House in Progress

Another Holiday in Progress

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:27:16 PST

This post was written for Houseblogs.net as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by SC Johnson's Right@Home.

It's hard to believe that this will be our sixth Christmas here since we first moved in.

It's even more amazing to me that in all that time we've only had one Christmas tree in all that time. Seriously.

Many years we've traveled to visit family, so I guess that's a pretty good excuse. Other years, though, it's often because we simply didn't have the space. Last year, for example, our dining room was our temporary living room and a big plywood barrier separated us off from the construction zone where we would have normally put the tree. In hind sight, maybe we should have covered the plywood with wrapping paper.

Anyway, all this simply means that because of our limited history of holiday decorating here at the house, we've got to reach all the way back to 2005 to find a photo we can share of how we've parepared for the holidays.

Without further delay, here it is:

Now that we've moved back in to our living room, maybe we'll finally get to do our second tree....stay tuned! :-)

Sniff Sniffle Hack Hack Cough Cough Cough Cough

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:48:02 PST

Just a public service announcement to let the readers of HouseinProgress now that we have not disappeared. We have not quit the premises. But we have been the unwilling recipients of 3-4 colds in a ROW. To the point that Aaron has now been officially diagnosed with walking pneumonia and Jeannie doesn't even want to know what she has now that the bronchitis is over. And Aaron never, ever gets sick. (Ahem.)

Except for a little dry cough left over from her cold, Grace is feeling feisty and fine. This, of course, presents a whole different challenge for her wheezing, fumbling parents. Namely, how to entertain a bored toddler and keep her from eating the butter right out of the dish when we'd rather snuggle up under the table with a vat of Theraflu.

And, yes, Houseblogs.net was not behaving either. (Though it is up now! Check out the new contest!) And all work at the house has stopped. Laundry and dishes? Don't ask.

We'll come crawling back at some point. We always do.

Ours is Not the Ugliest House

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:28:35 PDT

Today I came across a link to HomeVestor's 2nd annual Ugliest House of the Year contest. Even though it's been over five years since we first moved in to our own fixer-upper, photos like this one still give me flashbacks.

Thankfully, our place was never as bad as some of the places in this contest but it does look like some of the rooms in our house when we first took position. It all makes me wonder how we lived through it all...

Check out more of the ugly home entries in the contest here.

(Contest link found via Gapers Block)

Houseblogs.net recovers. Economy...not so much.

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:53:22 PDT

As some of you may know, in addition to this personal houseblog we also run the website Houseblogs.net. It's a bit of a labor of love that's grown over the years and is now somewhere between a hobby and a real, mainstream website that people actually use.

Unfortunately, the site did a faithful impression of the US Economy in the past few weeks--it crashed. Hard.

It took us a while to get it working again, largely because the side job status of the site makes it hard to carve out the time to dedicate to big projects. Also, it took some technical skills that we simply didn't have. Luckily, we have a number of good technical friends who came in to the rescue. Thank you to each of you.

So, the good news is the site is back up and running! You can see for yourself.

Now, if only we had a friend who was as good with macro economics....

A hunka, hunka burnin'.... rose quartz?

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:59:40 PDT

Aaron found this in the basement, among the things we still hadn't investigated that were left behind in the house when we bought it. (See more about THAT here.)

It's a hunk of rose quartz.

It's huge. Fourteen and a half pounds. Of rose quartz.

What would YOU do with this find?

Doorstop? Garden ornament? Sell it on eBay (if it is even worth anything)?

It is Grace's alternate birthstone (January), but I think it is a bit large for gifting, yes?

Chilly. Me Want Fireplace.

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:45:47 PDT

So, my bronchitis is finally on its way to someone else's house. I always seem to get something nasty right as school starts and this year was no different. Germs + Toddler = wanting to lie in bed and moan but gamely pushing Fisher Price people through the door of the Fisher Price house instead. Over. And over.

But, this morning, I'm huddled next to the fireplace with my laptop. Grace is off at the sitters for a few hours and I'm trying to get some work done. And I am oh-so-thankful for having a living room this year. This is lovely.

