage Diaries this morning (August 17th) when I saw that they had ALSO linked to the Armstrong story....and....to our blog in the same entry. Whoa. Can someone say synchronicity"? (Jung, not Sting) No? You can't? How about "strange coincidence"? That should be easier....

Code Blue! Calling all old house people!

Would the cheerleading squad please report to the House in Progress? Any fellow Old House people in the house?

'Cause we have an old house motivation emergency!

Hi, JM:

I am a frequent poster and reader of your site and I am in serious need of motivation lately. I was looking on the internet and the forums, newsgroups etc. about WHAT exactly motivates us Old House people?

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Wood Prices Increase - Ack!

So my dad and I went to Lowes today to pick up a replacement attic fan and a few other things J and I needed. We also went to the lumber section, since my parents need to replace some rotting planks in their deck. He needed cedar but we also walked by the standard pine 2x4s where I stopped and noticed...wood prices have gone through the roof!

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Pup Dreams

I am a better person as a result of owning a dog.

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This is so awful.

This story is so awful. I can't even imagine. I'm speechless.

80-Year-Old Farmhouse Accidentally Razed

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Fallin' for ya

Whoa. What happened?

When did Fall start? DID Fall start? Where was I?

Gone, man. Gone.

We decided to hoof it out of town for Labor Day to visit my parents and one of my sisters. We felt somewhat guilty, yet also defiant, sneaking out of the house and heading towards relaxation. No "to do" lists. No schedules. It was bliss.

We were hoping the whole house did not crumble in our absence. It did not. Dave the Cat opted to stay home in the arms of Caitie, our compassionate neighbor, whom he adores.

My family is camera shy. So here we are sitting around playing cards, drinking wine and trading barbs with each other. We also started to talk politics...a topic you should never discuss with your family. Oh well.

My mom:

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Home Depot Grand Opening

Home Depot has been building a new store north of us, and today was their grand opening. I'm trying to ignore the fact that they managed to build an entire store before we could finish our upstairs renovation.

I was going to take a walk through the new store but when I drove by there was a line of more than 100 people outside! At first I wondered if there was some first-day discount, but then I noticed lots of kids so I figured one of the Chicago Cubs or Bears was signing autographs. I had a trunk full of groceries so I decided not to wait and headed home.

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Maybe it's a Chicago obsession

Hewn and Hammered turned me on to sixosix. It's where I found this graphic novella by Nell Taylor that I could easily relate to.

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Not my fault! Really!

Although I was grouchy earlier in the week, this isn't my fault!!! Honest!!!

Tropical Storm Jeanne

I have a feeling that my sisters will have something to say about this.

Long Nights

Jay's been over the last few nights installing the skylights.

He should finish up tomorrow. We'll post the photos then.

Good morning, glory.

Aaron did an admirable job of holding down (and proceeding with!) the fort this weekend while I snuck away for some spiritual renewal.

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Old House Blues

Sorry for the scarcity of actual "work moving forward" photos.

We are really, REALLY tired. I look especially bad when I am tired. Here I am from last night. I put on my "thinking cap" to try to come with some rejuvenating ideas.

Nothing. I've got nothing. Even my cap was too tired.

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Raincheck

ohmigosh, it is almost midnight and I am just getting home from work. On a Friday.

Please forgive me if I just zone out and have nothing, absolutely nothing, original to say.

It is eversokind of you to keep dropping by when we have been so lame. Here...um...read some interesting House Stories. These are fun.

Here are some more things to keep you busy that you'll enjoy...

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Estate Sale

No, not ours :( We still have no room!

A friend of ours is moving to a smaller apartment after decades in her flawlessly maintained Chicago-style bungalow. She is selling the contents of her house.

I cannot go because we are still trying to deal with the contents that we inherited! But she is a VSP** who will no doubt have a lovely, organized sale of vintage household items.

5236 N. Bernard Avenue
8:00 am to 3:00 pm
Friday, October 1st

**Very special person

"Who are you? Do you live here too?"

Everyone has some kind of horror story about a couple breaking up because of a house renovation.

Which would really be quite awful. I mean, wow, like who would get custody of the miter saw? And how could Aaron live without my awful hat?

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CONTEST: Worst house story ever

About a week and a half ago, we asked people to send in their worst house stories when we posted this picture of Derek's "Mother of all Mouse Nests"...

Now it's time to VOTE FOR YOUR CANDIDATES!!!

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Rolling Right into Stressville, USA

This was supposed to be a different post than the one that follows. But this is what really happened during the course of my day. So it goes...

1) Get home from sleep study at 5:30 am. This sounds like an oxymoron. Is it really a sleep study...if you have to get up so early?

2) Left new book, America the Book: A Guide to Democracy Inaction, at the hospital. Feel frustrated with my increasing absentmindedness.

3) Dave the Cat is angry with me for being gone overnight.

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Winner of the Worst House Project Contest

You know, when you take on house renovation, you tend to hear a LOT of horror stories. I think my "skin crawling moment" happened when I read about Heather and David's episode with the mites this past summer.

And ALL of the stories have been uniquely horrifying moments that any home owner could look back upon and hope (HOPE!) to be able to laugh at one day.

The voters for HIP's contest have spoken. Although all of the entries received votes, a winner clearly emerged by midnight on Friday.

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The Ugly Truth About Change Orders?

Dave--a good friend, fellow bungalow owner, and architect--forwarded on an ad for a book he came across. It was so disturbing I had to post it here...

Increase your effectiveness in requesting change orders, while simplifying your work and boosting your change order approval rate.

I can't believe a book like this exists! Wait--yes I can.

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The Dark Side of House Restoration

I am so out of the closet about my lifelong relationship with depression that it has become very old news.

But if you are wondering why I have started, but not completed or posted umpteen (that IS a number, right?) entries on the house lately, blame my biochemistry.

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Smack Down at Home Depot

I was in Home Depot recently where I started out simply looking for a old storm window "push out" hinge and ended up in a tradin' smack talk episode with an HD employee in Aisle 8 who was trying to convince me that I was a fool for not replacing my wood windows with aluminum clad.

(Thanks, Tony, for the link about HD)

You'd think, since I am 38 and he was looking down the far side of 50-something, that both of us would be above the, "Oh yeah? Well, let me tell YOU something..." rhetoric from fourth grade.

We were not, I am sorry to report.

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Broken Dryer, I Challenge Thee!

In the middle of doing laundry last night, our 1993 Kenmore Heavy Duty dryer turned on me...it actually growled and opened its maw and spit out the words...

NO. MORE. TOWELS!

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Autumn. Life.

Most days it seems imperative that I get all of the storm windows fixed as soon as possible. That every hour needs to be about getting it all done.

And then...there are moments like this.

Watching the World Go By. Literally.

Tonight, Aaron came home while I was cleaning the bathtub and coaxed me upstairs to the roof...to watch the lunar eclipse.

Leaning back against the peak of our bungalow roof, we felt pretty calm and peaceful. It helped that our bungalow roof is the classic low pitched roof.

(Image courtesy of the DiscoveryChannel.com because my camera couldn't capture this.)

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It's.....Fell.

By the little tree in my backyard, I can see that it is no longer Fall.

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Happy Samhain to ye

This weekend has been a tougher one than usual..med complications had laid me low on the one night in weeks (last night) where we planned to have some fun and enchantment with pals.

Instead, I spent the evening shivering in my bed with a cup of cammomile tea, classical music being piped into my headphones and praying for the release of sleep. My best prayer I learned from Anne Lamott. It is quite easy. It goes like this: "Please, please, please, please..."

No whining, though! Especially since the party came to me tonight. :)

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Everything Looks Grey Today

All of a sudden, everything looks grey to me, like those grainy photographs from Dorothea Lange:

(Image courtesy of Susan Gallagher's Media Studies Program at UMass and the Library of Congress)

You may not want to read on. This is one of the few entries not about the house...but about a different kind of improvement.

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You Know You Live in a Fixer-Upper When...

...you find yourself giving a house tour to friends, and you REALLY see things you hadn't really noticed in awhile THROUGH THEIR EYES. You realize that you are comfortable living with things that others find quite strange looking.

Here's the paneling that we removed when we were assessing the condition of the original fireplace. Six months ago. Somehow, we have become comfortable with this wrecked wall behind the piano.

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Portrait of a Hunger So Deep

Coco and I actually pulled it together and got some things done today. So, we went to the drive-thru Starbucks to celebrate with a rare treat.

Here, Coco is thinking, "You know, I bet they sell cookies in there."

Lincoln Park Pirates

Back when I used to hang out at the Old Town School of Folk Music, I learned a song called the Lincoln Park Pirates.

It is about tow truck drivers in Chicago.

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AARON is NOT SICK today.

Today, Aaron came home with the sniffles and a slight fever. Which never happens because Aaron NEVER EVER GETS SICK.

