[Larry jogs out to the mound to break up a players' conference]
Larry: Excuse me, but what the hell's going on out here?
Crash Davis: Well, Nuke's scared because his eyelids are jammed and his old man's here. We need a live... is it a live rooster?
[Jose nods]
Crash Davis: . We need a live rooster to take the curse off Jose's glove and nobody seems to know what to get Millie or Jimmy for their wedding present.
[to the players]
Crash Davis: Is that about right?
[the players nod]
Crash Davis: We're dealing with a lot of shit.
For those of you who know the movie well enough, you know that’s from the movie Bull Durham. And if you didn’t know that, it means you haven’t seen the movie or not for a while anyway. Well, despite being over 20 years old it holds up pretty well, so take the time to put it in your Netflix queue. In fact, stop reading this and if you can find an actual video store rent it, then come back.
Anyway, I think that summarizes the last few weeks for us. We’ve been dealing with a lot of shit. It hasn’t been fun. Two weeks ago we got the initial bid package from our builder…and it was high. Really high. Too high. Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Acceptance. We went through them, the four of us did. Some at different speeds than others. And over the next week or so we were all over the place. Cut. Start over. Wait. Give up. We ran through it all. And to be honest, the whole plan went from life support to flatlining for just a little while. We talked about just walking away from the whole plan and going our separate ways. But instead of swimming towards the light we stayed put. There’s still plenty of work to do (and plenty of shit to deal with) but we’re feeling better about it.
I told myself when I decided to blog about this I would try to share the good with the bad. So here’s some more detail on the problems we’ve been having and how we’ve been dealing with them.
Switching Our Land Plan
I think it’s a little funny the first post of this blog is entitled “We Have Land!” because, well, we don’t. Or we kinda have some land we don’t want and are close on some land we do want. Let me explain. We had some land locked up north of Brownsburg. We pushed the close date way out (July 15) from the agreement date because we wanted to skip the lot loan and go right into the construction loan, saving us a set of closing costs. (Tom’s idea, and a damn good one) To get a construction loan you need your plans complete so they can be appraised. So we started working on plans a few months ago. At the same time we all sold our houses and moved to our apartments in Zionsville – Gretchen and Tom the first of May and us mid-June. Gretchen really fell in love with Zionsville and also voiced reservations regarding how far out in the country the Brownsburg land is (about a 20 minute drive from “town”). There was, however, some land outside of Zionsville that was up for auction many months ago and has still not sold. So it was decided that we bail on the Brownsburg property and go after the Zionsville property. But the guy that owns the Brownsburg property wasn’t too thrilled about this as you can imagine. And as we have a contract with him and this is America we were afraid he would sue us. In fact, we still are. He still hasn’t signed the mutual release, even though signing it allows him to collect the $1,000 earnest money and an additional $1,000 we are throwing in “at his request”. So this dude is just being difficult and making it hard for us to move on. We do have a contingency in our new land (with a close date of August 31) that lets us out if we don’t have that mutual release signed. But what are we supposed to do? He won’t even get back to his own realtor. I think we should leave sleeping dogs lie and not provoke this guy. More to come on this, but much to our chagrin we still have a purchase agreement in place for a piece of land we don’t want. Not fun.
Over Budget – What To Do?
If you have had a chance to review the plans in previous posts, you might be close to as excited as I am about the house. I’m sorry to give you the bad news, but we can’t afford that house. We dove into the budget and started cuttingcuttingcutting. No frills. Smaller basement. Vinyl siding instead of cement-board. Cut money out of the cabinet budget. Cut money out of the flooring budget. Cut money out of the (gulp) appliance budget. At some point you aren’t cutting flesh any more – you’re cutting bone. We hit that point and said “stop!” We were headed toward a big box with lousy fixtures and a dirt yard for the kids to play in ‘cause we can’t afford grass seed.
So after we made it through the aforementioned stages of grief we circled the wagons and had some good dialogue. We’re cutting square footage. We’re cutting much of the meat. But we’re confident we will end up with a house we can afford and a house we like – maybe one that could use some more space and one that could use better faucets, but a really good start. We should see a revised sketch of a floor plan and a revised budget sometime next week.
Money
This is America and we don’t talk about money here. Sure, we all know what Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome and Carlos Zambrano make (fellow Cubs fans just punched a wall) but the rest of us don’t talk about what we make, how we spend it, how much debt we have, how much we have in savings. It’s The Big Secret in American communities. If you think about it, that’s one of the reasons our cohabitation adventure seems weird. “Wait, they are going to have to manage money together, aren’t they? How will that happen? What if one family makes more than the other? What if one family wants to borrow against the house and the other doesn’t? What if Tom wants to get NFL Ticket and Sarah says it’s ridiculous, for Pete’s sake!” Excellent points, actually. And something we’re working through. We’re aware money is the #1 reason couples fight and a leading cause of divorce, and we know we need to have open conversations about money between the four of us. This is easier said than done as we have found out. The over-budget bid tested our mettle when it came to this. I’m sure many of you would agree when it comes to a house purchase there are a few different budgets:
1. There is what you would like to pay for a house, leaving enough money to still have some left over for savings, college accounts, etc.
2. There is what you can afford for a house if you really stretched it, assuming nothing bad happens and you get the raises you think you will get over the next couple years.
3. There is what your real estate agent thinks you can afford as they keep showing you houses that you would be crazy to buy yet they are beautiful and make the houses in the two aforementioned bullets look like crap. Finally you have to be a dick and say “how about showing me something I can afford, jackass. Oh, and why do you guys all drive Saab’s, Audi’s and Volvo’s?” (note: our real estate agents are not like this, and I’m not just saying that because they may be reading this. If you need an outstanding real estate agent in Minneapolis, I highly recommend Charly Marggraf with Edina Realty. My talented sister-in-law Cyndi Gudac Ribolzi will take great care of you on Chicago’s North side, and our Indianapolis agent Jim Schleuter with FC Tucker will do right by you, I swear. Oh, and Charley drives a Saab, Cyndi an Audi and Jim a Volvo.)
4. And then of course there is the “someday” house. Which, if you really think about it, would probably be way too much house and more work than you wanted to do. Plus you have to buy all that furniture to fill it. Even if you could afford it you probably shouldn’t ‘cause it’s just silly. But nice to dream about.
Most of us buy the house behind Door #2. My point is that many of us are pushing it. And it’s one thing to push it with your own family, but a whole other game of Parcheesi to do it with another family. Like today I was watching the two youngest – son Frankie and nephew Charlie – at the small playground at our apartment building today. I took a phone call and let Charlie get away from me a bit and he fell off the equipment face-first into the gravel. It’s one thing to be a dumbass on my cell phone and let my toddler do a face plant, but a different thing to do it with my nephew, right? You feel worse. Because you know you have a bigger responsibility with others than with your own. The same thing with this house. Just as the return has the potential to be really great, so does the risk.
So you should know that it’s not all puppy dogs and rainbows on this project, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. And you should also know that we’re getting through it. And if you did in fact see Bull Durham you also remember that candlesticks always make a nice gift, and uh, maybe you could find out where she's registered and maybe a place-setting or maybe a silverware pattern. Okay, let's get two! Go get 'em.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Berry Obsessed
I don't know, it's like some sort of compulsion or fetish or something. When I drive by a hand painted "u-pick" sign on a county road it takes everything in me not to slam on the brakes and thow it in reverse. Usually Dan is with me and he is not such a fan of picking berries (he's totally a party-pooper) so I don't get to stop nearly as often as I'd like, but the other day it was just the kids and I when I saw it, a sign for u-pick blueberries. I don't know if you have ever picked blueberries but it is wonderful. Hands down the best berry to pick. The bushes are upright so you don't have to sit on your knees or break your back bending over and there are no thorns! We checked it out and decided to come back when we could bring Gretchen, Noah and Charlie. 
We returned the next day and picked 10 pounds. Can I just say it again, I love picking berries -- the kids running from row to row with their little buckets or baskets, the sunshine, the amazing taste of a fresh picked berry compared to store-bought...need I say more.
When we went to weigh our blue bounty, I had a chance to talk to the farmer. He used to grow corn, but always had one area where his crop never grew more than a couple of feet high. "I finally tested the soil," he said "and it was just too acidic for corn." He thought about adding some lime to the soil to change the Ph but his wife suggested they try growing something that likes acidic soil. They looked it up and it was either azaleas or blueberries. "We didn't know what we'd do with all those azaleas, so we planted blueberries." 25 years later, the 300 blueberry plants he put in by hand are still there and giving plenty of fruit.