My Toddler Proofing Dilemma

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:04:19 PDT

Thanks for all of your kind concern in the comments on that last post (except for one poster who implied that I'm just not watching Grace closely enough. Now, at various points in the day when things go wrong, I yell out "WHERE'S THE SUPERVISION???!!!" and crack up. The guy at the Post Office didn't think it was as funny as I did.)

We've been doing the Montessori thing with Grace. Putting her plates and cups where she can reach them. Putting her healthy snacks on lower shelves. Giving her choices. And she has been a great sport about all of this, really. Things were going pretty well. And then, well, see for yourself.

Toddler Proofing?

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 08:36:52 PDT

Guess who learned how to open the refrigerator by herself?

Advice please?

Welcome to Venice, Illinois!

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 05:44:54 PDT

Three out of four dorms at North Park University had to be evacuated.

Yes, It's Wet

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 07:22:40 PDT

Perhaps you've heard about the enormous amount of rain we're getting in Chicago. In fact, it was the most rain ever recorded in Chicago history.

Pictures say more than words, so here are a couple of photos from just south of our neighborhood...

(Photo credit: Chicago Tribune readers)

Those photos are south of us. Early in the day, Grace and I headed north to a bookstore. Here's an afternoon photo of one of the underpasses we used. If the photo isn't clear, that would probably cover our car now by a good couple of feet.

Anyway, we're very happy to share that we've been lucky--aside from some minor damp patches and known leaks our basement is dry. For now. The weather is supposed to stay rainy all day today too.

It's certainly no hurricane and our thoughts are mainly with folks in Texas and the south, but it isn't every day you get the most rain ever recorded so we thought we'd share.

If we go out and take any photos ourselves later today we'll share those too.

Sarah Susanka is in the Hizzouz...woot!

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:02:10 PDT

If you like old houses, maybe you take a drive in other neighborhoods now and again to gaze upon their beauty. And then you go for ice cream.

If you are a BIG, DORKY, HOUSE GEEK, you get down to the Ballroom of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago at 7 pm on a Wednesday in September to see Sarah Susanka.

Because if you are into design, architecture, small spaces or old houses, you would really enjoy Sarah Susanka. She is the best-selling author of the "Not So Big House" series, she is an award winning architect, and she advocates the "build better, not bigger" approach to design. She can explain, better than anyone I know, specifically why a space feels cozy, warm or inviting so that you can use those principles of design in your own living spaces.

Do you think it would freak her out if I showed her my "Not So Big House" tattoo?

Wednesday, September 17

Time: 7 pm

Location: Ballroom of the School of the Art Institute, 112 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago

Admission: $20/Preservation Trust member; $25/non-members

Mystery Cabinet

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:18:09 PDT

What do you get when you combine an old house lover with a tech gadget obsessed spouse?

Compromise.

I have been going nuts over the wires. The cables. The outlets. The plugs. The "docks". Trying to keep Grace from the cell phones, the digital camera, the car keys, and our wallets has become a game that SHE loves and which I hate. Hate. Hate.

So, when Aaron and I read about this over a year ago, we swooned. We yearned.

Stained

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:46:57 PDT

We moved over to MorMor & FarFar's house to camp out while I worked for 48 hours to stain the new built-in's in the sunroom. So, everyone escaped the fumes. Well, except for me. But most of my braincells are already compromised anyway.

Here is an example of the unstained version of the poplar benches and radiator cover that TK made for us.

This is My Spirit House

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:54:24 PDT

I won it in the raffle at our annual block party. Our neighbors, Rick and Tom, had a huge stash of things that had been abandoned in the wake of the International Housewares Show. So they raffled all of the things off to the neighbors. It was wonderful.

Moving Backwards

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:35:53 PDT

Who am I trying to kid?

I've been working on the same entry over and over for a few days now but my mind is always elsewhere.

Are we back to a country divided now? To a presidential campaign where one side sinks to throw snarky insults and unfounded accusations at the other to try to drive the discussion away from the issues? Really?

Back to the assumed mantle of victimhood and hypocrisy? Of pundits saying something one week against one side and then smoothly saying the opposite the next week in favor of their candidate?

With no shame or embarrassment?