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The Parents are Coming! The Parents are Coming!

Okay, true TRUE confession time. When I was a teenager, I could not WAIT to get away from my parents. But now that I am an adult with a large dirty, broken house; and I seem to be hungry and cold all the time?

I WANT MY MOM! I WANT MY DAD!

Are they not hot? Yes. Yes, they are hot. They are SO MUCH MORE hot than the poor guy in the link.

There is an extra bonus photo below of my dad without the moustache.

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Happy (Snowy) Thanksgiving!

We awoke this morning to the beauty of Chicago's first snow fall...

We have a lot to be thankful for (sometimes, it's good to remind yourself of that in the middle of a house renovation.) Like...

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Thanksgiving Turkey, Lessons in Poultry Intimacy

The holiday recipes on my mom's side of the family are taken so seriously, they are successfully used as blackmail over future generations.

You think I am kidding about this? I am not. I am almost certain that my mother is withholding an ingredient from the list for the traditional gravy recipe so that she will always have that bargaining chip until the end. I fully expect my sisters and I, decades from now, to be gathered around her bed with our index cards in hand as my mother gives her final lesson.

"Remember! (cough) Flour, NOT corn starch. Your Nanny insisted on this. And the last ingredient is...is..."

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Mom was Here

I went to grab a towel from the linen closet and....whoa! What's this?

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The House-pochondriac

Yes, you read that correctly.

Aaron has a new name for me. The House-pochondriac. He's says that this is a bit like a HYPO-chondriac, only different.

Just because I tend to wake him at 1:00 a.m. with:

- Is that the dishwasher? Ohmigosh. Why has it been running for FIVE HOURS?

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In my dreams

You know, insomnia is SO PRODUCTIVE. Inspired by the Clark Creek House's advice to use Photoshop instead of dusting to "reframe" my reality, I went into action to transform the front of the house.

I used Photoshop late (LATE) one night to experiment with how our house might look with a new paint job and new landscaping. Not our best choices, but I was working fast and tired. This "paint your own reality thing"? It really has promise!

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Old Home for the Holidays

I've been looking through all of these theme albums and there are NONE that apply to us. None.

There ARE no albums for Old House owners trying to fix things up. So, you know what?

WE ARE GOING TO CREATE ONE TOGETHER for the holidays!!!

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We Always Remember Our First One

When my parents came out for the holidays, they brought some photos with them.

They had driven through the little town where we had rented a house on a farm when I was in the first and second grade (St. Marys, Ohio). This was my first old house. It sparked my love of old houses.

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Old House (Lover's) Music

You sent in your ideas and, from those, we created the ultimate old house lover's collection!!! We tried to cover a variety of artists and styles so that you could tailor your own favorites from this list.

We ended up with over 130 songs from the submissions on this site, Fine Homebuilding's Breaktime Forum and our own research. They were so much fun to put together, I didn't think publishing a list was quite enough. So, we published our very own iMix Playlist in iTunes...

Click to launch iTunes and the "Old House Music" playlist

Note: You'll have to have iTunes installed to use this link. Don't worry--it's free!

iTunes will let you listen to 30-second samples of each song in the iMix, then buy the songs you like if you want them. Or you can dig them out of your own record collection! (This allowed us to share the fun without running afoul of copyright issues.)

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The Summer of '05

Yesterday, in the comments section, I professed my true feelings for the community of folks who are working on old houses...

If you didn't catch it...

I love you and you guys rock my soul to the ground.

I was feeling grumpy and very Scroogish. Insomnia has been kicking me in the head and I have been averaging 3-4 hours of sleep per night (whoo! hoo!) since last Thursday.

And then everyone wrote such nice things that I felt very ashamed of my hand wringing behavior and felt all warm and fuzzy and...well. Let's just say it was like cuddlin' with my cat, Dave...but without the hairballs and Little Friskies breath.

I think we need to have our own national festival or something.

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Laundry Chute Love

Aaron is the calm, brave action-oriented spouse.

I tend to be the frantic researcher who seesaws between introversion and extroversion, joy and despair, black and white, night and day...I think you get the picture.

I will be intrigued by something...a laundry chute, for instance. And I will research laundry chutes, examine other laundry chutes, take measurements, calculate the mass a wadded up bedsheet will create in a laundry chute.

Aaron will simply cut a hole in the floor and get it going.

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Coco Angel

Okay, sorry for the double post, but Coco wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

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Happy Holidays Everyone

After a year and a HALF (wow), we are taking our first vacation from posting on the site. With all of the activity and the relatives and the making merry, we thought, "Hmmm. We are dolts if we don't try to get some of that!" So, we are.

Please PLEASE PLEASE come back by the Monday AFTER Christmas for some more HouseInProgress.

What's coming up before New Year's Day? PLENTY!

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We're back after a short break.

Oh, man. Time off from chores. The best pre-Christmas gift ever.

(Thanks to the illustrator from Chicago Magazine who drew this graphic. They cleaned us up nicely. And made me feel a little like Laura Croft. In reality, everything is not in such good shape, if you catch my drift.)

Brrrr.

Hmmm. The AirGuide Company tells me it is 30 degrees outside and 58 degrees inside.

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The 12 Months of an OLD HOUSE Christmas

Here at HouseInProgress--home to the strange and whackaloon--we offer you this little musical number composed during an afternoon of breathing more rubber cement fumes than can be good for you. We give you...

The Twelve MONTHS of an OLD HOUSE Christmas
aka "The Priority Song"

(Sung to the tune of "Twelve Days of Christmas")

January

For the 1st MONTH AFTER Christmas, while sweeping up debris,
I sighed, "...We really should take down that Christmas tree."

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New Year's Resolutions

Personally, I'm not a fan of resolutions. Just beginning the New Year with yet ANOTHER list of things to do or not do seems rather daunting right now.

However.

Coco and Dave made their lists so I thought I would post them here. So, you know, they would feel supported and all. (Lisa? Have Angus & Larry made their lists yet?)

Dave's 2005 Resolutions

1. To get more exercise. Or at least try to move my body from place to place for more than my current 20 minutes a day.

2. To not tease the dog by lying in front of her food dish.

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Square Peg, Round Hole

WHOO HOOO!

This bathtub...(secondhand purchase, the real vintage deal)...

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Survivor: CHICAGO BUNGALOW

The trick to Survivor Bungalow is to OUTLAST your funds, your energy level and your desire to chuck the whole thing.

I am, of course, being overly dramatic. :)

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Too Long in the Map Room

We have been sleeping in the "map room" for much too long now.

With no heat. Waking up with grit on our front teeth from all of the renovation flotsam and jetsam that hangs in the air. Climbing over boxes and belongings to get to the bed.

And I'm starting to see things in the maps on the wall before I turn off the light at night.

I stare at this map, wishing for sleep.

(Click on the photo. It will get larger.)

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I love lumberyards

As a little girl, I used to go with my dad to the community lumberyard in SW Pennsylvania.

I loved it.

I loved the smell of wood. I loved hardware and doors and windows and trim. I loved the enormous cavern of a room where the wood was stacked.

So, when Aaron asked me to go on an errand with him this morning to Lee Lumber, I jumped at the chance.

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Trying to Stay Focused...

OK, Jeannie's really tired so I'm on deck for today's entry. Trouble is, as much as I try to focus on home improvement stuff like this...

...my mind keeps wandering to cool toys like this...

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The Winter Kitchen

With the snow and cold this weekend, our regular kitchen facility is a little...um...chilly.

So, we adapt. Working on an old house requires you to be very adaptable. Especially if you are living in it while working on it.

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You Know You Live in a Fixer-Upper When...

...you feel guilt for any seven-day period when you don't work on your house...even if you've been working on the house non-stop for months.

Just as a tip...if this makes you feel guilty then definitely DON'T start a blog where you write daily about your progress. Then you feel REALLY guilty when you don't work on the house.

Sigh.

Old House Passions

Old house lovers are very passionate people :)

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Sisyphus II

Gack.

Only one entrance in and out of the second floor and it is straight through the dining room and living room...or the dining room and the kitchen.

Someday. Grit free. 48 hours.

p.s. Yes, that is actually a hole in my clog. It's one of three. New clogs as soon as I have somewhere clean to keep them.

Bored While Sick: Counting Dust Bunnies

Being sick is totally, TOTALLY boring. That is, after all of the pudding is gone. (Don't worry. I'm not terminal or contagious. I think.)

Anyhoo. Being bored AND sick AND having access to a computer, I decided to let my brain jump the tracks today and present you with abode-related linky goodness not entirely having to do with our own House In Progress. I decided to comb the internet for fun house-related stuff around the internet neighborhood.

Don't worry. We'll return to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.