Talking to Gretchen on the way home the question wasn't IF we should plant blueberries on the land but how many. Is 100 plants excessive?
We returned the next day and picked 10 pounds. Can I just say it again, I love picking berries -- the kids running from row to row with their little buckets or baskets, the sunshine, the amazing taste of a fresh picked berry compared to store-bought...need I say more.When we went to weigh our blue bounty, I had a chance to talk to the farmer. He used to grow corn, but always had one area where his crop never grew more than a couple of feet high. "I finally tested the soil," he said "and it was just too acidic for corn." He thought about adding some lime to the soil to change the Ph but his wife suggested they try growing something that likes acidic soil. They looked it up and it was either azaleas or blueberries. "We didn't know what we'd do with all those azaleas, so we planted blueberries." 25 years later, the 300 blueberry plants he put in by hand are still there and giving plenty of fruit.
Talking to Gretchen on the way home the question wasn't IF we should plant blueberries on the land but how many. Is 100 plants excessive?
So, two gluten-free coffee cakes and one pie later, we were left with more fresh blueberries than anyone should probably eat. But I can't get enough of them. Fresh, local and pick by hand, my hands.
Gretchen's Blueberry Pie
My Gluten-free Blueberry Coffee Cake
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Not in the same house yet, but in the same apartment complex.
I was working on a big old blog post but it was becoming way too verbose and taking me way too long so here’s some quick hits on what has been going on with us since we landed in Indiana and both families settled in across the courtyard from one another in our temporary apartment digs. There’s lots of interesting news on the house and land, so look for another post yet this week.
Saturday was a really good day. Tom and I went and played nine holes of golf in the morning. We played at 7AM and walked. There’s a cheap nine-hole course at the north end of town – ten bucks a piece. OK course. We didn’t keep score. Of course, we couldn’t find anywhere to get a bloody Mary at 9AM, which is a problem. After that we got a couple errands done while waiting for Sarah and Gretchen to return from the farmer’s market with the kids. Then we had lunch and Sarah took Grace to Conner Prairie (www.connorprairie.org) while the rest of us went to the pool for a little while. Then I brought Frederick and Frankie back to our apartment and let them spend some time on the computer while I folded laundry and prepped dinner while the World Cup was on. (note about the World Cup. You know the old fridge light thing? Does it really shut off when you close the door? That’s how the World Cup has been at our apartment. The minute Sarah leaves the apartment I turn it on, then shut it off before she gets home. What can I say. Plus I think the vuvuzelas help relax the kids in some Zen-African kind of way). Anyway, we had a great dinner. We had some chicken and green beans to go with our first good farmer’s market corn-on-the-cob of the year. Then for dessert a blueberry pie Gretchen baked with homemade ice cream. (the girls and the kids went blueberry picking Friday morning) Super good. A really good day and a typical day lately.
Meals together. I assumed we would eat some meals together but I didn’t know how much. The answer is – lots. Pretty much every dinner. Most lunches. And the occasional breakfast. This has been pleasantly surprising. The meal itself is a bit frenetic – we don’t have the table or the room to hold us all, and the kids are so young it’s just a lot. And Kid A wants to sit by Parent A but Kid B wants to sit by Kid C and Parent B and … seriously. But after the meal we realize new benefits. Two of us clear the table, put away any leftovers (not many with 9 of us) and do the dishes while the other two entertain the children. You end up only having dishes at your house every other night and the dishes get done before the kids are down, not after. Big difference. (Lots of you with young children are nodding your heads right now, eh?)
Date night. When Sarah and I made the move, Tom and Gretchen said “you two are going to dinner tomorrow night on us” and we said “great!” Since then Friday night has been date night. We alternate nights – Sarah and I go out one week and Tom and Gretchen cook for the kids, then we reverse it the next Friday. We make homemade pizzas with the kids, which is a pretty surefire meal with not too much cleanup. This has been great. Wonderful. Sarah and I knew we weren’t doing this enough in MN. Though we won’t be going to a nice sit-down dinner every time (I think Tom and Gretch are playing tennis this Friday – exercise and more in-budget) it will be great to have a standing date. This kicks ass.
There is a pool. Our apartment complex has an outdoor swimming pool. It’s a nice pool. Children + apartments + hot summer = high need for pool. It’s been great. We might need to get one of these with our house (not in the budget, but maybe someday. J)
Shirtless men. Sarah thinks men should only have their shirts off in public for the following reasons – you are at the beach or a public pool, you are jogging or playing basketball, you are roofing a house and it is above ninety degrees. In fact, she thinks you should follow these rules around the house too. She thinks it’s strange when men have their shirt off, say, walking around a neighborhood or grilling in the backyard. She thinks it’s REALLY strange for you to be driving your car or truck without a shirt on. There hasn’t been a lot of people driving around without a shirt on, but it only takes one or two now doesn’t it?
Food and finances. We recently opened a checking and savings account…and a checking and savings account…and a checking and savings account. I have now coined the term “uber-savings” and “uber-checking” accounts as the term “joint-checking/savings” describes an account between you and your spouse and doesn’t fully encompass an account that all four of us can access. We opened these right away for two reasons – 1) we’re already writing checks for the property (architect, surveyor) and thus want to establish the uber savings, and 2) as we are having meals together we want to start managing a single food budget. The food budget is interesting as though we are eating most of our meals together we have two separate apartments. We’ll keep you updated as to how this is working out. Oh, and we started using an online organizer thingy called www.cozi.com. It allows us to develop a “master calendar” that all of us can access. Sarah and Gretch have the app on their iPhone. Gretch is using it for menu planning and I’m trying to put my travel schedule in there. Grace is already in some camps (horse, soccer) and those are in there as well. We’ll let you know how it’s working as well.
Autos. We’ve been talking a bit about autos. Between the two families we have two vans and two beaters. Tom also has a motorcycle. Each family has a minivan, and Tom and I coincidentally enough drive the cars our wives drove when we first met them (and now would prefer not to drive). But we’ve been talking about what we need – both now and once we’re in one house. I could see us driving these beaters until they die and once both have left us we just buy one used car to share. I’ve been biking to the library to work and Tom drives his motorcycle to work quite a bit, so I think dropping a car is pretty reasonable. Tom would probably lobby for a truck, but I would really like an old El Camino – that way I could drive around with my shirt off. Sarah doesn’t think that’s funny. Except when I suggested it would be weird if both Tom and I were in the El Camino with our shirts off. She thought that was funny in an uncomfortable kind of way.
An active lifestyle. One of the things I really wanted to do when moving to Indy is to live a more active lifestyle. It’s not just about exercising, though Tom and I have joined a gym and are (trying to) work out. But I want to make sure the kids grow up in an environment where exercise and activity are a part of their lifestyle. This – despite the scorching weather – has been a pleasant surprise. Tom and Gretchen are good about planning activity into our days. Bike rides and walks, trips to parks, swimming, ball in the yard. We went to a great state park on Saturday and did some serious hiking. This has been great and I hope it continues.
Apartment living. Great to be back in an apartment! (sarcasm noted) It hasn’t been too bad, but just a little weird. It’s also a good exercise in reminding you what you do/don’t want in the home you are building (for instance, I like sinks that I can actually get a pot under the faucet. I know, I’m totally high-maintenance.) We have ants. (carpeting in the dining room is great!) I already locked up the garbage disposal. Our dishwasher is worthless (wait, so was the one in our house that we paid like $900 for). And then there is the recycling, or may I say the lack thereof…(Dan steps back, pours the rest of his beer into his glass, pushes up his sleeves and prepares to rant) OK, this isn’t an Indiana vs. Minnesota thing, because I’m sure this goes on in MN as well. I think it’s an apartment building thing. They don’t recycle. How can you not recycle? Haven’t we made this move as a society? Are people really not recycling still? It’s like when you get in the car with another adult and they don’t put on their seatbelt. What are you doing? Put on your seatbelt. This isn’t 1978. We all wear our seatbelts now. It’s not square – it keeps you from being thrown from the vehicle and dying. Put your seatbelt on. Is recycling not there yet? Anyway, I’m sure it costs the apartment building like seven bucks a month per unit to recycle and they don’t think they could get it back in rent so they just don’t do it. This sucks. I’m writing a letter.
