Happy New Year!

Peace.

Home (noun): the place where one lives.

It's where we eat,

hang out,

 

and sleep.

Our main living space may have been concentrated into one room, but how many people get to legitimately pass out under their Christmas tree every night?!

Christmas...

They gave us toys and all we did was read the books...

1975

...some things don't change all that much.

2011

Merry Christmas!

Clearing up some potential confusion...

Dave purchased an assortment of drywall in varying shapes & sizes in order to minimize the number of seams on the walls and ceilings.

Wondering why he bought two 16-foot sheets of drywall and then promptly cut them in half? The 16-footers that he bought are 54” wide instead of the regular 48”, to be used on one tall wall in the new construction area.

Most of the drywall is 1/2-inch “Lite” drywall. These are easy to carry, even for little ol’ me. Dave also purchased four 14-footers that are 5/8” thick to be used on the ceiling in the new room. Dave and Chris weighed one of these sheets, after it was cut down to 12’ 6”, it was 110 pounds...Chris thought it out-weighed me. Thanks, Amigo, but I’ve got that beat.

Hauling drywall...

On Sunday afternoon Dave & Chris carried a little over half the drywall upstairs. The weather was perfect for the job - calm, clear and sunny.

In order to maximize working space upstairs, they only carried up the sheets that will be used for the ceilings plus a few of the longer, heavier sheets for the walls. Dave & I can carry the rest up after the ceilings are hung.

We are both very grateful to Chris, for my part I can say that some of those sheets sounded....heavy. 

It's like living in a frat house...

Dave was looking for his socks; Chris laughed and said, “It’s like living in a frat house… 'How’d my underwear get on the ceiling fan?’”

Recently, I lost my pants. Not lost so much as misplaced.

And lately I’ve taken to borrowing Dave’s belt when he’s not around…simply because it’s easier than digging through boxes to find mine.

Despite boxes being labeled, it’s still a challenge to find things when you really need them – like dress clothes, or more long sleeve shirts and warm socks as the seasons change.

People are going to start wondering why they see me in the same four outfits over and over and over. I need a t-shirt that reads, “I’m not homeless, we’re remodeling.”

3,000 pounds...

of drywall.
45 sheets in various lengths, widths and thicknesses.

 The two 16-footers were quickly cut in half, bringing our total to 47 sheets to be carried from the garage to the second floor.

Of course, the delivery guys didn't pile the drywall in quite the right location, so Dave & I moved every sheet from the left pile to the right, then restacked it all about six inches further to the left in order to squeeze the Westy in too. Good times.

 When all this is moved, we are going to owe Chris way more than a car stereo installation.

You’re never too old to learn something new.

For example, today Chris and I learned that wine glasses will indeed fit in a car cupholder.

 Who knew?!


I suppose I should add the Official Disclaimer: 
The car was parked in the garage. Dave installed a new radio for Chris in exchange for hauling drywall - which has not taken place yet. Yes, a sweet deal, getting paid before the work is done. We're not worried, we know where to find him when the time comes for physical labor. Besides, we couldn't make him wait too long, his old car stereo was stolen, in broad daylight, at 11:30 in the morning, in the parking lot where he works. The entire incident was captured in a matter of 3 minutes on the office surveillance camera.

I told you so.

It gives me no satisfaction to say this…..

I was right.

Dave will be dry walling the second floor instead of hiring someone to do the job.

The test was successful – Dave & I wrangled two 12-foot sheets of drywall upstairs. Chris gets to help with the rest…including four 16-footers...

What if?

What if Benjamin Franklin had gotten his wish and the turkey had been named as our National Bird... What would everyone in America be eating today?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Westy gets some fresh air (finally!)

We took a short ride to the park last weekend...

and behaved like teenagers.

I could have just bought more blankets...

This is a LOT of work. In the end, we will have a more functional second floor that will also be more comfortable temperature-wise, in both winter and summer. Shoot, it’s so well insulated up there now you need short sleeves if there’s a light bulb on.

The insulation is complete and has passed inspection.