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Dave's Big Chance

Last week, some guys helping to deliver some materials forgot to shut the front door behind themselves.

Three hours later (!) when this was discovered, you can see:

a) where the mailperson neatly stacked the mail inside of the doorway.

b) we are heating the city of Chicago.

c) Dave's wistful look as he discovers the open door the same time that I do. If he hadn't been napping, the world could have been his oyster. Or cat toy. Or...whatever.

Poor Dave. Poor Dave.

Well Good Morning Greenland!!!!

It's raining here this morning. We're gearing up to head down to the basement (gack!)

And then, we had a super cool visitor!

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48 Hours of "Aaron is So Cool"

Valentine's Day + Aaron's Birthday = Whoo hoo! Celebration! Busy-ness

So....surprise Valentine's dinner on the still to be finished second floor...

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A Little Project We're Working On

Today we have something new to share. It's a little project we've been working on in our spare time (when it's too cold to go to the 2nd floor) that we've decided to share with all of you!

If you're a fan of home improvement like us, you've noticed that a lot more house-related weblogs have been cropping up. Keeping track of all these 'house blogs'--and even finding the newest ones--is a challenge.

So after talking about it for a while, J had a bit of a brainstorm...

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Heads Up...Keepin' It Real

I've avoided writing about this because I'm just not comfortable with the concept of it happening. However, in the interests of "keeping it real", it's important to me that we record exactly what is going on at HouseInProgress. I've been laying low for a number of weeks (and will continue to be) in my quest to straighten out some health issues that are related to one another and complex and not at all very fun.

So, heads up 'cause my mom from Virginia is coming for awhile to help hold down the fort. (w00t! Go Mom! Chicken soup for everybody!)

My younger sisters and I excel at making inappropriate jokes in the face of adversity... especially if that adversity is our own. I can't share these jokes...you just have to trust me here. Trust me that you would be horrified at my lack of respect for the authority of adversity. If Miss-Fortune was a mean teacher at an all-girl's boarding school, my sisters and I would be constantly in trouble for wearing purple glitter fingernail polish (not part of the uniform dress code!) and sneaking smokes behind the gym.

Not that we ever, EVER did that in real life. Ever. Actually. Ahem.

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Us, Self-Conscious!?

You'd think that two people who broadcast their trial-and-error home improvement stories over the Internet for thousands of people to read would have pretty thick skin. Of course, you'd be wrong.

Bring just one contractor into our house and suddenly I'm tripping over myself apologizing for past mistakes. Bring a whole crew in and it's enough to send me into hiding.

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Down But Not Out

Mom and I are keeping busy knitting while Aaron's been taking care of things. (What a hunk he is!)

I knitted a scarf! It's for my niece. And then crocheted some flowers for it. (Knitting help courtesy of my sensei, Hilary, from Crafty Librarian...Hi Hilary! Crochet help from my mom.)

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It's Academic

Hey, we're a part of a middle school Social Studies assignment! (Scroll down to 'Resources' and 'Family Stories About Bungalows.')

Because we both have worked in education, we think that this is really fun...

Clean Dog. Sad Dog.

Being a dog is 90% fun. And 10% bathtime.

(Yep. We've got towels on the bottom of the tub to protect the refinished surface.)

Needing Inspiration...

We're at another one of those moments...working on the house can be a rollercoaster of "How cool is this! We're creating our own space out of this old house!" and "Again? We have to work again this weekend? Sigh."

That's when we really have to grope around for inspiration. To recharge our batteries. To refuel our passion for all of this.

To do this, we might have to head up to our old stomping grounds (Evanston, Illinois AND Northwestern University) soon...to the Block Museum!

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Radiator Humidifier

This winter it has been especially dry in the house. Static electricity...dry skin...the works. The cat looks perpetually electrocuted. Fur sticking straight out in all directions.

And a I have constantly stuffy nose. *Sniff!*

Before I went out to look at humidifiers, I decided to try an old-fashioned remedy. I went down to the basement and came back up with some of these. I scrubbed them out as best I could with vinegar and water, and then attached them to the radiators.

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HouseBlogs Neighborhood Emerges from Beta

Whew! Aaron was rocking and rolling this weekend! He got the new design of HouseBlogs.net up!

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SUN! Oh yes....

Yesterday, winter seemed to be dragging on FOREVER. Grey skies day after day after day. February and March have the same affect on me as it has on gardenias...

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You Know You Live in a Fixer-Upper When...

...you start to calculate small projects (like new light fixtures) in terms of the number of Starbucks trips you could skip to offset the cost.

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Home Improvement Party Conversations

So, I was at a work-related party last week. As is always the case, conversation eventually drifted to our fixer-upper (people always ask "Still doing that website?") and then to home improvement in general (my attempt to shift the focus from what can always be a very long story).

Often I can trump others with at least one of the wacky stories from our own place, but this time I was pleasantly surprised that the most outrageous story of the group came from someone else!

So, I figured I should share it here on their behalf...

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Home Improvement Karma

Well, today was full of good signs--on the same day that Lee Lumber call to say our new front door had arrived, the My Yahoo!/Lowes home improvement "Tip of the Day" is installing an interior door.

Is this all made even more bizarre by the fact that NPR did a piece on synchronicity while I was driving home Monday from work! A sign that good things are headed our way!? You decide...

Happy Easter Weekend

For those who celebrate it, have a happy Easter weekend!

(found via Wooster Collective)

We interrupt this house in progress...

...to bring you the Final Four.

Dave is bored since we are otherwise occupied. Back to work tomorrow though.

Spring-ing up in the Garden

Oh please, please, please. Don't let this be a tease. Please tell me that Spring is REALLY here and we aren't going to be socked with an April snowstorm.

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Can You Keep a Secret?

It's Jeannie's birthday today. But don't tell anyone, because she doesn't like to make a big deal about it.

What's she getting for her birthday this year? What everybody working on a fixer-upper needs--breakfast in bed and no work on the house today! ;-)

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A garden surprise

What a nice birthday...thanks all. From breakfast in bed, to time spent with friends, to the day off from housework :) A very sweet day.

When good friends Kurt & Jenna came for brunch (at Tre Kronor, of course), they left this surprise in the garden...

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yes. yes, it IS Spring.

Now I know that it is Spring for sure.

Because the city workers have emerged from hibernation. It's like seeing the first robin of Spring, but driving a blue truck and wearing a yellow safety vest. Ah, the tree pruners.

So I have written a special poem. With apologies to Joyce Kilmer.

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Foolproof Contractor Search

Mike from Yet Another D*mn Blog has one of the best tips EVER for finding local contractors and such.

It's also one of the funniest to someone like me who, even though technology advances in leaps and bounds, can't always let go of her Luddite ways.

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You Know You Live in a Fixer-Upper When...

...you feel bad on a Sunday that you didn't accomplish enough during the weekend, even though you put in over eight hours on projects.

Overly ambitious expectations are a dangerous thing.

The Neighborhood

Coco and I took a break on this beautiful day to hike down to the local grocery. When I experience days like this in Chicago (temperature in the 60's, sunny, blue sky), I remember why I love to live here and why I put up with February.

We live in such an interesting and ethically diverse neighborhood. I love the countryside, but I would really miss the tiny ethnic restaurants that line Kedzie Avenue.

Especially when you can feast on half of a roast chicken with fresh garlic sauce for $3.50!!! Take THAT, you fast food restaurants!

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Sticker Shock

My pal Lisa and I are both in the market for a combination storm/screen door.

It would be nice to have a wood storm door, but many places we checked into don't have a great reputation for the sturdiness of the work. So we contacted a local contractor for a quote. Nothing overly fancy. No fancy moulding. No carvings or special details. But sturdy. Something that won't fall apart in a year.

And then we got the quote. Lisa got hers first and called me immediately.

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Raise a Glass to Those Who HouseBlog!

Last night, Aaron and I headed over to Hopleaf in Andersonville for a special houseblogs occasion...

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Where are the HouseBloggers?

In honor of last night, I wanted to post a map of the HouseBlogger Members...you can check it out on the front page of HouseBlogs.net today!

Oh...such a cute house for sale

My sister and her family are moving! They are selling their cute little house north of Pittsburgh.

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The "Out of Commission" Kitchen

Our kitchen is currently back online and working, thank goodness, but I was thinking of our old "out of commission kitchen" while making dinner last night.

Even though our kitchen is working, sometimes it is difficult to make dinner after we're messy from working all day or too tired to slice and dice. I always fall back on my "out of commission kitchen recipes" when this happens.

Before we sunk all of our savings into "the house", Aaron and I spent three weeks backpacking through mainland China...from the southwest to the northeast. And, most days, we ate "hot pot"...often in a house or back alley stall. There we learned to appreciate the simplicity of one dish meals.