That’s it for now. More to come on the land itself. We are also seeing “pre-bids” on the house and will see if we are on-budget. Let us know if you have any questions about our living together planning and we’ll try to answer them.
Saturday was a really good day. Tom and I went and played nine holes of golf in the morning. We played at 7AM and walked. There’s a cheap nine-hole course at the north end of town – ten bucks a piece. OK course. We didn’t keep score. Of course, we couldn’t find anywhere to get a bloody Mary at 9AM, which is a problem. After that we got a couple errands done while waiting for Sarah and Gretchen to return from the farmer’s market with the kids. Then we had lunch and Sarah took Grace to Conner Prairie (www.connorprairie.org) while the rest of us went to the pool for a little while. Then I brought Frederick and Frankie back to our apartment and let them spend some time on the computer while I folded laundry and prepped dinner while the World Cup was on. (note about the World Cup. You know the old fridge light thing? Does it really shut off when you close the door? That’s how the World Cup has been at our apartment. The minute Sarah leaves the apartment I turn it on, then shut it off before she gets home. What can I say. Plus I think the vuvuzelas help relax the kids in some Zen-African kind of way). Anyway, we had a great dinner. We had some chicken and green beans to go with our first good farmer’s market corn-on-the-cob of the year. Then for dessert a blueberry pie Gretchen baked with homemade ice cream. (the girls and the kids went blueberry picking Friday morning) Super good. A really good day and a typical day lately.
Meals together. I assumed we would eat some meals together but I didn’t know how much. The answer is – lots. Pretty much every dinner. Most lunches. And the occasional breakfast. This has been pleasantly surprising. The meal itself is a bit frenetic – we don’t have the table or the room to hold us all, and the kids are so young it’s just a lot. And Kid A wants to sit by Parent A but Kid B wants to sit by Kid C and Parent B and … seriously. But after the meal we realize new benefits. Two of us clear the table, put away any leftovers (not many with 9 of us) and do the dishes while the other two entertain the children. You end up only having dishes at your house every other night and the dishes get done before the kids are down, not after. Big difference. (Lots of you with young children are nodding your heads right now, eh?)
Date night. When Sarah and I made the move, Tom and Gretchen said “you two are going to dinner tomorrow night on us” and we said “great!” Since then Friday night has been date night. We alternate nights – Sarah and I go out one week and Tom and Gretchen cook for the kids, then we reverse it the next Friday. We make homemade pizzas with the kids, which is a pretty surefire meal with not too much cleanup. This has been great. Wonderful. Sarah and I knew we weren’t doing this enough in MN. Though we won’t be going to a nice sit-down dinner every time (I think Tom and Gretch are playing tennis this Friday – exercise and more in-budget) it will be great to have a standing date. This kicks ass.
There is a pool. Our apartment complex has an outdoor swimming pool. It’s a nice pool. Children + apartments + hot summer = high need for pool. It’s been great. We might need to get one of these with our house (not in the budget, but maybe someday. J)
Shirtless men. Sarah thinks men should only have their shirts off in public for the following reasons – you are at the beach or a public pool, you are jogging or playing basketball, you are roofing a house and it is above ninety degrees. In fact, she thinks you should follow these rules around the house too. She thinks it’s strange when men have their shirt off, say, walking around a neighborhood or grilling in the backyard. She thinks it’s REALLY strange for you to be driving your car or truck without a shirt on. There hasn’t been a lot of people driving around without a shirt on, but it only takes one or two now doesn’t it?
Food and finances. We recently opened a checking and savings account…and a checking and savings account…and a checking and savings account. I have now coined the term “uber-savings” and “uber-checking” accounts as the term “joint-checking/savings” describes an account between you and your spouse and doesn’t fully encompass an account that all four of us can access. We opened these right away for two reasons – 1) we’re already writing checks for the property (architect, surveyor) and thus want to establish the uber savings, and 2) as we are having meals together we want to start managing a single food budget. The food budget is interesting as though we are eating most of our meals together we have two separate apartments. We’ll keep you updated as to how this is working out. Oh, and we started using an online organizer thingy called www.cozi.com. It allows us to develop a “master calendar” that all of us can access. Sarah and Gretch have the app on their iPhone. Gretch is using it for menu planning and I’m trying to put my travel schedule in there. Grace is already in some camps (horse, soccer) and those are in there as well. We’ll let you know how it’s working as well.
Autos. We’ve been talking a bit about autos. Between the two families we have two vans and two beaters. Tom also has a motorcycle. Each family has a minivan, and Tom and I coincidentally enough drive the cars our wives drove when we first met them (and now would prefer not to drive). But we’ve been talking about what we need – both now and once we’re in one house. I could see us driving these beaters until they die and once both have left us we just buy one used car to share. I’ve been biking to the library to work and Tom drives his motorcycle to work quite a bit, so I think dropping a car is pretty reasonable. Tom would probably lobby for a truck, but I would really like an old El Camino – that way I could drive around with my shirt off. Sarah doesn’t think that’s funny. Except when I suggested it would be weird if both Tom and I were in the El Camino with our shirts off. She thought that was funny in an uncomfortable kind of way.
An active lifestyle. One of the things I really wanted to do when moving to Indy is to live a more active lifestyle. It’s not just about exercising, though Tom and I have joined a gym and are (trying to) work out. But I want to make sure the kids grow up in an environment where exercise and activity are a part of their lifestyle. This – despite the scorching weather – has been a pleasant surprise. Tom and Gretchen are good about planning activity into our days. Bike rides and walks, trips to parks, swimming, ball in the yard. We went to a great state park on Saturday and did some serious hiking. This has been great and I hope it continues.
Apartment living. Great to be back in an apartment! (sarcasm noted) It hasn’t been too bad, but just a little weird. It’s also a good exercise in reminding you what you do/don’t want in the home you are building (for instance, I like sinks that I can actually get a pot under the faucet. I know, I’m totally high-maintenance.) We have ants. (carpeting in the dining room is great!) I already locked up the garbage disposal. Our dishwasher is worthless (wait, so was the one in our house that we paid like $900 for). And then there is the recycling, or may I say the lack thereof…(Dan steps back, pours the rest of his beer into his glass, pushes up his sleeves and prepares to rant) OK, this isn’t an Indiana vs. Minnesota thing, because I’m sure this goes on in MN as well. I think it’s an apartment building thing. They don’t recycle. How can you not recycle? Haven’t we made this move as a society? Are people really not recycling still? It’s like when you get in the car with another adult and they don’t put on their seatbelt. What are you doing? Put on your seatbelt. This isn’t 1978. We all wear our seatbelts now. It’s not square – it keeps you from being thrown from the vehicle and dying. Put your seatbelt on. Is recycling not there yet? Anyway, I’m sure it costs the apartment building like seven bucks a month per unit to recycle and they don’t think they could get it back in rent so they just don’t do it. This sucks. I’m writing a letter.
That’s it for now. More to come on the land itself. We are also seeing “pre-bids” on the house and will see if we are on-budget. Let us know if you have any questions about our living together planning and we’ll try to answer them.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Handmaking Our Home
No, no, no, I don't mean us actually hand building our home. Though, if you know me and my slightly (ahem) frugal side, you might not have blinked an eye at that.
One of the things I'm so very excited about with our new house is to make it our home. I can't wait for our refrigerator to fill up with pictures, put blankets on the couch, paint the walls a warm color. Sarah and I both had this extreme urge to "stage" our last homes in order to sell them. Our husbands both thought we were headed off the deep end because it turned into a bit of an obsession (which, I have to say, did work out for both of us, guys!). So, this time around I'm determined to start decorate our home from the beginning.
I'm so excited to start making things! My list has started to grow. The first project is going to be blankets for all the kiddos' beds. Now, I admit, there are some really, really cute things in Pottery Barn Kids and we have our fair share but I love hand making things, I get such satisfaction out of making something with my hands instead of buying it at a store. Anything from a hat for Charlie, blanket for Noah, or bread for our family to enjoy. Things are just better if I take the time to make them. They might not turn out as "perfect" as the one in the store but I find that sometimes the imperfections are what really makes them special. Plus, the sense of accomplishment I get when I make something instead of store buying, it makes my day! And on top of that, Tom has perfected the art of oooing and aahhhing over the years. I do like oooo's and aahhh's!
