Potty talk

The bathroom is gonna get it. It's time.

Andy has been plotting his attack for days. The dilemma is that the floor is a bit uneven - too uneven to ignore. He's come up with some creative ways for dealing with the problem, but seems to be succumbing to the more conventional methods.

One thing's for sure. The next owner of this house has it made. The owner(s) previous to us would've just slapped another layer of linoleum on top of the floor and call it a day. Us? Not acceptable. It'd keep us up at night. Actually, it kinda does - we end each day counting down the hours until we're scheduled to be back at the house for more work. Is there enough time for dinner, and a movie, and a good night's sleep? Will Pili's walk in the morning be abbreviated or turn into a late-morning walk? Good thing both of us are resolute. This is totally worth it.

I drove to Redwood City today to pick up a craigslist light from this really sweet old couple. It was plucked from a craftsman remodel and I think it'll go in our dining room. It's fairly large, over 20", and it would command a hefty price in a boutique vintage spot like Ohmega Salvage. And...if we change our mind I'm sure I can sell it for at least as much as I paid for it on Craigslist. Yay craigslist.

We had a lovely dinner tonight with our cousin Rachel and her boyfriend Nathaniel. I finally branched out at Cafe Gratitude and ordered something other than Yo Soy Mucho. In a menu full of self-affirmations like "I am effervescent", "I am graceful", and "I am beautiful", why in the world would they make one called "I am a whole lot"? It happens to be my favorite dish. I just cringe every time I have to say it. Anyhow, it was delish (as usual).

We No Speak Americano

We understand that many of you have been experiencing some confusion as to what Andy and Jessica are doing these days. Some of you are under the impression that we are very busy people. Those people would be correct. Some of you wonder how we can be so busy if we aren't yet parents, don't yet have a (finished) home to tend to, and are living the good life in tony Walnut Creek. What would we be doing with ourselves day in and day out? In an effort to clear up any confusion, Andy and Jessica have created a video to clear up any of the confusion.

Zip Car launch, and another wall bites the dust

On Tuesday of this week, we attended the launch of Zip Car's Low Car Diet. It was a blessedly quick affair, with some goodie give-away's, etc. The best? They included Andy in the Low Car Diet as well! As a token of our affection and gratitude, we decided to take goofy pictures.

Yesterday, Andy started to take down a most ridiculous wall. It has presented a bit of a mystery from the start. Without seeing it, my descriptors will be meaningless, so I won't bother. Simply study the picture. If you look closely at the construction of the wall, you'll see beams and headers that don't connect, severe over-construction, and a downright goofy build. Some materials are new, some are old. We wonder what story this wall could tell. Perhaps it was a post, then a wall? Maybe a half-wall? Anyway, it was a bad idea...so, goodbye wall!

Here is the old wallpaper found under many layers.

We'll spend the next couple of days pricing out a materials list from our contractor and get a move on the structural stuff. Yeehaw!

Post Family Saves the World

One of the first things we were introduced to when we first moved to Chicago was a design collaborative called The Post Family. A group of five guys, with a shared vision, decided to stop talking and start doing. Besides throwing great art openings and New Year's parties, they are a group of good people leaving their mark. I am proud of them for expanding their reach and I hope you enjoy this video.

Goodbye chimney!

Phew! The last traces of that silly chimney have all but disappeared. Andy has hit up Craigslist many-a-time and given away nearly all of the bricks and flues. Andy and Dan patched the hole in the main floor thus sealing off the basement, and they replaced the joists in the ceiling. The only thing left is patching the hole in the roof (and the drywall, mudding, painting, etc.). Here are some pics to show what they did today.

Dan and Andy putting in floorboards where the fireplace used to be.

The very spot where we had a wall and a chimney! Now you can see clearly into the kitchen. When it's complete, we'll have a wall on the left side (opposite the built-in, which is on the right).

While these guys were putting it all together, Kimber and I put together our electrical plan. Although we've been making decisions about our house for months, somehow putting together the electrical plan really brought it home - this is our house. We get to say. We get to say whether or not we want a pendant light, a can light, or track lighting. We get to say where it goes, and how bright. Our choices for all these little things are just reminders that yes, at some point, we'll actually live in this house and get to enjoy all the hard work and forethought that went into the details. I really can't wait for that to happen.

Pili and I went on a walk and, lo and behold, around the corner from our house one of our neighbors was hosting a grey water open house to demonstrate all the different ways to conserve and re-purpose water. I was pretty impressed by a washing machine and bathroom set-up that looked something like this:

Wouldn't this be amazing?

Loving Zip Car

On a whim, I decided to submit an application for Zip Car's Low-Car Diet. As I alluded to in a previous post, we've been laboring over our decision to sell our car, and I have been looking into whether or not Zip Car or a similar car service could work for a growing young family.

This is essentially what I said in my application. I think they liked it, because within a couple hours, I had an email saying that we were chosen as one of 25 people to take the Low-Car Diet and live car-free for a month, with the help of a free Zip Car membership!

It's really been weighing on me. If we can't live a car-free life, with BART 4 blocks away, bicycles at our fingertips, Trader Joe's within blocks, a great weekly neighborhood farmers market, who can?!? Maybe it's unrealistic to think that our planned cities are ready for a massive walking/biking population. But we've always prided ourselves on pushing boundaries and walking the talk. So, here's our chance.

Because there is a tremendous amount of coordination involved in building our house, I won't be able to avoid cars altogether. I will ride as a passenger when Andy drives a non-Zip Car, and I'll only use Zip Car when absolutely needed.

The kick-off for the Low-Car Diet is Tuesday, September 14 at noon at AT&T Park in SF. I'm under the impression that friends and family are invited, so if you want to join in the celebration, please come (and let me know if I should look for you there)! We'll get our brand new Zip Car membership in addition to a bunch of other goodies designed to help us in our car-free journey. This is gonna be great!

Labor Day Fun and the week ahead

But first...a note of celebration...

We got the permit for the structural work on the house! Yeah!

Bravo, Mr. Waggoner, for your deft skills at navigating the nightmare of the permitting department. If we could both drink, we'd toast to permits tonight.

Back to Labor Day weekend. Adam, Eliza, and Alice joined us for a loverly weekend up at the Tahoe house. Here's a brief synopsis:

1. A slow float down the frigid Truckee River in inappropriately-sized, and poorly inflated, flotation devices. Adam was forced to make the journey lying completely supine the entire route so as to not disturb the blow-up kayak, and Andy chose to wear a life jacket (note: there were multiple families on the river that day, not-a-one person - even toddlers - was wearing a life jacket). Eliza was dumped once, and got a taste of what glacial snowmelt feels like in September. Average river depth = 2 feet. Perfect.

2. Two late afternoon trips to the magnificent Donner Lake. The scene was very summer camp. We were mocked by a stranger for reading on the beach (what else were we supposed to do? and since when do adults mock adults for reading?). It was the ultimate in re-la-xation.

3. Taking the dogs on a hike past Castle Rock. They returned several shades dustier than when we started. Eliza nearly lost an eye when scrambling around under a dead tree, and Jessica wept uncontrollably at the mere mention of the word "death" in an off-hand and harmless comment by her clearly not-pregnant husband. It was a beautiful hike.

Hopefully Adam will post some pictures soon so that I can add them to the blog.

The week ahead is exciting. We anticipate a final quote from our contractor, final drawings from our talented architect (thanks, Kevin!), and welcoming the new year with family and friends. L'shana tova, everyone!