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Recap: 2005 Chicago Bungalow Expo

Yesterday, we attended the 2005 Chicago Bungalow Exposition. We hadn't gone since 2003 and it certainly had grown!

The first year for the expo was 2003. There were more vendors in 2005, but there was also much more space. In 2003, I remember crawling through crowds to each vendor table in a space barely larger than our living room. This year they'd reserved about five times the space and it certainly helped.

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Truly Obsessed

I have officially crossed the line into the realm of the house obsessed.

Last night I was reading an old clothing catalog before tossing it away (in a fit of decluttering). I realized halfway through that I was no longer paying attention to the models or the clothing.

I was very interested in what was BEHIND the models and the clothes. So instead of seeing a page that looks like this...

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The Lilac Bush That Ate Chicago

It is as fragrant as it is scary looking.

Condo Memories

I stayed up late last night and was sorting through some old photos of our condo in Evanston. It is hard to remember what it was like to live in a space that was relatively easy to keep clean, where you could invite friends with children and not worry about stray nails or plaster dust.

But we did live in a clean space once upon a time...

Really. We really did.

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Sharpening Tools?

Does anyone out there know of a particularly good product/method for sharpening hand tools?

It's been years since my tools have gotten such a workout! And a sharp tool is an efficient tool. I was using one of the block planes for scribing trim and realized that many tools in here are WAY overdue to be sharpened.

A Simple Plan

File this one under lessons learned. After two years, almost all of my clothes seem to have a DIY-related hole, stain or smudge of paint on them. (We'll ignore the cat hair for the purpose of this discussion.)

My way of handling this? Continue on my merry way and just get frustrated each time it happens. I continue to absent-mindedly wear these clothes to work, which you can only explain away for a while ("You see, we bought this really old house full of stuff...")

Jeannie, being much smarter of course, finally sits me down and makes me do two simple things...

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Cruel Decluttering Irony

Pointed out to me recently...the irony in decluttering the basement and attic while continuing to keep stacks of...

Real Simple Magazine.

With Many Apologies to William Carlos Williams

With many apologies to William Carlos Williams...

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A Day of Rest

Feeling a bit of DIYer-fatigue combined with blogger-fatigue, we're taking a one day posting vacation (and going to see Star Wars tonight, too!).

If your looking for good house reading, you can always check out everyone elses musings over at HouseBlogs.net! Since this is the week of the National Hardware Show down in Vegas, the HouseBlogs site has lots of posts on the fun gadgets being introduced at the show.

See you tomorrow!

I am the BIGGEST DIY GEEK EVER!

Here I was, after 11 pm last night, when everyone else was asleep...

What was I reading while trying to get to sleep? A romance novel? A mystery>

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Two Long Years

Saturday marked the two year anniversary of our purchase of this house. Like the first year, we didn't accomplish as much as we would have hoped. Reviewing our first year anniversary write-up, we hit about half of what we said we hoped to do in year two. Yeah, that sounds about right...

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Can She Do It? Yes She Can!

How to quickly confuse the guys at the big box hardware stores?

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I Confess

I vaguely recall discussions in which I questioned the "costly" investment in central air when we had so many other improvements to get done.

I take it all back...

Another Week, Another Anniversary

Didn't we just celebrate one of these? Oh yeah, that was a different type of anniversary...

Yesterday marked the fourth year of our marriage. We went to a favorite tapas place to celebrate. We went because had a gift certificate, which was thrifty but which also made us feel older and less hip for some reason...?

The funniest moment was probably when I told J how I felt so lucky about all the things that had happened in my life since meeting her...and she could only think of this. She thought I was crazy.

Call me nuts, but I'd do it all again...

It Runs in the Family

I trooped downstairs this afternoon to snap this photo of Aaron working on a few pieces of trim that he needs for the second floor...

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Meme me up, Scotty!

ChrisC of A Fisherman's House fame sent us a fun set of interview questions as part of meme that is circulating around the blogosphere. (You can read the answers to her meme questions as part of her other blog, A Pretty How Town.) So, I jotted down my answers and then asked Aaron for his input. You'll be able to tell from the text here which one of us is the chatty one and which one is the strong, silent type. ChrisC would make an excellent journaliste.

1) What has been the most challenging aspect of renovating this place for you as a couple? What about you individually?

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You Know You Live in a Fixer-Upper When...

...you start to think that your odds are probably pretty good at winning that $5,000 gift card if you'd just gather up all your receipts and go online to do that Home Depot's customer satisfaction survey.

Evening Reading

We did get some good work done on the bathroom trim this evening (almost there!) but we didn't take any photos. We should have an update tomorrow, though, so check back in 24 hours if you like.

In the meantime, if you're looking for good home improvement reading check out what other people were up to, as summarized in This Week in Houseblogging...

HouseBlogs in the Wall Street Journal

Um, wow! We just got an email letting us know that a bunch of houseblogs are in today's edition of the Wall Street Journal. So, I darted out at lunch and snapped up a few copies from a local bookstore.

And, what do you know? There is an article! (You can read it online by subscribing to the WSJ Online.)

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Pins on the HouseBlogs Google Map

or, LOCATION! LOCATION! LOCATION!

Just wanting to remind all HouseBloggers to check their position on the new map over at the HouseBlogs.net site.

Aaron didn't have coordinates for everyone and didn't want to locate someone hundreds of miles away from their house by accident. (Though Chicago Two-Flat accidentally moved to Seattle for the weekend...welcome back guys!) And some we are still researching coordinates for.

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A Modest Proposal (for Housebloggers)

We got a lot more comments on Tuesday's post than I expected. There are obviously lots of great techniques and lessons learned out there for refinishing heavily painted woodwork. So it got me thinking....

I'm wondering if it's possible for other housebloggers out there to write up summaries on your techniques for stripping & refinishing trip. Whether your doing it now or it's been a while, a step-by-step "how to" recap is what I'm thinking of. Which tools? What chemicals? Tricks or lessons learned? Mistakes to avoid? A simple write-up would do, but the more photos the better.

I'll post my own more detailed write up this weekend, so more to come shortly. As for others folks out there, I'd love to see your approach. If we get enough I could see creating a mini-index of them over on houseblogs to help us and others learn from first-hand experiences.

Anyway, just a thought...

Overheard...

...while Aaron was talking to a co-worker about our house...

"Well, it's more SPECTACLE than SPECTACULAR, actually...."

The Fallon Project

This is just an extra entry to direct you to the story about The Fallon Project on the front page of HouseBlogs.net today. If it doesn't move you, you can't be moved with the biggest backhoe ever.

To see the project for yourself, you can visit the Fallon Project site directly.

Wow

OK, so we're out of the house tonight and staying at my parents house tonight because OUR HOUSE TOTALLY STINKS! The fumes from the stain are too strong!

I didn't even get to see the stain myself, because it was still drying when I got home.

Jeanne was there during the day, though, and says it looks really good.

We'll see if we can get a few quick pics tomorrow so we can share how it's shaping up...

What I Learned Today

• The shop we'd taken some of our threshold trim to in order to have it stripped forgot to do it this week, so we'll be going back next weekend.
• The Hines Lumber where I usually buy 4-1/4" base closes at Noon.
• The Menards doesn't carry 4-1/4" base.
• The Crafty Beaver is where I should go from now on to buy 4-1/4" base.
• City traffic is very slow mid-day on a Saturday.

Eclectic Weekend

Finishing any large project always involves finishing a hodge-podge of random, tiny tasks. Since there's no connection between those tasks, each one takes a ton of time.

Finishing an entire floor extends that process tenfold, I think.

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Houseblogs Around the World

We don't know precisely what the site has to say (Japanese-English translation sites leave something to be desired), but Taka tipped us off today that we've arrived in Japan.

We'll definitely go on the record as saying that it would be fun to see someone start a houseblog in Japan... :-)

You Know You Live in a Fixer-Upper When...

...you seem to get more flyers from contractors on your front steps than all your neighbors.

While we're at it, the flyer we got today said 'mention this ad and get 30% off!' 30% off!!?? And that would be off of the 130% starting price, I presume...

Doggy ADA

This weekend we took on a special project beyond the normal fix-up stuff around the house.

With Coco continuing to get older (she's now 14!) she's been struggling more and more with the back stairs. This is actually part of why we moved to this house from our condo, too, since that was three full flights of stairs. Even so, the short flight in the back yard is rather steep, so we had to to something to help her out (short of carrying her up and down, of course).

So, now our back yard is equipped with a ramp that even the ADA could love...

Actually, it's a bit too steep for wheelchair use (18-ish degrees) but it suits four-legged folks just fine.

Action shots after the jump...

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100 Houseblogs...Really?

Well, today houseblogs.net passed 100 members. After a modest launch six months ago, the number of new members has really picked up in the last eight weeks or so. It's now an amazing and diverse collection of DIYers, each with their own unique and fascinating story.