One of the things I'm so very excited about with our new house is to make it our home. I can't wait for our refrigerator to fill up with pictures, put blankets on the couch, paint the walls a warm color. Sarah and I both had this extreme urge to "stage" our last homes in order to sell them. Our husbands both thought we were headed off the deep end because it turned into a bit of an obsession (which, I have to say, did work out for both of us, guys!). So, this time around I'm determined to start decorate our home from the beginning.
I'm so excited to start making things! My list has started to grow. The first project is going to be blankets for all the kiddos' beds. Now, I admit, there are some really, really cute things in Pottery Barn Kids and we have our fair share but I love hand making things, I get such satisfaction out of making something with my hands instead of buying it at a store. Anything from a hat for Charlie, blanket for Noah, or bread for our family to enjoy. Things are just better if I take the time to make them. They might not turn out as "perfect" as the one in the store but I find that sometimes the imperfections are what really makes them special. Plus, the sense of accomplishment I get when I make something instead of store buying, it makes my day! And on top of that, Tom has perfected the art of oooing and aahhhing over the years. I do like oooo's and aahhh's!
Here's what I've been working on the last few weeks. I can't show a finished picture 'til tomorrow. I don't want to give away any surprises for Ms. Grace's birthday.
As for the next project on my list? Turn this fabric into a picnic blanket (or two) for our upcoming lunches at the park.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
CRASH COURSE IN COHABITATION
Tomorrow we wrap up our eight-year stint in Minneapolis, and though I’m not yet ready to write about that I thought it a good time to tell you about our living arrangements the last couple weeks. When last I referenced this, we were living in a furnished apartment here in the neighborhood while Grace finished the 1st grade. The apartment was not up to snuff, especially considering what we were paying for it. The shower was backed up, the roof leaked when it rained, and the house dust was so bad that Sarah and Frederick both had trouble sleeping. So we decided to walk on the apartment before the second half of our rent was due. Sarah and I don’t feel real good about it, which led to the following exchange between us:
Sarah: I feel kinda bad we are leaving her with this place on short notice.
Dan: Hey, Flavor Flav’s got problems of his own!
Sarah: I’m sorry, did you just refer to yourself as Flavor Flav?
Dan: Yeee-ahh boyyyyyyyy!
Anyway, what allowed us to ditch our short-term-long-cost apartment was an offer from Sarah’s friend Brenda. Brenda and Doug live in the neighborhood and Sarah and Brenda are part of a group of neighborhood mom’s that go running in the morning. (like, EARLY in the morning. Have you ever been awake and outside in Minneapolis in February at 5:30 AM? I have. It is not the kind of thing that makes you say “hey, how about we take a jog around Lake Nokomis before getting the kids on the bus? I’ll bring the dog!”) The point about the AM runs isn’t just to point out how Sarah and Brenda know each other, but to give an example of the fact that they are crazy. Crazy crazy crazy crazy. Crazy.
Which leads to the offer. Brenda said to us “just come live with us the last couple of weeks. It’ll be fun! We’ll make room for you. No need to go to some extended-stay hotel by the mall – that’s silly! Stay here.” My response to her was basically “You, Miss Brenda, are crazy.”
You see, Brenda and Doug have four children between the ages of 10 and 3. And as we have three children between the ages of 7 and 3 that makes for a lot of little ones running around one house. That’s seven children, four adults and one approximately 2,000 square foot house. AND not only do I work from home, but so does Doug. Eleven of us. Crazy.
But we went for it anyway and are about to wrap up a little over two weeks at Brenda and Doug’s. Our kids have had an absolute blast. They too have a Grace (age 9) who has enjoyed the super-duper big sister role. Nyle (8) has gained an admirer in my 2-year-old Frankie. And Kate (6) was already good friends with my Grace, but the two of them have really had fun together. And then there is Caleb (3), who along with my Frederick have been up to absolutely no good from dawn to dusk. Great kids and a great experience for our kids as well.
I have to say I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how well it’s gone (I say that as I eat a generous slice of strawberry-rhubarb pie that Brenda’s uncle Tim dropped off yesterday – the 3rd pie since our stay began. Don’t mind if I do!) It hasn’t been a relaxing couple of weeks, but it has certainly been a blast. It has also foreshadowed much of what I think we can expect once our house is built. Mornings are pretty crazy as we try to get Grace I, Nyle and Grace II out the door to catch the 7:00 AM bus(es). Breakfast for eleven and lunches for four keep the kitchen quite full, particularly as the adults wrestle over the coffee pot (though you only need one cup – that’s STRONG coffee being brewed at Brenda and Doug’s!) There are two bathrooms, so the lines are (relatively) short. And slowly the last few stragglers are dressed and groomed for the day.
But the afternoons get even crazier. Watching this family tackle the beginning of summer is certainly an accurate snapshot of what life will be like for us in the near future. Our kids are missing this t-ball season due to the move, but our host family is making up for it. At least two kids have soccer or T/base/softball on any given night, and they are often at two different parks. How everyone manages to get fed, dressed, shod and delivered to the right event at the right time is a chaotic symphony of activity. Just watching it wears me out. I know many of you reading this have older children and are saying “yep, that’s the way it is” and some of you with younger children are saying “oh shit, it’s coming.” ‘cause that’s what I was saying.
But then the kids are all asleep and if the four of us can manage to stay awake we see what kind of dent we can put in Doug’s beer supply and we talk and laugh about the day. We talk about the kids, the neighborhood, our new adventure (Brenda and Doug are a few years removed from building their “dream house” in their home state of Iowa – then selling the house and returning to Minneapolis) and whatever else crosses our minds. It’s great to have someone to hang out with after the kids are down, and one person can easily sneak away to watch some TV or catch up on email while the other three can visit and get ready for the next day. I can see this being a great way to finish up the day with Tom and Gretchen – nobody likes doing the dishes alone while the other person watches Grey’s Anatomy (or a very important sporting event). I think this will be one of those times when we have the most fun – the four of us after the kids are down.
So thank you, Brenda and Doug. Not just for the truly generous hospitality but mostly for the quick trip to the future, to witness how life might be for us with two families under one roof. It was lots of fun, a little challenging, but never ever boring.
And a little bit crazy.
Sarah: I feel kinda bad we are leaving her with this place on short notice.
Dan: Hey, Flavor Flav’s got problems of his own!
Sarah: I’m sorry, did you just refer to yourself as Flavor Flav?
Dan: Yeee-ahh boyyyyyyyy!
Anyway, what allowed us to ditch our short-term-long-cost apartment was an offer from Sarah’s friend Brenda. Brenda and Doug live in the neighborhood and Sarah and Brenda are part of a group of neighborhood mom’s that go running in the morning. (like, EARLY in the morning. Have you ever been awake and outside in Minneapolis in February at 5:30 AM? I have. It is not the kind of thing that makes you say “hey, how about we take a jog around Lake Nokomis before getting the kids on the bus? I’ll bring the dog!”) The point about the AM runs isn’t just to point out how Sarah and Brenda know each other, but to give an example of the fact that they are crazy. Crazy crazy crazy crazy. Crazy.
Which leads to the offer. Brenda said to us “just come live with us the last couple of weeks. It’ll be fun! We’ll make room for you. No need to go to some extended-stay hotel by the mall – that’s silly! Stay here.” My response to her was basically “You, Miss Brenda, are crazy.”
You see, Brenda and Doug have four children between the ages of 10 and 3. And as we have three children between the ages of 7 and 3 that makes for a lot of little ones running around one house. That’s seven children, four adults and one approximately 2,000 square foot house. AND not only do I work from home, but so does Doug. Eleven of us. Crazy.
But we went for it anyway and are about to wrap up a little over two weeks at Brenda and Doug’s. Our kids have had an absolute blast. They too have a Grace (age 9) who has enjoyed the super-duper big sister role. Nyle (8) has gained an admirer in my 2-year-old Frankie. And Kate (6) was already good friends with my Grace, but the two of them have really had fun together. And then there is Caleb (3), who along with my Frederick have been up to absolutely no good from dawn to dusk. Great kids and a great experience for our kids as well.
I have to say I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how well it’s gone (I say that as I eat a generous slice of strawberry-rhubarb pie that Brenda’s uncle Tim dropped off yesterday – the 3rd pie since our stay began. Don’t mind if I do!) It hasn’t been a relaxing couple of weeks, but it has certainly been a blast. It has also foreshadowed much of what I think we can expect once our house is built. Mornings are pretty crazy as we try to get Grace I, Nyle and Grace II out the door to catch the 7:00 AM bus(es). Breakfast for eleven and lunches for four keep the kitchen quite full, particularly as the adults wrestle over the coffee pot (though you only need one cup – that’s STRONG coffee being brewed at Brenda and Doug’s!) There are two bathrooms, so the lines are (relatively) short. And slowly the last few stragglers are dressed and groomed for the day.
