At long last

We tried desperately to have the patience to wait until all of the kitchen remodel was complete before posting pictures. Anything short of totally done and it would have felt premature. And there were plenty of roadblocks to hold up yesterday’s little photo shoot, even after 4 and a half months of solid work on this place. The biggest problem was probably a 9 foot slab of granite shattering in the midst of our kitchen as it was being removed for modifications. The noise was horrendous and until I saw it, I never would have guessed a piece of stone like that could shatter like glass. But all that’s behind us and repaired now and we’re actually living comfortably in our new space. We're grateful for Magic Sliders, Bob’s willing back and the burst of energy I’ve had unpacking. Now that life is once again starting to take on a normal rhythm, I hope to be back posting more often.

Here are before and after shots from roughly the same spot- the family room looking toward the kitchen area. If you're so inclined you can see more photos in our photo album.

Better than flowers and chocolate

It's right around the corner, so close I can feel it. The movers are coming on Valentine's day and, if all goes according to plan, we'll spend that night in our new house. Finally, after months of work and chasing the details, we're on the verge of being done. We're still collecting our thoughts on the whole process so stay tuned for an upcoming post on our 'lessons learned' and photos of the finished product.

All this comes not a moment too soon since we're now in need of a nursery. To readers afar, my news may come as a surprise since I've been mum on this for some time. But our little family will be welcoming another little boy in June. Sam is anxious to tell anyone who'll listen, "there's a baby in Mommy's belly." He seems to be adjusting to the idea well and thankfully, his attachment to the name Gordon was only short lived.

So until I have more, I leave you with this photo of 4 Brazilians, a French Canadian, a lot of rock salt and a pickup truck in our front yard. That's what it took to get our new family gathering place into the house.

Troubling trends: Organic popcorn futures up, home prices down

With the holidays in full effect and the remodel timeline urging us to distract ourselves, we've been catching up on our movie watching. Even though our holiday card said otherwise, the house is still uninhabitable and as a result, we put all visions of sugar plums on hold until next year.

Overall, there weren't any true cinematic standouts although we both enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada and Little Miss Sunshine. Other movies on our 'recently viewed' list are Friends with Money, The Family Stone, Failure to Launch, Lady in the Water, Thank you for Smoking, You, Me and Dupree, Clerks II and, the one you may not enjoy but ought to see, An Inconvenient Truth.

I still don't like Al Gore as a Presidential candidate, but I definitely think his movie is worth watching. If this strange spring weather in New England doesn't convince you, the science presented in the movie might. It's both compelling and depressing; I can't help but feel that a tidal wave from the Arctic ice shelf is imminent. It makes me wish that we could counteract global warming in the public and private sectors more aggressively. Unfortunately, the American public doesn't feel the same way. I was disheartened to hear a recent survey indicating the environment fell at the bottom of our collective priority list. I wonder if the majority of our nation saw the movie whether they'd change their minds. With all due respect to our service men and women, I wonder what difference a few Iraqi insurgents will make when half the Middle East is under water.

After the movie, I was sufficiently frightened about our planet's future and began researching what I can do to make a difference. Although the film itself doesn't offer many suggestions for the average American, the associated website does. And since our remodel is one of my most consuming thoughts these days, I took solace in how we've tried to get through the project with our micro and macro environments in mind.

We've been trying to do our part by renovating our not so big house instead of building brand new. Throughout the renovation we've made eco-friendly design choices wherever it was feasible, cost effective and didn't sacrifice the house's colonial integrity. Here's a rundown of our green remodeling practices:

-started by hiring a licensed deleader who brought the house into Massachusetts compliance and safely disposed of the lead paint.
-chose locally sourced materials including Vermont slate flooring and Canadian granite countertops instead of the typical varieties that get shipped from half a world away.
-purchased all new Energy Star appliances and "freecycled" the out of date ones to individuals using even older, less efficient models. Ours didn't end up in a landfill and the new appliance owners get to use something more efficient than what they had.
-installed new Energy Star certified thermostats.
-selected new windows and doors that have low-e glass and are Energy Star qualified.
-referenced California's Title 24 guidelines to implement a lighting plan that minimizes electricity usage without sacrificing light quality. Also installed Energy Star fluorescent light fixtures wherever light color was not an issue like in closets and on the front of the house.
-weatherized the attic and vast crawl spaces beneath the living areas with insulation certified by GreenGuard.
-used zero-VOC Sherwin Williams paints throughout to minimize offgassing.
-refinished hardwood floors with low-VOC water based finishes.
-removed wall to wall carpeting to improve indoor air quality.
-installed a high quality water filter in the kitchen so we could safely drink our tap water.
-designed recycling stations into our kitchen layout.
-using natural cleaning products in post construction cleanup.

Taking just these small steps helps me feel a little better about my responsibility in the environmental crisis. I challenge you to take some steps, however small, to do the same.

Destruction was never so beautiful

As far as I'm concerned, construction may as well be brain surgery. I am consistently amazed when I see what a couple of skilled guys can accomplish in an afternoon. Install a steel beam in the ceiling? No problem. Relocate an exterior door? Piece of cake.

Watching our carpenter Marius and his associate Joe do it reminds us why we are not DIYers. Don't get me wrong, for some, doing the weekend warrior thing makes sense. But for Bob and me, it would be the worst decision we could make. The two of us are often outwitted by the simplest of home improvement projects (see past failures: relocating speaker wire about 10 feet on the same wall, replacing outlet cover and myriad other fiascos too embarrassing to admit.) I figure, if Bob gets hired to do chip floorplanning and one day, God willing, I will once again be hired to write a smokin' marketing plan, why should we expect that our talents should extend beyond the realms in which we excel? More simply put, just as I wouldn't expect Marius to try his hand at our jobs, why oh why would we try to do his? Many have told us there's money to be saved by us doing at least part of the job. But I have my doubts; I envision us doing more harm than good, as in, "Uhh, the house is rocking... do you think that could have been a load bearing wall?" I'm reasonably certain the best thing for all involved is for us to leave it to the pros. We take the immortal words of Mike Holmes seriously, "If you can't afford to do it RIGHT, then you have to WAIT." Besides, if you looked that good in Carhartt overalls, I'd listen to you too.

It took a few weeks of demolition and another couple of weeks of framing but now we've officially turned the corner and the state of affairs at the house is steadily improving each time we visit. For a while there was chaos everywhere with unidentified wires snaking around and steam pipes running from ceiling to floor where once there were walls. But now the mess is disappearing and in its place we're beginning to see what's to come. There's plenty more work to do but it looks like we may be able to move in mid-January. That means it'll be a non-traditional Christmas here in the apartment where the blinding whiteness isn't from the snow outside but from all the glaringly barren walls. Thankfully, it doesn't bother Sam in the least, in fact he loves to play the drums on the giant moving boxes that litter the apartment. It's amazing how much stuff one can live without when it's thought to be temporary. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we'd be here so long but I'd certainly rather live here than amidst the dust storm currently raging inside our house. I also consider myself fortunate that this year Sam hasn't quite figured out the logistical challenges Santa will face on Christmas Eve when he tries to figure out how to get in this apartment without a fireplace. Rest assured next year it'll be another story; the stockings will be hung by the new-and-improved chimney with care.