So, if you haven't already you should take a wander through the member list. You might lose an hour or two, but I bet you'll be entertained...and maybe learn something, too! ;-)

A Fun Distraction

Someone needs to come up with a term for being "off the blog" for an extended period of time. Maybe some sort of official name for it will make it seem more ok and address the blogger's guilt of not keeping up with one's writing...

Anyway, we haven't had much to share on the house. What we do have is fun, though. We went up to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin yesterday for a fund raiser that turned out to be at a beautifully restored mansion.

We were lucky that we brought our camera and we snuck away from the crowds to snap some fun shots here and there.

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Busiest. Week. Ever.

Well that was no fun. Both J and I have been just run ragged over the last week. We've each had packed days at our respective jobs, come home late every night, and gone to bed exhausted. Wake up the next day...repeat steps 1 through 3.

All that said, we were obviously looking forward to a Saturday morning with nothing to do but sleep in...

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Yesterday we were wondering...

...if any of the other housebloggers had good advice about shellac. For that matter, what are the best techniques for stripping wood?

Wouldn't it be nice if there was an easy way to actually search all the houseblogs to research questions like these? Good news: now you can.

Hopefully this can also help folks that occasionally write to us with questions. Is anyone blogging about fixing up a Colonial? How about a log cabin? Anyone in to retro appliances?

Good questions, now with easier answers. ;-)

House of Good Fortune

So, we escaped from the house and work and obligations last night to indulge in some good Chinese food downtown.

And this is what came in my fortune cookie:

"You will have no problems in your home..."

Oh, please, please, please, please let this one be true forever!!!

Or maybe not. I wouldn't have this blog if it weren't for problems.

A few people have asked me about this blog and what inspires me to write. When things fall off of your house on a daily basis, it's not difficult to feel inspired. Frustration is a healthy motivator.

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I Struggle to Imagine

Even with a house in significant disrepair, tonight we have an overall appreciation for how blessed we are to even have a home as many people impacted by Hurricane Katrina now don't.

For a touch of what the tragedy means to real people, check out the latest update from fellow houseblogger That Old House, who live in New Orleans.

Our hearts and prayers are with them.

Labor Day Block Party, 2005

While yesterday was another productive one (we've got a ceiling fan in the master bedroom now), the most important thing we did was relax at the neighborhood's annual block party. The first families were out as early as 7:30am to fire up their smoker grill, but with our long to-do list we didn't pull our grill around front until after sundown.

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Sick

Well, I caught a cold that cropped up early Saturday morning. While I feel embarassed about slowing down on house work for something so small, Jeannie keeps saying something about not operating power tools when taking medication.

We did get in a short field trip as part of breakfast Saturday--we visited a few more Chicago neighborhoods known for their historic bungalows. We'll try to post the photos in the next day or so.

Well, I'm going to bed. Aside from the power tools thing, Jeannie also claims sleep is supposed to help. Who thinks up this stuff...?

Painful but Necessary

With the finishing touches wrapping up in the master bedroom, our minds have turned to moving in. (Hooray!) We're even optimistic that we can start moving some things upstairs as early as this Sunday if we can get enough of the trim installed.

Unfortunately, this brings us to our latest dilemma...the small door and narrow stairway up to the second floor.

I'll bet you can guess where this is headed...

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A Milestone!

As planned, our new mattress arrived yesterday and sure enough--it fit up the stairs! And so after one year and four months of work, last night we actually slept upstairs in our master bedroom!

It probably seems silly, but I really think we can't believe this milestone has finally come.

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The Truth About Committing to a Fixer Upper

Friday night our plans fell through so we ended up around the house with no set plans. We ended up gravitating upstairs (not surprising, as it is now the cleanest place in the house) and just watching planes pass over the skylights. It was something I was eager for ever since we were first designing the room two years ago.

We ended up reflecting a lot about the past two years. It was an interesting discussion about the real implications of doing this renovation ourselves, so I thought I'd write about it here.

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Brrrrrrr. (UPDATED)

Today I'm unexpectedly working from home because one of our radiators started leaking last night.

It was one of the first times we'd started up the heat this fall, and the problem arose from the radiator we'd disconnected while we worked on the master bedroom. After trying a few things myself to repair it, this morning we decided to call in the pros...

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Hi There!

Thanks to StuccoHouse, we found out today that we're mentioned briefly in the latest issue of the Twin Cities Bungalow Club newsletter. Cool! Welcome to anyone who might have arrived here via that article...we haven't seen a copy yet but hope to.

For any new visitors (or anybody who cares, for that matter), we haven't posted in a few days but fear not..work continues. I've got a full six coats of spar varnish on the front door now, so it should be ready to go shortly. I'll post pictures tomorrow...

The Devil...and Pregnancy Hormones...Made Me Do It

Rules of Redecorating That We Swore We Would Never Break That We Have Now Broken in the Kitchen Makeover

Rule #1: Never paint over wallpaper or wallpaper glue. – Check! Broke it.

Rule #2: Never paint over laminate or particle board. – Check! Broke it.

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Brrrrrr. Mmmmm.

Today was our first snowfall in Chicago. It wasn't a whole lot of accumulation, but it sure was cold. For me, the first snowfall is always a time when I get a bit nostalgic for soup.

My mom always made the best chili and chicken noodle soups. The were never elaborate, but with the weather turning cold they are great comfort food. The best part was that she would always make huge batches, then put the leftovers out on the back porch...it was cold enough so that was just as good as putting them in the fridge.

I learned her chicken noodle soup recipe a long time ago, but tonight was the first time I tried the chili. I fudged the recipe a little bit (her recipe doesn't include the Killian's Irish Red), but it was just as good as I remember it.

Technical Difficulties at Houseblogs.net

Just a brief note to acknowledge that we're having some technical difficulties over at Houseblogs.net that are preventing the member feed from updating. Actually, right now I can't add or update items, either, which is why I'm posting this notice here.

Our hosting provider is aware of the problem and working to resolve it, so I hope everything should be back to normal shortly. Thanks for your patience.

Houseblogs.net Is Up and Running...with Something New, Too

Our hosting service fixed a bug and houseblogs.net is working properly again. Sorry if the problem prevented anyone from getting their regular houseblogs fix for a few days. ;-)

Beyond just repairing the site, we've added something new too: Ask Houseblogs.net is another little experiment to support the houseblogging community, this time specifically to tap in to all that DIY knowledge out there. You can get more details on what it is and how it works here.

We're not exactly sure how or how much this feature is going to be used, so we hope everyone takes it with a spirit of experimentation. Likewise, if you have feedback or suggestions on how it could work better feel free to comment.

You Know You Live in a Fixer-Upper When...

...you've had a miter saw sitting in your dining room for over two weeks and you only put it away because there's company coming over.

Giving Thanks

This Thanksgiving has been a special one for us for a couple of reasons.  First off, it's the first one we've spent with a good portion of my side of the family in over five years.  We had dinner over at my parents house, where we were joined by my dad's parents and his oldest sister's family.

After dinner there was another special treat that J and I weren't expecting...

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How Many Shovels Does It Take...

...to clean off a Chicago sidewalk in a snowstorm?  Just one.  However, you'll have to go out and use it three times.

Seriously, it's just crazy with snow here today.  I was out at 6 pm, then J went outside to clear a small path for the dog (just beyond the ramp) and now I'm about to head out again for a final pass at things before bed.

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Put 'em to Work

Jeannie just pointed out to me that Lee Valley Tools has a special section of their website with tools suitable for children.  Brilliant!

I'm excited about this...with our first on the way, it appears we can actually get some return on our investment in this kid much earlier than I really expected.

It certainly should work out much better than having pets.  Coco really hasn't been much help in the "working on the house" department...

Pushing our luck

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It's Not the Snow, It's the Thaw...

Yesterday evening, I hauled myself up the front steps after work and came face-to-face with a waterfall on one side of our new front door.  Brown water was pouring out from the beadboard ceiling above the front porch and down the face of the stucco. 

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Is it time to light up the Christmas Wine yet?

Before this house, I used to have a Christmas Party every year to celebrate friends and decorate an outrageously large tree and consume massive quantities of holiday goodies.  I really miss having that and I'm looking forward to when we can start those up again. 

While we were decorating the tree last weekend, I reminisced about those past holidays.  Each ornament has some special meaning to me connected to its giver.  We had "Santa Kurt" for the kids and lots of music. 

Oh!  And the Feuerzangenbowle!

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Home for Christmas

Yesterday, I picked up a newspaper on my EL ride home from work and read a heart warming article from Chicago Tribune Reporter, Tracy Dell'Angela.