But the afternoons get even crazier. Watching this family tackle the beginning of summer is certainly an accurate snapshot of what life will be like for us in the near future. Our kids are missing this t-ball season due to the move, but our host family is making up for it. At least two kids have soccer or T/base/softball on any given night, and they are often at two different parks. How everyone manages to get fed, dressed, shod and delivered to the right event at the right time is a chaotic symphony of activity. Just watching it wears me out. I know many of you reading this have older children and are saying “yep, that’s the way it is” and some of you with younger children are saying “oh shit, it’s coming.” ‘cause that’s what I was saying.
But then the kids are all asleep and if the four of us can manage to stay awake we see what kind of dent we can put in Doug’s beer supply and we talk and laugh about the day. We talk about the kids, the neighborhood, our new adventure (Brenda and Doug are a few years removed from building their “dream house” in their home state of Iowa – then selling the house and returning to Minneapolis) and whatever else crosses our minds. It’s great to have someone to hang out with after the kids are down, and one person can easily sneak away to watch some TV or catch up on email while the other three can visit and get ready for the next day. I can see this being a great way to finish up the day with Tom and Gretchen – nobody likes doing the dishes alone while the other person watches Grey’s Anatomy (or a very important sporting event). I think this will be one of those times when we have the most fun – the four of us after the kids are down.
So thank you, Brenda and Doug. Not just for the truly generous hospitality but mostly for the quick trip to the future, to witness how life might be for us with two families under one roof. It was lots of fun, a little challenging, but never ever boring.
And a little bit crazy.
Monday, May 31, 2010
The House!
THE HOUSE PLANWell, here they are. Our latest floor plans for the house. This is about our third round. The interior is pretty tight but we’re still trying to figure out the style of the outside. Here’s some context around what you’re looking at.
OVERALL APPROACH
Based on initial discussions with the builder, we’re shooting to keep the house under 4,000 square feet with an additional 1,500 square feet of basement. This fits within the budget and gives us enough space to work with.
“The Pods”. Sounds like a sci-fi thriller, I know. Our approach to two families in one home is rooted in a mix of common space and family-specific space. It’s one house, but the two families are situated in what we are calling “pods”. Think West Wing and East Wing of The White House (I mean, you don’t want to be TOO close to the Biden’s) In this case our pods aren’t made up of wings, but one family is upstairs and the other family is in a wing of sorts on the first floor.
Budget prioritization. As much as we would like to build exactly what we want, we can’t. I for one have finally given in and agreed to accept a marble replica of the Venus Di Milo statue in the grande foyer instead of the original. As Tom pointed out, “then we can get one with the arms still on it.” Excellent point, Tom. So our approach on prioritization is to make sure we focus on things that can’t be upgraded later. For instance, you can only dig a basement once, but crown molding can wait. Better to get an extra coupla hundred sqft in the basement and save the crown molding for another day.
9 foot ceilings. Have you ever noticed the difference between 8-foot and 9-foot ceilings? Coach vs. First Class, people. This is one place where we all agree it will be worth the money. Doing 9-foot ceilings throughout, including the basement ceilings.
FIRST FLOOR - COMMON SPACE
The common rooms on the first floor consist of a great room, dining room, kitchen as well as a half back and a “mud room”.
The Kitchen, AKA The Most Important Room in The House. Our goal is to have this be the room people walk in and say “wow”! Meals will be a big part of this new experience as the majority of our food is of the cooked-from-scratch variety. We’re also committed to living very active lifestyles and as many of you know growing children living active lifestyles need food food food. Though our kitchen will at first glance feel high-end, we are certainly focusing on function while not forgetting fashion. We’re not going for opulence but for highly functional space – commercial grade ‘cause we need it, not ‘cause we can. Plenty of counter space and an island with a prep sink as there’s a good chance 2-3 people will be fixing a meal at the same time. Not just dinner either – picture nine people eating breakfast while seven lunches are made, all in time to catch the bus? We have also explored our refrigeration options – built-ins seem too shallow (and pricey) so we’re planning to put in two standard-size fridges right next to each other – one opens one way, the second one opens the other way, so it achieves kind of a “one big fridge” appearance at a reasonable price. It’s looking like the stove, however, will be one of those great big commercial-sized stoves. We talked about two wall-ovens and a cooktop, but we like the large range option. (Sarah, want to elaborate?)
Mud Room. Sarah is the big mud room advocate. I think we all agree with her. This space is connected to the garage, next to the 1st floor common bath and near the back door. This will be a “hard-workin’ room” for sure. Think nine pair of shoes in the evening (minimum), school backpacks and jackets, and a dog shower for muddy children (and maybe even an actual dog). I see benches and hooks and shelving.
The dining room is nothing special, but we designed it to be big enough to hold a big long table as well as a buffet of some kind. With some space between the kitchen and dining room you’ll want to bring all food into this room so a buffet will be needed.
The great room is turning out to be cool. We are doing a pitched ceiling here to make it much more open. Near the bottom you can see where there is about a 4-foot overhang of 9-foot wall. We’ll likely put a table and chairs there for cards/games/puzzles. We’ll arrange furniture around the fireplace. Still not sure a TV is going in this room – maybe above the fireplace? French doors will open in, not out. Will have a patio off the great room someday.
THE “PODS” - FIRST FLOOR WING & SECOND FLOORPreserving the family space. We felt it important to design the house in the way that it is clearly one house yet also occupied by two different groups. As much as the kitchen/dining/great send a message of “one big happy family” the living space signals more of a bifurcation. (you’re damn right I just used that word) We wanted to make sure there was still a spot for the immediate family to gather and for bedtime to be a place where families are a little more defined. Hence putting the bedrooms together as well as the living space. This will be great for reading before bedtime, will be a good spot for a television (thus keeping TVs out of the bedrooms for as long as we can) and for other private family affairs. This feels like the most experimental area – how much time will the families spend here vs. the great room? Will we go our separate ways at 8 PM until the next morning? Will kids do their homework in the common area or find a quiet spot in the pod? How comfortable will one family be entering the other family’s pod? I think this will be interesting to observe how these are used in the first year.
Each family “pod” will include a living/sitting room, a full master suite, two bedrooms for the kids and an additional full bathroom for them to share. Each family will also have its own laundry - the second floor pod has a laundry closet while it looks like the first floor pod will have space in the basement (ooh, a laundry shoot! More old-time farmhouse character!)
Reasonable room sizes. I think when you list off the rooms – 6 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, 2 living rooms, great room, eat-in kitchen, dining room – the above-ground square footage of 4,000 sqft seems a bit of a pipe dream. But as you look at the room sizes, the closets, etc you see they are pretty reasonable in size. I’ve been in plenty of master suites that seem more suitable for racquetball and seen walk-in closets that feel more like a fashion boutique (“I’ve been here five minutes and still haven’t seen a sales associate!”) but our room sizes are fairly modest, relatively speaking. We also did our best to minimize hallways, avoid dead space and not mess with vaulted ceilings. Bedrooms run around 12’X12’, master bedrooms around 14’X16” and the master bathrooms will be hard to ballroom dance in. The space feels just big enough.
BASEMENT
How big a basement? The footprint for this house is around 2,500 feet, which would be a huge basement. We’re probably going to end up with a partial basement, like 1,500 sqft, which is still a lot of space. This will be unfinished for now – we will likely put in a big family room (with a bar?) as well as an exercise room. Also, another bedroom for guests that could also be used as an office for me. Our original floor plan sketched out an office for me as I currently work from home and I need to be able to work away from the chaos that we know this house will be. That said, I would rather have 400 or 500 sqft of unfinished basement that can become an office later than 175-200 sqft of office finished today. Again, we’re trying to build a big box knowing we can make it nicer later. We also have discussed putting up an outbuilding later which might also be a good location for an office, getting me away from the house and allowing us to use the basement space for other things.
EXTERIOR
This is one where we’ve struggled a bit. I think our architect and builder could’ve picked up on what we’re going for here quicker than they did, but we’re getting there. We aren’t really interested in a “New American”-style home – we didn’t want something that looked like it fell out of a subdivision. Hey, no offense to those living in a New American home in a subdivision- they’re popular for a reason. We just wanted something a little more classic and a little more appropriate for 4.90 acres on a country road that should be teeming with people, plants and animals.