The night I went upstairs and caught Dave piecing pink insulation around blobs of foam in the wall cavities I told him it might be time to quit. He grinned and replied, “The inspector is going to think I’m crazy.”

Gutters were not included in the deal with the contractor so Dave hung those one sunny fall afternoon.

And he wonders where those 5 pounds went...

Next step is drywall. 
Having spent the past twenty-one years living under the same roof with the guy, I have a strong suspicion that Dave will be hanging the drywall himself rather than hiring someone to do the job.
 

Dear Chris,

After some fancy footwork and a bit of grunting, we discovered today that a 10-foot piece of drywall can be maneuvered upstairs. I helped with one piece. When can you come over to help with the rest?

Love,

Deb

ps: Dave would really like to get a few 12-foot pieces up there too.

Progress takes time.

Years ago while Dave & I were remodeling our kitchen, I’m sure I was griping about how long it was taking, my cousin who was studying for her doctorate at the time simply said, “Progress takes time.” They were some of the best words of advice I have ever gotten.

Along with my Dad’s words of wisdom to me in my early 20’s, when I barely had enough money to put gas in my car in order to get to work each day, I was grumbling about the cost of healthy foods in the grocery store and he told me, “You can either spend your money in the grocery store or at the doctor’s office.” I thought, “By golly, he’s right.” And I probably went out and bought crap food because I still had to put gas in my car...

Dave’s been working on finishing up the insulation. He’s laying some pink fiber glass on top of the spray foam to increase the R-value in the walls. We’ve had a few days with high winds which has been helpful for finding little gaps where air was blowing in. He filled those gaps with either caulk or expanding foam depending on the size of the gap. Plus he’s taping all the seams where the fiberglass ends. He’s doing a thorough job! Stuffing a couple socks in the walls would have been an improvement over what we had previously.

This one shows it all: 

Pink fiberglass filling out already foamed cavities. 

Caulk line down inside corner and where walls meet floor. 

Special extra-sticky, all-temperature insulation tape where ceiling fiberglass meets walls.

Yes. Progress takes time. Time well spent. 

"Highly Desirable"

Well whaddyaknow, we’re hip!
On top of a trend!
...in some circles.

Read it here: 10 Highly Desirable Modern Day Collector's Cars

Ok, so our VW Vanagon Westfalia Camper is a 1985 and it’s not the highly prized (and priced) 4-wheel-drive Syncro but it’s close, darn close!

Besides, Dave likes our round headlights better than the square ones, which appeared on the 1986 and newer models.

ps: Remember, those prices listed at the end of the article are for the 4WD Synchros, not our little 2WD version…we’re not that hip.

I don’t know much about Astrology...

I do know that I am an Aquarius…I have no idea if that is why I am so attracted to water.

 Durand Eastman Beach

I’m pretty sure that if I lived within walking distance of a large body of water, I would have a hard time getting much accomplished.

 A very calm Lake Ontario

Or does one become jaded by simple day-to-day beauty and take it for granted?

Honestly, I could have sat there in the sand gazing out at the water all day.

A bit of advice…

This all may look like fun and games as you sit comfortably reading these posts, enjoying your morning coffee, snug in your jammies…or perhaps while you sip your cold medicine, also, hopefully, snug in your jammies...

But may I suggest that if you have the slightest desire to remodel a room or two in your home – or perhaps knock the whole thing down and rebuild – may I suggest that you hire as many people as financially possible to do the work for you.

I’ll leave you with the wisdom of a friend’s recent fortune cookie, “Good decisions come from experience. Experience comes from bad decisions.”

In which I discover the cure to the common cold…

Dave caught a cold last week on his vacation. A couple days later, despite my germophobic precautions, bang, it hit me. Sore throat. Chills. Wrap up in a blanket and I’m still cold. Sneezing and coughing. Are there enough Kleenex in the house for the two of us??

Dave’s favorite cold medicine is orange juice with tequila.
Or is that tequila with a bit of orange juice?