Students Build A Dream:  Innovative effort turns eyesore near Manley High School into a refurbished home 

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New Year, Same Pain in the Neck

Well, it's 2006. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm really thrilled.  It's just that I've got the same muscle pull in my neck that I had last year--three days ago, that is.  The reason is that I was crawling around in our attic crawl space this past weekend and, again, did something that I probably shouldn't have.

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We Love You Too, Gaper's Block!!

Soooo, it is Thursday at 6:30 p.m.  I have stopped working waiting for, you know, the BIG EVENT during which I imagine I will experience something akin to "pushing a wet St. Bernard through a cat door" (as an online acquaintance once wrote.) 

I'm still in my pajamas.  I'm not proud of this.  But there it is.  I'm hiding from the mailperson because I'm LARGE!  ENORMOUS!  CRABBY!  You could re-brand me as "Just like the old Jeannie, but now with more PAUNCH!  And BUTT!"  You could actually write that sentence across my posterior and have room for many, many exclamation points.

I was catching up on my blog reading and tuned into one of my all time favorites, Gaper's Block, which covers Chicago like no other media outlet can.  Funny, insightful, timely, creative.  I'm a big fan.  And what did I find there?  Hmmm?

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Busy Weekend, Redefined

So, with a little new person in the house (who hasn't helped out at all around the house yet, btw) what counts as a busy weekend is completely redefined.

Grace has been wonderful, but a lot less is getting done around the house.  Not that she really seems to mind, but still... 

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Success

Well, at just over two weeks old now Grace passed her first test as the child of DIY home renovators.  This afternoon I was able to pound nails and use an electric screwdriver while she slept  in the room next door, oblivious to it all.

If only Jeannie and I could learn that same trick.  :-) 

Tell Us What You Really Think

Have I mentioned that Jeannie's mom has been staying with us to help with Grace for a few weeks?

She seems to have gotten a few things from Jeannie's sister Elaine and the family in Pittsburgh.

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Back to Work...Soon?

Okay, it's been four weeks today since I began my descent into Sleep Deprivation Land, my arms pinned down under the weight of a cute, yet squirmy, infant.  It's odd, at 3:00 a.m., to be pacing the floors with said infant and thinking things like, "I really need to install the rest of the pulls on those drawers" and "What is going to be our plan for repouring the footing on the sunroom?"  When I SHOULD be thinking, "How on EARTH am I going to pay for this kid's college education??!!  And will it really cost as much as one family vacation to a certain Orlando themepark??!!"  (I think so.)

But today!  Today I was able to strap the kid in the Bjorn and WHOO HOO!  Free at last! Free at last!  My hands were free at last!!!  And, holding my tools certainly felt good...for 10 whole minutes.

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Departure

Coco left us last night. I'm not sure what else to say. How do you pay adequate tribute to the most perfect dog friend? She was very much loved and I am completely undone.

Much thanks to Jim, our vet, for giving her such compassionate treatment over these past few years. And to the Burke family for allowing her to become part of our family.

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Surprise!

This was supposed to be a pretty lazy weekend.  We stayed in last night and planned to go over to my parents house for brunch today (my birthday was this past week).  Throw in some baby watching, maybe a little home improvement work, and that was it.

Then at brunch today we got a big surprise--my sister Kjerstin and brother-in-law Joe are here from Alaska!!

We were totally caught off guard.  Turns out Kjerstin and Joe had bought tickets way back in November, in anticipation of Grace's arrival.  Later today we found out that J's mom (who will be staying with us for one more week to help with Grace) was in on it, too.

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Looking Forward

Wow, so the past month has been packed with real life stuff...some really great, some really hard.  I guess that's the way life is.

Working on our house--much less keeping up this blog--hasn't been much of a priority.  We're amazed some of you are still around, actually.  Thanks so much for all the kind words folks have left about Grace and about Coco.  They've all meant a lot.

The fun news is that we actually might get back to the whole 'house thing' (and 'houseblogging thing') here shortly.  In part, we're hoping we're getting a bit more proefficient at juggling baby stuff and other things at the same time.  In part, well...it would just be nice to have a bit of variety in our life again.

And in part, it's because I'm really itching to try out the new toy table saw I just got for my birthday!  :-)

Like This Site? How about 200 More...

Many readers of this site are familiar with our second website, houseblogs.net, but some of you probably aren't.  It's a website we started a year ago to track and organize other DIY-focused home improvement blogs like this one.

Today we passed a milestone, accepting our 200th member site.  After 12 months, it's grown from "a little project we're working on" to an active community hub that showcases the inspiring day-in, day-out effort people put in to building, improving, and restoring their own homes.

So if you haven't been there before, check it out!  If you're already a regular, thanks for everything you do to inspire us and other DIYers out there...and keep it up!  :-)

New Year, New Baby...New Blog?

For some reason, when the new year rolls around I seem to get an itch about new blog ideas...

Last February it was Houseblogs.net, which has been a fun ride over the past 12 months.  With the site now surpassing 200 member houseblogs, it's actually grown far beyond what we expected it would become.

With another year rolling around, I've started tinkering with a third home improvement blog. Since we now get so many press releases, catalogs, and emails about new tools, I decided I might as well put them all to good use.

With Toolspotting, we'll be following the latest, best, and most unique tools available to the DIY enthusiast.  Like Houseblogs.net, it's still an experiment right now and I'm sure it will evolve over time.

For those housebloggers reading this, we're also looking for some contributors--you can check out houseblogs.net for more details about how you can join in.

If you have any thoughs or ideas feel free to send them our way!

Emma? Lizzy? The Dashwoods?

This morning, as I was blearily punching up my email while simultaneously burping the baby, I received a note tipping me off to an article in the New York Times Magazine insert.  An article about houseblogs.  In which housebloggers are compared to the protagonists of Jane Austen's novels AND publishers of smutty pornography at the same time.  (Well, he actually seems to go much deeper into comparative literature and makes all sorts of excellent intellectual points according to Aaron.  I'm just skimming because, you know, sleep deprivation.)

I immediately looked down at my uniform these days of sweat pants, spit-up streaked nursing shirt, clogs, burp cloth and "baby as appendage".  What I would give to channel either Lizzy Bennet or Pamela Anderson right now!  Okay, maybe not Pam as much.  But she did used to be the "Tool Time Girl."  So, there is a connection there, however slight, right?  I mean, Pam and I have both worn tool belts.  And that is where the comparison sadly ends.

So, I went to brush my teeth to make myself  feel better.  (I can look like a mess and brushing my teeth always makes me feel a bit more human.  I don't look cleaner but...hey!  Minty!  Fresh!  Breath!) 

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Apologies Dear Readers!

In our attempt to stem the tide of obnoxious spam comments (40 per day!) that we've been raking in lately, we implemented a new "security code" system for commenters.  So, if you post a comment, the system will require you to submit a unique number that is constantly changed.  But something went wrong. 

And somehow, a LOT of comments from you...people we LIKE to hear from...got lost in the "junk mail" file.  But we went in there and fished 'em out!  So, thanks for all of your comments.  We like hearing from you.  It's nice, you know?  You are appreciated.  For more information about the changes, read on...

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Confessions

More than once over the last three years, I have really, REALLY wanted to ditch this house.

There.  I said it.  It's off my chest and I'm relieved.  I have daydreamed about leaving the door unlocked with a sign on it that says, "Help yourself" and taking the first flight out of O'Hare to...I didn't care where.  Somewhere far away where I could rent an apartment or, better yet, sleep on a beach and work as a waitress and never pick up a power tool again.  This has happened more often than I've let on.  And regret is a nasty roommate at 3:00 a.m.

So...a few nights ago when I climbed the stairs to the second floor, I surprised myself when I actually had WARM feelings towards the house.  For you see, working on the house was not my first choice.  It was a means to an end.  The location was the thing, along with the ceiling height.  To raise a child near family.  We didn't relish the thought of strapping ourselves to mountains of restoration/renovation.  But, the house was more affordable than our options and in the right place.  There have been times when I have (whispers) HATED THIS HOUSE.  Which is why I am amazed that I am warming up to it so much now.

So there it is...I am not the virtuous, self-sacrificing home renovator that Mr. Metcalf referred to in his article.  I re-read it after this recap in the Rage Diaries and was deeply ashamed.  I've had many reservations about this project.  I want to love this house and, until this week, really didn't feel like I did.  I was resigned to it.  But I wasn't in love with it. 

At the top of the stairs, I walked through the dark rooms to look out of the front window at the snow and the moon.

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Love? I spoke too soon...

Did I say that I was warming up to the house?  Perhaps I spoke too soon.

I went down to the basement to finish the laundry and found this.  Good gravy.  What now?!

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And the House said "HA!"

About a week ago, I confessed on the blog that I was reluctantly warming up to this old house.  I felt that we had turned a point and things we getting easier.

Ha ha ha ha...(cough cough).  The house obviously heard me.  There was the water in the basement a few days later and, last night?  The house barked out a "Take this!" and rattled its gutters with glee.