So as you can see we have three different sketches. The first is more of a Cape Cod style, the second is more of a contemporary style with a turret and the third is more of a Colonial-style. We’re still working through which one we like – the turret really breaks up the home’s length but can also come off as a little grandiose. It would be great to have the bay window in what would be kids rooms (both floors), so that is certainly an option. The Cape Cod is interesting, though we are still trying to figure out if the dormer-style windows will cost more and mess with our floor plan. The Colonial is the one that needs some work – this needs to be a little more boxy to be a Colonial and the devil is in the details here – if we add some character-building elements it could work. Plus, we could always put a big honkin’ front porch on later – something we all want but have deprioritized off this plan due to the cost. It also seems to be messing with the floor plan a bit, pushing everything in. More to come on the exterior over the next couple of weeks.
How big a basement? The footprint for this house is around 2,500 feet, which would be a huge basement. We’re probably going to end up with a partial basement, like 1,500 sqft, which is still a lot of space. This will be unfinished for now – we will likely put in a big family room (with a bar?) as well as an exercise room. Also, another bedroom for guests that could also be used as an office for me. Our original floor plan sketched out an office for me as I currently work from home and I need to be able to work away from the chaos that we know this house will be. That said, I would rather have 400 or 500 sqft of unfinished basement that can become an office later than 175-200 sqft of office finished today. Again, we’re trying to build a big box knowing we can make it nicer later. We also have discussed putting up an outbuilding later which might also be a good location for an office, getting me away from the house and allowing us to use the basement space for other things.
EXTERIORThis is one where we’ve struggled a bit. I think our architect and builder could’ve picked up on what we’re going for here quicker than they did, but we’re getting there. We aren’t really interested in a “New American”-style home – we didn’t want something that looked like it fell out of a subdivision. Hey, no offense to those living in a New American home in a subdivision- they’re popular for a reason. We just wanted something a little more classic and a little more appropriate for 4.90 acres on a country road that should be teeming with people, plants and animals.
So as you can see we have three different sketches. The first is more of a Cape Cod style, the second is more of a contemporary style with a turret and the third is more of a Colonial-style. We’re still working through which one we like – the turret really breaks up the home’s length but can also come off as a little grandiose. It would be great to have the bay window in what would be kids rooms (both floors), so that is certainly an option. The Cape Cod is interesting, though we are still trying to figure out if the dormer-style windows will cost more and mess with our floor plan. The Colonial is the one that needs some work – this needs to be a little more boxy to be a Colonial and the devil is in the details here – if we add some character-building elements it could work. Plus, we could always put a big honkin’ front porch on later – something we all want but have deprioritized off this plan due to the cost. It also seems to be messing with the floor plan a bit, pushing everything in. More to come on the exterior over the next couple of weeks.
OTHER NOTES
Garage – we have a three car garage, each with its own stall. We think this will still be a challenge out of the gate as we have four cars, a motorcycle, a litany of bikes and trikes as well as lawn-mowing equipment. We’re pretty sure we will build an outbuilding of sorts in the near future – a lawn and garden shed at least, maybe a sizable pole barn – so this feels like we can get by with 3 vs. 3.5 or 4. Having three doors vs. one big and one small door is more expensive, but I think the look of it will be much better and it should function as a three-car a little better as well
Exit strategy. One of the first questions we often get is the resale value of the home. Building a home for two families certainly makes it an atypical property and thus narrows the market for it. Though I don’t have anything other than my own opinion to back this up, the first floor pod seems ripe for conversion into an in-law apartment. You could convert one of the bedrooms into a kitchen and turn the other into a dining area or a guest bedroom. Now that’s quite an in-law apartment, but certainly opens up the market a bit. Plus, I’m sure by the time we’re ready to sell (if ever) we’ll have trailblazed the two-family trend and nuclear families everywhere will be teaming up and looking for a property just like ours. (crazy? Like a fox!)
How green can we get? There are a few areas we want to upgrade to make this as energy efficient as possible – better windows, better insulation and even geothermal heating. The geothermal heating is the tough one – it’s a bunch of money upfront and will wreak havoc on our budget, but the savings over the years is significant. I think we’ll cover this in a future post, as I would like to share more of the details around geothermal as we learn about it, but I think the point I’m making is the four of us are really interested in building a pretty energy-efficient home. I know there is a bit of hypocrisy in building a 4,000 sqft home and talking about our energy use, but remember we’re putting two families in one home – instead of two homes we’re building one. That alone will put a dent in our carbon footprint. Anyway, I’m less excited about the altruism of lowering the carbon footprint as much as I am about hedging against future increases in energy costs. Anyway, more to come on the geothermal heating as well as windows & insulation.
Garage – we have a three car garage, each with its own stall. We think this will still be a challenge out of the gate as we have four cars, a motorcycle, a litany of bikes and trikes as well as lawn-mowing equipment. We’re pretty sure we will build an outbuilding of sorts in the near future – a lawn and garden shed at least, maybe a sizable pole barn – so this feels like we can get by with 3 vs. 3.5 or 4. Having three doors vs. one big and one small door is more expensive, but I think the look of it will be much better and it should function as a three-car a little better as well
Exit strategy. One of the first questions we often get is the resale value of the home. Building a home for two families certainly makes it an atypical property and thus narrows the market for it. Though I don’t have anything other than my own opinion to back this up, the first floor pod seems ripe for conversion into an in-law apartment. You could convert one of the bedrooms into a kitchen and turn the other into a dining area or a guest bedroom. Now that’s quite an in-law apartment, but certainly opens up the market a bit. Plus, I’m sure by the time we’re ready to sell (if ever) we’ll have trailblazed the two-family trend and nuclear families everywhere will be teaming up and looking for a property just like ours. (crazy? Like a fox!)
How green can we get? There are a few areas we want to upgrade to make this as energy efficient as possible – better windows, better insulation and even geothermal heating. The geothermal heating is the tough one – it’s a bunch of money upfront and will wreak havoc on our budget, but the savings over the years is significant. I think we’ll cover this in a future post, as I would like to share more of the details around geothermal as we learn about it, but I think the point I’m making is the four of us are really interested in building a pretty energy-efficient home. I know there is a bit of hypocrisy in building a 4,000 sqft home and talking about our energy use, but remember we’re putting two families in one home – instead of two homes we’re building one. That alone will put a dent in our carbon footprint. Anyway, I’m less excited about the altruism of lowering the carbon footprint as much as I am about hedging against future increases in energy costs. Anyway, more to come on the geothermal heating as well as windows & insulation.
Thoughts?
Friday, May 21, 2010
City Mouse, Country Mouse?
This past weekend we had to leave our temporary housing for a few days (yes, we had to find temporary housing from our temporary housing. Ha! It’s like Russian dolls housing right now! Laughorcry laughorcry) As I have been spending many work nights at the Hyatt Deerfield for the last year I have plenty of hotel points, so we headed downtown for a weekend at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis. This hotel is in a great spot – at the end of Nicollet Mall. For those not from the Twin Cities, Nicollet Mall is like a cross between Michigan Avenue and State St. Only buses and cabs on the street, nice wide sidewalks and plenty of shops and restaurants. For those of you who do live in the Twin Cities, you know how beautiful this past weekend was. Amazing.
There were a couple realizations I had that I wanted to share with everyone. First, this worked out to be a great way to continue our farewell tour of Minneapolis. When Sarah and I moved here eight years ago we lived downtown on the Mississippi River. (well, not ON the river like in a houseboat or something) We were city people. We came from Chicago’s North Side and San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood. We loved the vibrancy of the city, the opportunity to walk different places, being so close to so much. Once Grace became a little older we were pulled down to South Minneapolis, which completely exceeded my expectations. As we added a second and then a third child and as we grew roots in our neighborhood, we found ourselves downtown less and less. So it was great to bring the kids down to spend a few days downtown before we move away, to let them see more than the Holidazzle Parade. We walked from one end of Nicollet to the other, spending a good chunk of time at the beautiful Central Library. We dined al fresco, the kids enjoying gourmet chicken fingers at The News Room. We walked by Brit’s Pub and I flashed back to a time when I was more apt to spend my Saturday afternoons at a tavern than at a t-ball field. And the best part of being downtown – the people-watching! All kinds, I must say. (I feel so naked without a tattoo or piercing. I’m such a square) While running a quick errand I had the following exchange with my big-hearted daughter:
“Dad, what did that guy ask you?”