Orange juice didn’t appeal to me that evening but pineapple juice did. The label on the little 6 oz. can said it contained 100% of my daily recommendation of vitamin C. Hmm, that sounds promising….crush some ice, pour the pineapple juice over the crushed ice, hey, there’s coconut milk in the ‘fridge, add 3 or 4 tablespoons of that, ooh, this needs rum, add an ounce or so of dark rum.  Tasty!

…if 100% of my vitamin C intake is in one, maybe I should have a second, for precautionary measures.

Friends, I tell you, I had that cold for no more than 5 or 6 hours.

Vacation is over...

Dave had a long list of things he wanted to accomplish on this vacation. He got the majority of them done and probably would have been able to do even more if his wife hadn’t made him stop every evening to do annoying things like eat some food.

In no particular order he…

Got the rough electrical inspection, finally! (see previous post)

Finished spraying the foam insulation.

Scraping foam blobs off the floor, wall studs and ceiling rafters.

Replaced 6 windows.

 

Spent an evening calculating how much pink fiberglass insulation to get for the rafters…it involved a spreadsheet, a calculator, numerous trips upstairs to measure, notes and scribbles on paper…and two trips to the store in the truck to buy it all.

And caught a cold.

Still a long way to go...

I did manage to get him out for a day of fun at a Celtic festival. We saw family and friends, enjoyed a variety of music, had a few beers and some horrible food - and I got myself a wee little souvenir.

Sometimes you just need to drop the right name…

Before his vacation started Dave called an electrical inspector to have him come do the initial inspection. Dave gave him a few days and when he didn’t return the call, Dave called again. In the mean time Dave built a couple new walls, made another phone call, sprayed some foam insulation – being careful not to cover the electrical wires that still need to be inspected – replaced a window and kept himself busy with the endless list of jobs that need to be done.

Add scaffold construction to the man’s resume. It was like popping through a trap door, which was appropriate for International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Foam every where.

Trimming off the excess foam…hard work with a one-handled blade…

…so Dave fashioned his own two-handled knife!

Yesterday morning Dave made his fourth phone call. When he got the inspector’s voice mail again, Dave said hello, identified himself, and said “I’ve been trying to reach you for an electrical inspection… Oddly enough, I was out Friday night, talking with Mr. X* and your name came up when I mentioned that I needed an inspection….” 10 minutes later Dave’s phone rang. The inspector should be here this afternoon.

*Mr. X, a friend who, I am fairly certain, would feel that I besmirched his good name by mentioning him here, with VW emblazoned across the top of the page. We like him any way.

Vay-cay-shun!

Woo-hoo! Dave’s on vacation again.

Some people go to the beach.

Some eat their way across Europe.

Others go hiking in the woods or exploring canyons.

If you know us at all, you know what the next two weeks will entail.

It won’t be as exciting as this…

...but stay tuned for updates on all the fun that we plan to have.

I do sometimes wonder what “normal” people must think of us.

Race postponed due to rain...

Dave came home early today to do some online training for work. I went out to the garage to ask him a question (due to our household turmoil, his desk & computer are in the garage).

This is what I saw...

What the??

He was watching the NASCAR race that had been rained out this past weekend!

Electrifying...

Bob the siding guy and a helper were here for half of a day last week to finish their job.

 

I had mixed emotions about the peak of the new construction when viewed from the driveway side of the house but after Bob got done with it, it really doesn't look half bad. He used siding, soffits and metal trim to match the rest of the house, it all ties together nicely - rather than sticking up like the potential sore thumb it could be.

Yesterday Dave built a wall, framed a doorway, and pulled some of the electrical wires.

 

As he was hand sawing the threshold for the doorway I heard, “I bet Matt & his guys never use one of these.”

Drilling through a corner post.

I helped by chatting at him, taking photos, occasionally locating a tool, vacuuming up sawdust (while Dave was still trying to work) and generally slowing down progress.

For example, I spied this wayward hammer. Helpful!

It’s surprising how much planning and thinking ahead is required for each step of this process in order to eliminate making more work for ourselves down the road.