On the way back through the backyard after taking out the trash, I heard a loud hissing coming from under the back room crawlspace.  This is a room of the house that was added in the sixties or seventies, we think.  To heat it, the previous owners took the radiator out of the nearest bedroom and ran the steam pipe to a jerry-rigged baseboard steam radiator. 

(We plan on tearing this room back off of the house at some point before it falls off.  Yes, it is that bad.)

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The Lonely Toolbox

Okay, who am I kidding?  New babies plus home improvement do not equal progress.  I am typing this after spending three (yes, 3) hours scrunched up on our bed with the kid, pumping her little legs back and forth, and trying to convince her that having gas does not mean that her body will explode with the intensity of a supernova.  She disagrees and is expressing this disagreement in eardrum-piercing shrieks and foundation-rattling grunts.  She is now limp and exhausted, eyes half closed with a binky hanging halfway out of her mouth, looking a lot like Jim Breuer.

I need advice.

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The Latest in Toolspotting

In case you haven't looked recently, things are picking up at our new site Toolspotting... 

Last week we had posts about a tiny compound miter saw, links to collectible hand planes, and a laser plum bob that did didn't play MP3s.

We also now have four housebloggers involved as contributors, with a few more coming online this week.  If you're a houseblogger and you'd like to write for Toolspotting, just drop us a line.

The Lonely Toolbox, Part 2

Thanks for all of the great advice in the comments!  There are some really wonderful ideas and advice in there.  So many that I'm not quite as dispirited as I stare at the ceiling in the guest bedroom.

Yes, this is the ceiling. (By the way, Hans and Steph?  Don't panic. We promise that you'll have somewhere to sleep that doesn't have this view for the college reunion next year.)

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Old House Preservation & Restoration Conference

(Photo via Wilmette Historic Preservation Commission)

Wilmette is a charming suburb north of Chicago where Aaron's dad grew up.  (He actually grew up close to the Baha'i Temple which is an amazing piece of architecture on the shore of Lake Michigan.) 

On Saturday, April 22, 2006, the Wilmette Historic Preservation Commission and Historical Museum is presenting an Old House Preservation and Restoration Conference.  And there will be some great speakers there! 

(More after the jump...)

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Neighborhood Notes: North Park / Albany Park

From time to time, I write about our neighborhood because it IS such an important part of owning a house.  A sense of place is important...the people who live there, the energy of the place, what you see, what there is to do.  And our neighborhood (North Park / Albany Park in Chicago) has never been written about very much until lately.  Which is a shame, because more people should know about it.  It's the United Nations of neighborhoods, one of the most ethnically diverse in the entire country.  (Though our political leanings? Not so diverse.  97.47% of Albany Park residents voted for Kerry in the last election. :)

Lately, my favorite place to hang out for coffee and a cookie (or quiche!) is the newly-opened Open Hearth Cafe on Kimball near Foster.

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Hello, San Francisco Chronicle Readers!

We had another surprise today when my Google News email subscription picked up a reference to 'houseblogs' in the online version of the San Francisco Chronicle. 

Sure enough, Norma Shattuck has written a nice piece on houseblogs that references this site, as well as several of our fellow housebloggers like House Made, Raise the Ranch, and Serendipity House.  Fun!

Her article casts the recent phenomenon of houseblogging in the context of a century-long home improvement trend: "Though modes of living change, a predisposition to make works-in-progress of our living spaces seems to be a constant in the culture."  The article goes on to detail a pretty interesting chronology of the urge to 'do it yourself,' including the fact that the phrase 'do it yourself' was first coined by an unnamed magazine in 1912. 

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Awkward Moments in Renovation

It is gorgeous here in Chicago today.  A balmy 64 degrees...warm and breezy.  So, Grace and I decided to go for a long walk and check out some of the cute bungalows south of campus in Albany Park.  I like to look for ideas and Grace just likes to swivel her head back and forth, like a bobblehead baby.

And then.  Around a corner, it loomed before us.  One of the scariest things I have ever seen.  At first, it looked like any ordinary two-flat which is being renovated.

But, as my eyes traveled upward, I beheld....

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More Awkward Moments in Renovation

Look.  I know that it takes a little more thought to build "up" on your typical Chicago bungalow.  City lots are notoriously narrow, so first story additions are out of the question for lots of folks.  I get that.  I really do.

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Less Awkward Moments in Renovation

Lest you think that our neighborhood is populated with doublewide trailers perched atop of poor, unsuspecting bungalows, I feel obligated to point out that there are some better examples of bungalow expansion.  However, I realize that beauty really IS in the eye of the beholder and I am just one beholder and yadda yadda.

If I seem obsessed with this, it's because I am trying to figure out WHY these bungalows look better to me.  What are the specific reasons that I look at a bungalow like the one below and think, "Hmm.  Not a bad expansion."

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Bugs in the house? Not on MY watch...

Yesterday afternoon was bright and sunny here.  A welcome change from grey winter days.  So, I snuggled Grace on the pillows of our bed under the skylights and began to fold some laundry (because that is what a baby brings with it...unlimited laundry).  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move.

It was a yellow jacket.  In the house.  On the window.

(This picture is why digital cameras have zoom lenses.  So you can stand far, FAR away and take a picture.)

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Expounding upon Expansion

(With a surprise photo at the bottom of this post.  Thanks.)

It was interesting to read the comments in response to this post and I really, REALLY appreciate the time folks took to weigh in on the subject.  Thank you.

I really struggle with my own opinions on this issue.  On one hand, I am an enthusiastic fan of authenticity in the design of homes and harmony in the design of neighborhoods.  On the other, I acknowledge that it isn't realistic to believe that nothing will ever change in all neighborhoods and sometimes someone will have a practical reason for initiating change that may have nothing to do with wanting to make a profit.  As someone who studies people and places and things, I get it.  I really do.  And not everyone has the money to hire an architect or to use the most expensive materials to get a desired effect.

But...does a workable and pleasing design HAVE to be expensive?  Does it have to be costly to create something useful and beautiful?  (I know the reverse is not true.  I've seen LOTS of expensive, bad design.  Whoo boy.  That's a whole other story.)

And, is good design entirely subjective?  A matter of personal opinion?  Or, are there certain principles that someone could point to and say, "Follow these and you won't go wrong ninety percent of the time."

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Apartment Therapy...now in Chicago!

Hurray!  Apartment Therapy...now available in Chicago.  Great design ideas for small spaces courtesy of Maxwell and crew.

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Why Do We Do It?

When you are old enough to ask us about this house and why we were crazy enough to begin this project...to sleep for two years in a tiny, unheated room...to spend all of our weekends with wood stain soaking our hands and sawdust up our noses...we will give you these two reasons:

1)  So that we could be four doors down from your grandparents and spend a happy afternoon visiting with them; and

2)  So that we could enjoy mornings with you in a room like this...

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Kitchen and Bath Show in Chicago...oh joy!

Three things that I love colliding in one place:  research, house stuff, writing.  Aaron and I are attending the K/BIS Show and Industry Conference in Chicago next week and I am JAZZED!  We're blogging it for HouseBlogs and, hoo boy, I am dragging out my running shoes in anticipation of skipping through ACRES of kitchen and bath products, solutions and trends like a giddy schoolgirl. 

So, what should we look for?  What kitchen and bath problems are you dying to solve?  Space?  Storage?  Energy savings?  New materials?  Retrofits?  Need design ideas? 

Do you want to figure out a way to clean your teeth and trim your nose hairs at the same time while washing your toes?  Because I am your personal errand girl for solutions...at least for a few days.  I'm serious.  Send me on a mission.  We'll try to accomplish as many as we can in the time that we have there.  Feel free to use the comment section of this entry to give us assignments.  We're going to post a few planning ideas and questions over in the HouseBlogs forum in the next week, too, so if you're really interested you can chat about it over there as well.

Do you need to know more about the Kitchen and Bath Show?  Read on for a few details.

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Reason #482 Why I Love Chicago

Best alley pickings EVER!

Perfectly beautiful radiator cover...the ideal size for our upstairs bath.  Free for the taking.  ROCK ON!

(Says the weirdo who obviously gets WAYYYY too excited over other people's garbage.)

How do we know it's Spring?

Because we see daffodils?  Because we see robins?

No.

Because the Silent Paint Remover came out of its case, saw its shadow, and decided to blast a few layers of paint off of some exterior trim.

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Tax Man Giveth...and Taketh Away

This is kind of a good news, bad news entry. First...the bad news. It's tax day. I'm all for paying taxes, actually (when the money is spent for the public good) but it is never any fun. It's like going to the dentist. Fresh, clean teeth! And...that scrapey-thingy. You know.