“He asked me for money.”
“Why?”
“I think he’s poor. He doesn’t have a job and probably doesn’t have a home.”
“Why didn’t you give him any? We just got $100 out at the bank. That’s a lot of money.”
(uncomfortable silence)
“Um, I guess because a lot of people are asking for money and if we gave it to everyone who asked we wouldn’t have any.”
This leads to the second realization I had this weekend. That exchange with Grace was uncomfortable, but it is also the kind of thing parents who raise their kids in cities count as a positive. We think letting them grow up in a situation where they deal with those more colorful experiences will make them better people. Now, 47th Street & 4th Avenue isn’t exactly downtown and the soccer games at McRae Park can feel pretty suburban, but our kids are at city schools and still deal with city situations. Neither Sarah nor I grew up in the city, in fact we both grew up quite contrary to that. But we’ve lived in the city since we met eleven years ago and have long considered ourselves “city folk”. But this new adventure puts us well out of the city camp , there’s no arguing that. Five acres of land on a county road. Suburban schools. Rarely a reason to go into downtown Indianapolis. So are Sarah and I ready to go from city folk to country folk?
The move seems to be a natural progression. We rarely dine out now, and Sarah has been craving more dirt in which to plant vegetables. Put those three kids in the backyard and it seems super small – it doesn’t take much of a hit to put the spongeball into the neighbor’s yard. There are great parks in Minneapolis, but it will be a long time before we would be comfortable letting the kids go off on their own. So a big chunk of land out in the country is something we’re excited about for the whole family. (I’ll let Sarah and Gretchen sing the praises of the book “The Last Child in the Woods”. If you’ve read it, you know what we’re going for here).
So I’m glad we got to do Downtown Minneapolis for one more weekend. But I’m also glad our family is going to experience something completely different in Indiana. We’ll see how well Sarah and I adjust to the culture change and life out of the city for the first time in a long time. And if any of you happen to see my FaceBook status as “the breadsticks at Olive Garden are to die for!” please recognize it as a cry for help.
There were a couple realizations I had that I wanted to share with everyone. First, this worked out to be a great way to continue our farewell tour of Minneapolis. When Sarah and I moved here eight years ago we lived downtown on the Mississippi River. (well, not ON the river like in a houseboat or something) We were city people. We came from Chicago’s North Side and San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood. We loved the vibrancy of the city, the opportunity to walk different places, being so close to so much. Once Grace became a little older we were pulled down to South Minneapolis, which completely exceeded my expectations. As we added a second and then a third child and as we grew roots in our neighborhood, we found ourselves downtown less and less. So it was great to bring the kids down to spend a few days downtown before we move away, to let them see more than the Holidazzle Parade. We walked from one end of Nicollet to the other, spending a good chunk of time at the beautiful Central Library. We dined al fresco, the kids enjoying gourmet chicken fingers at The News Room. We walked by Brit’s Pub and I flashed back to a time when I was more apt to spend my Saturday afternoons at a tavern than at a t-ball field. And the best part of being downtown – the people-watching! All kinds, I must say. (I feel so naked without a tattoo or piercing. I’m such a square) While running a quick errand I had the following exchange with my big-hearted daughter:
“Dad, what did that guy ask you?”
“He asked me for money.”
“Why?”
“I think he’s poor. He doesn’t have a job and probably doesn’t have a home.”
“Why didn’t you give him any? We just got $100 out at the bank. That’s a lot of money.”
(uncomfortable silence)
“Um, I guess because a lot of people are asking for money and if we gave it to everyone who asked we wouldn’t have any.”
This leads to the second realization I had this weekend. That exchange with Grace was uncomfortable, but it is also the kind of thing parents who raise their kids in cities count as a positive. We think letting them grow up in a situation where they deal with those more colorful experiences will make them better people. Now, 47th Street & 4th Avenue isn’t exactly downtown and the soccer games at McRae Park can feel pretty suburban, but our kids are at city schools and still deal with city situations. Neither Sarah nor I grew up in the city, in fact we both grew up quite contrary to that. But we’ve lived in the city since we met eleven years ago and have long considered ourselves “city folk”. But this new adventure puts us well out of the city camp , there’s no arguing that. Five acres of land on a county road. Suburban schools. Rarely a reason to go into downtown Indianapolis. So are Sarah and I ready to go from city folk to country folk?
The move seems to be a natural progression. We rarely dine out now, and Sarah has been craving more dirt in which to plant vegetables. Put those three kids in the backyard and it seems super small – it doesn’t take much of a hit to put the spongeball into the neighbor’s yard. There are great parks in Minneapolis, but it will be a long time before we would be comfortable letting the kids go off on their own. So a big chunk of land out in the country is something we’re excited about for the whole family. (I’ll let Sarah and Gretchen sing the praises of the book “The Last Child in the Woods”. If you’ve read it, you know what we’re going for here).
So I’m glad we got to do Downtown Minneapolis for one more weekend. But I’m also glad our family is going to experience something completely different in Indiana. We’ll see how well Sarah and I adjust to the culture change and life out of the city for the first time in a long time. And if any of you happen to see my FaceBook status as “the breadsticks at Olive Garden are to die for!” please recognize it as a cry for help.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Garden Envy (or "Hosta La Vista, Minnesota!")
So, last year I squeezed two perennial gardens into our little yard in South Minneapolis. One with different kinds of hosta under a huge pine tree and the other in a sunnier spot with flowering perennials. I was pleasantly surprised with how the yard looked by the end of summer and was looking forward to taking on another area of the yard this spring. I'm a new gardener so I'm still surprised when I plant something and it makes it through the summer. And then...the next year it comes back and looks even better than the year before. Amazing!
So this year before we moved out of our house a lot of the plants were coming up and filling out. I would sneak out there (between packing boxes) and push back the mulch to see new shoots coming up. I couldn't believe I wasn't going to get to see it all in full bloom, but I was still so excited that it had survived the winter and was coming back.
Also, I keep finding myself wanting to take Minnesota plants with me, hostas in particular. (Yes, I know they sell plants everywhere, Dan) They are so easy to split and impossible to kill, everyone has them (the hosta is Minnesota's unofficial state plant) so most people want to share them. Then you have a piece of a friend's garden in yours. Maybe that is why I want to take them with me because then I feel like I'm taking friends with me on this move too. So is it weird when walking through the neighborhood I find myself looking at other people's plants and thinking "would they mind if I took just this little section?"
All that said, I'm having a really hard time as I have nowhere to garden this year, but the following year I will have a whopping five acres to fill. Thankfully I have two friends adopting me as an "assistant gardener" in their garden this year, which will be fun. But I'm already making plans for a trip back to Minneapolis next spring to beg, borrow and steal as much hosta as I can. :)
So this year before we moved out of our house a lot of the plants were coming up and filling out. I would sneak out there (between packing boxes) and push back the mulch to see new shoots coming up. I couldn't believe I wasn't going to get to see it all in full bloom, but I was still so excited that it had survived the winter and was coming back.
Also, I keep finding myself wanting to take Minnesota plants with me, hostas in particular. (Yes, I know they sell plants everywhere, Dan) They are so easy to split and impossible to kill, everyone has them (the hosta is Minnesota's unofficial state plant) so most people want to share them. Then you have a piece of a friend's garden in yours. Maybe that is why I want to take them with me because then I feel like I'm taking friends with me on this move too. So is it weird when walking through the neighborhood I find myself looking at other people's plants and thinking "would they mind if I took just this little section?"
All that said, I'm having a really hard time as I have nowhere to garden this year, but the following year I will have a whopping five acres to fill. Thankfully I have two friends adopting me as an "assistant gardener" in their garden this year, which will be fun. But I'm already making plans for a trip back to Minneapolis next spring to beg, borrow and steal as much hosta as I can. :)
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
The Big Move (#1)
This past week was a whirlwind. We closed on our house on the 30th. I took the whole week off to help pack up the house and empty it. I know everyone ends up saying this when they move, but I can’t believe how much stuff we have. Seriously.