Now, for the good news!!! (Especially for housebloggers.) We received our new "Home Sense" newsletter in the mail from our pals at Unique Heating and Cooling. Right on the front page...?

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Countdown to KBIS

Tomorrow night, we begin our coverage of the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show here in Chicago at McCormick Place.  A few of you have made requests for new ideas around the following:

• Storage ideas for small spaces
• Countertop materials
• A modern "foot" for a clawfoot tub

Anything else?

Part of the work of preparing for the conference has been sifting through the enormous amount of vendor public relations correspondence and trying to decide how to make the best of our time there.  We've been meaning to get to our new post office box to pick up our mail related to the show but didn't make it there until last Saturday.  True to form, we forgot our post office box number (First! Time! Users!) and stood facing a wall of little doors with our two keys and absolutely no idea of what to do.

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All Dressed Up with Someplace to Go

So, we've spruced up the site a bit today--most notably we've got new banners.  Jeannie did all the photos, which I think are pretty sweet.  It's just part of a plan to streamline the look, which will probably result in a few more layout changes in the next few weeks.

We wouldn't normally mention it, but the banners were something we wanted to get done today to 'dress up' a bit before we go to K/BIS...plus there's a bit of a special occasion we're involved in tonight...

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Recap: Swatchbox Gathering

So, as we said yesterday we attended a special 'Swatchbox Gathering' event last night on the eve of the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show here in Chicago.  We went as guest speakers at the invitation of the guys at Swatchbox Technologies, who we got to know over drinks a few hours before the dinner.

Andrew Jenks (center right) and Jesse Engle (right) are the President and VP of Business Development, respectively, for Swatchbox and are really great guys.  The chat gave us some time to get to know them a bit and to hear about their work--they've done some interesting things with their clients to develop software that helps consumers visualize home improvement ideas like flooring, paint options, etc.

After a while we headed downstairs to the basement of the Chicago Firehouse where they'd reserved the wine cellar for the dinner.

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K/BIS is Huge, Where to Start?

Well, it's the morning after our first day at the KBIS Expo and we're wicked tired.  Our initial plan was to 'live blog' the whole show just like we did with the Swatchbox Gathering the first night.  Then we got home after 12 hours walking around the show and, well, that just ain't happening.  :-)

Even more importantly, we arrived home to find a neat distraction...this site and houseblogs.net are mentioned in today's Washington Post!  The article--Building Blogs--talks about home improvement blogs in general and focuses in on DC area housebloggers Nightmare on Elm Street and The Home Improvement Ninja.  Congrats to them!

So, we're decided to delay our detailed "coverage" of the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show by a day so that we don't flood the houseblogs.net latest 100 entries with a ton of the kitchen and bath products that we saw.  For now, we'll just put a few teaser photos and comments here to whet your appetite...

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KBIS Day One: The Madness Begins

After rolling out of bed at the crack of dawn, grabbing coffee and sprinting to the car, we sped towards McCormick Place only to come to a screeching halt in bumper to bumper traffic on Lake Shore Drive.  Of course, the computer with Photoshop on it had died last night, I couldn't find my cellphone, and we left the printout of our schedule back at the house...but hey!  We're housebloggers!  We're used to the cycle of "Hurry up!  Wait!  Unforseen glitches!  MacGyver it and press on..."

After getting our press passes and our cameras tagged, we joined the press corps in the age old conference ritual called "The Stuffing of the Fed Ex Boxes" in a room where entire forests go to die. The press kits were overflowing with good information...about 60 pounds total of good information.  So, we stuffed three Fed Ex boxes and then took them back down to the trunk of the car to save on shipping costs.  Because we are frugal that way.

And so, it began...

By the way, I have never seen so many (Amish? Mennonites?) in my life outside of Pennsylvania.  On second thought, they must be Mennonites, yes?  Because Amish wouldn't be interested in a conference that features running water perhaps?  Though, I am not up-to-date on my Amish culture. 

I bet they are wearing more comfortable shoes than I am at this thing.  Lucky ducks.

KBIS Coverage: Making Sense of It

I'm a person who sorts things.  Unfortunately, instead of then neatly stashing those "sorted things" in color-coded boxes and cabinets, I tend to leave them in cheerful piles because "piles" is my system.  Hey, it works for hamsters and beavers.  Don't judge.

Anyway, I couldn't resist the temptation to categorize the topics we will be covering and, happily, it will be easier for you to find things with our site's search engine (right-hand column, scroll down) than it would be to find things in my real life piles.  So, here is a preview of some of the things we will be writing about:

• Solutions for small spaces
• Innovations/Interesting Ideas/Things That We Like
• Countertops...this isn't your grandma's Formica
• Universal Design
• Kitchen Appliances
• Bath Appliances
• Storage
• Materials and Design
• Eye Candy
• People We Dig
• Cabinetry
• Booth Tours
• Oddities and the Very Unusual

We'll be posting the narrative here and the specifics in the Idea Guide.  Everything ends up feeding through the HouseInProgress and HouseBlogs homepage, so you don't have to worry about missing anything.

Enjoy.

(Faucet Eye Candy courtesy of the Franke Booth)

KBIS Coverage: Evidence of Bloggers at KBIS

Certainly there were other bloggers covering KBIS formally, such as Richard Wall at HGTVPro.com and the podcasters at the KBIS website.  But even more interesting were the bloggers who were there and who never intended to be.  For example:

- Dooce was mentioned by a marketing exec at the Swatchbox dinner on Friday night during the discussion on blogging.  Technically, Dooce's sewer line is experiencing problems this week so she and John are honorary housebloggers for a short time.  At this point in the discussion, I was pleasantly buzzed on my first few glasses of wine since the birth of the kid four months ago and relying on a concrete column for support.  As I stood there trying to formulate my next answer to a question, I could only think of how, if Dooce were in my shoes, she would probably be acting a lot more natural after only two or three glasses of chardonnay. I, however, was trying to keep my face from looking crooked. Thus, Aaron and I have added a new definition to our use of the word "Dooced" in our vocabulary: 

Dooced (adj.):  To be somewhat sloshed during an event with business professionals but still trying to act natural.

- Apartment Therapy and Brownstoner were the blogs most recognized by the exhibitor marketing reps from NYC as we were being asked to explain what HouseBlogs were and who writes/reads them.  (Them:  "Is it like Apartment Therapy for people who live in houses?", Me: "Um, I think Maxwell Gillingham Ryan would be appalled at the condition of my closets...")

- And, whoa...hey!  KNITTY!!!  On the bulletin board in the Meredith Design Idea Center!!

It is a small world after all.  Blogging:  Kind of viral like the flu--but with less phlegm.

KBIS: Exhibitors Gone Wild

Stepping into the KBIS Exposition Hall, my heart began to exhibit a bit of an adrenaline-induced arrhythmia (and, no, it wasn't the Starbucks coffee we had just chugged to keep us awake).  I was speechless.  Aaron's first words were, "I had forgotten about all of the body parts we'd see here."

Kitchen and BATH show.  Bathing.  Full color screens of armpits and torsos and sinewy legs all lathered up and thirty feet high.  The spectacle of it makes you want to suck in your stomach a little and resolve to spend more time at the gym.

I'm not in good enough shape after my pregnancy to be considering a stylish bath, obviously.

The main exhibits are stages and the products are rockstars.  Overwhelming.  Elaborate.  Glamorous. 

I'm not even qualified to be a decent roadie at this thing.

Priming the Pump Porch

Ahhh...back to work again after a crazy week covering KBIS.  We still have a few more items to share but we'll be posting them in and around our regular HiP (as we refer to the HouseInProgress) blogging.

Note to self:  Don't let others take photos that look up your nose.  Not good.  Nope.

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Uncluttered Living, Part 1

I no longer like "stuff".

As a kid I LOVED stuff.  I kept everything.  Pins, buttons, small stones, pieces of paper, plastic trinkets, ticket stubs.  Drawers and drawers of stuff.  It wasn't about the stuff, per se.  It was about two things.  Either the memories associated with the stuff or the desire to please others by having what they needed  immediately so as to solve a thorny problem.  If I kept the parts to everything, if I kept all of the remnants of things, I would always be prepared, right?

Well, no.

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Uncluttered Living, Part 2

(Part 1 if you haven't read it yet.)

...but there were the things that I have not been able to let go of yet:

1. Books.  Books are among my most prized possessions.  I cannot seem to get enough of them.  And I do re-read them.  Refer back to them often.  Lend them.  Enjoy having them.
2. Photos.  I cannot get rid of photos...I love them.  I love the memories attached to them.  They mean so much to me that, even when they aren't mine, I go to great lengths to save them.
3. Tools and hardware.  Because I always imagine I will need them.  And I am a tool geek.
4. Music.  CD's.  Records.  I finally gave up on my casette tapes this past year and the 8-tracks went awhile ago.
   

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