Sarah and I had to end up calling quite an audible during the move. We had made arrangements with PODS to have two separate PODS units dropped off and picked up over the week. (if you don’t know who PODS are, they drop a container off at your house, you fill it, they come pick it up and/or store it and deliver it to your new house). Early in the week we wanted one to fill with stuff we wouldn’t need until we moved into the new house. Later in the week they would pick that unit up and drop off a new one, which we would fill as we moved out and have it delivered to the Indiana apartment. Anyhoo, Sarah called a week out to double-check everything (she did a thorough job setting up the PODS a couple months out) and they had not yet secured the permit with the City of Minneapolis to have the POD on the street. Also, this would delay the delivery of the first POD. Sarah voiced her displeasure and made it clear that they should make this a priority. J (I believe something to the tune of “I can’t imagine a scenario where we aren’t the first delivery the morning of the 28th!”) After hearing from them on the 27th via vmail that the first POD would be delivered between Noon and 3 PM, we started to get itchy. Morning of the 28th – called around 9 AM to hear “we don’t have the permit from the city and don’t know when we will get it – might be 24-48 hours”.
(funny story here – Sarah was talking to the local PODS guy. She was deeply frustrated but very respectful. She finally handed the phone to me. I was in a similar state. Finally I said goodbye and hung up Sarah’s iPhone. Sarah and I began to talk about what to do. After a minute or so I look at her phone and it was still on the call screen.
Me: “Hello?”
PODS Guy: “I’m still here.”
Great. I apparently need to work on hanging up an iPhone. I know – the “end call” button in bright red. Did we call this guy anything horrible during that conversation?)
Anyway, we decided to pursue Plan B. Instead of the 2-PODS-plan we switched to a U-Haul plan. We rented a 26-foot truck (“the largest truck you can drive without a CDL”) and I would drive the truck to Indy, load it into a storage unit, and fly back. It would be more reliable than the PODS plan and actually save us like $1,000.
Just to make it a bit more of a challenge, we decided I should take Frederick, the 4-year-old, with me. He was excited about the van and excited about moving near his cousin Noah, and we thought he would like the airplane ride back.
My goal was to leave by 2:00 on Friday and make it to my parents’ house in Illinois that night, which would be about an 8-hour drive in the truck. By the time the truck was loaded, the house essentially cleaned out and we were ready to leave, it was 8 PM. I didn’t want to do the whole thing on Saturday, so off we went. We made it to Portage, WI and stayed the night at the Days Inn. Breakfast the next morning was sketchy – I probably should’ve passed on the B&G the Days Inn had out. Not good.
We stopped a few times on the way to Indy – had a bite to eat with Dad right off the highway in Oglesby, stopped at Culvers in Champaign so Frederick could have a corn dog, and the various stops for fuel (about $250 to get that truck from Mpls to Indy). We rolled into the apartment complex mid-afternoon. Frederick stayed with Noah while Tom and I emptied the truck into the storage unit. We finally wrapped up around 7 PM and took the truck back. We stopped by the land for a minute before going to Tom & Gretchen’s - a hot shower and a cold Crown & ginger ale (or two) helped me recover before bed.
Frederick and I flew home the next morning. We saved $400 by flying IND-DTW, DTW-ORD, ORD-MSP. Three plane rides. Seriously.
Key takeaways:
- A month before you move, start thinning out the belongings. You’ll be in a throw-it-out mood anyway. Moving sale, Craigslist, ARC/Goodwill – whatever it takes. You have too much stuff. Really, you do.
- However long you think packing and moving will take you, double it. Now double it again.
- If you need help moving, pay the 22-year-old next door to help. Most 22-year-olds need the money right now. Young backs are good.
- Red Bull is legalized cocaine, in a good way. Ibuprofen can also be referred to as “four-a-day-vitamins” during moving week
- Before you tear into someone you were just on the phone with, make sure the phone call has ended
- When driving/flying with a 4-year-old, you can never have enough of the following: power for your portable DVD player, gum, candy, water, bathroom breaks
- Driving a 26-foot U-Haul truck is not real good on the back.
- Just because the Days Inn offers a free hot breakfast doesn’t mean you have to eat it.
- PODS can pound sand
Ballpark costs:
- U-Haul truck $1,000.00 one-way (includes dolly and blanket rentals)
- Boxes & packing materials $100 (Sarah did great finding boxes)
- Kid next door, 2 days of truck packing $225 (a bargain – thanks Chris!)
- Fuel $250
- Days Inn $60
- Food $50
- Plane tickets $600
- TOTAL $2,300 (did I miss anything, Sarah?)
Sarah and I had to end up calling quite an audible during the move. We had made arrangements with PODS to have two separate PODS units dropped off and picked up over the week. (if you don’t know who PODS are, they drop a container off at your house, you fill it, they come pick it up and/or store it and deliver it to your new house). Early in the week we wanted one to fill with stuff we wouldn’t need until we moved into the new house. Later in the week they would pick that unit up and drop off a new one, which we would fill as we moved out and have it delivered to the Indiana apartment. Anyhoo, Sarah called a week out to double-check everything (she did a thorough job setting up the PODS a couple months out) and they had not yet secured the permit with the City of Minneapolis to have the POD on the street. Also, this would delay the delivery of the first POD. Sarah voiced her displeasure and made it clear that they should make this a priority. J (I believe something to the tune of “I can’t imagine a scenario where we aren’t the first delivery the morning of the 28th!”) After hearing from them on the 27th via vmail that the first POD would be delivered between Noon and 3 PM, we started to get itchy. Morning of the 28th – called around 9 AM to hear “we don’t have the permit from the city and don’t know when we will get it – might be 24-48 hours”.
(funny story here – Sarah was talking to the local PODS guy. She was deeply frustrated but very respectful. She finally handed the phone to me. I was in a similar state. Finally I said goodbye and hung up Sarah’s iPhone. Sarah and I began to talk about what to do. After a minute or so I look at her phone and it was still on the call screen.
Me: “Hello?”
PODS Guy: “I’m still here.”
Great. I apparently need to work on hanging up an iPhone. I know – the “end call” button in bright red. Did we call this guy anything horrible during that conversation?)
Anyway, we decided to pursue Plan B. Instead of the 2-PODS-plan we switched to a U-Haul plan. We rented a 26-foot truck (“the largest truck you can drive without a CDL”) and I would drive the truck to Indy, load it into a storage unit, and fly back. It would be more reliable than the PODS plan and actually save us like $1,000.
Just to make it a bit more of a challenge, we decided I should take Frederick, the 4-year-old, with me. He was excited about the van and excited about moving near his cousin Noah, and we thought he would like the airplane ride back.
My goal was to leave by 2:00 on Friday and make it to my parents’ house in Illinois that night, which would be about an 8-hour drive in the truck. By the time the truck was loaded, the house essentially cleaned out and we were ready to leave, it was 8 PM. I didn’t want to do the whole thing on Saturday, so off we went. We made it to Portage, WI and stayed the night at the Days Inn. Breakfast the next morning was sketchy – I probably should’ve passed on the B&G the Days Inn had out. Not good.
We stopped a few times on the way to Indy – had a bite to eat with Dad right off the highway in Oglesby, stopped at Culvers in Champaign so Frederick could have a corn dog, and the various stops for fuel (about $250 to get that truck from Mpls to Indy). We rolled into the apartment complex mid-afternoon. Frederick stayed with Noah while Tom and I emptied the truck into the storage unit. We finally wrapped up around 7 PM and took the truck back. We stopped by the land for a minute before going to Tom & Gretchen’s - a hot shower and a cold Crown & ginger ale (or two) helped me recover before bed.
Frederick and I flew home the next morning. We saved $400 by flying IND-DTW, DTW-ORD, ORD-MSP. Three plane rides. Seriously.
Key takeaways:
- A month before you move, start thinning out the belongings. You’ll be in a throw-it-out mood anyway. Moving sale, Craigslist, ARC/Goodwill – whatever it takes. You have too much stuff. Really, you do.
- However long you think packing and moving will take you, double it. Now double it again.
- If you need help moving, pay the 22-year-old next door to help. Most 22-year-olds need the money right now. Young backs are good.
- Red Bull is legalized cocaine, in a good way. Ibuprofen can also be referred to as “four-a-day-vitamins” during moving week
- Before you tear into someone you were just on the phone with, make sure the phone call has ended
- When driving/flying with a 4-year-old, you can never have enough of the following: power for your portable DVD player, gum, candy, water, bathroom breaks
- Driving a 26-foot U-Haul truck is not real good on the back.
- Just because the Days Inn offers a free hot breakfast doesn’t mean you have to eat it.
- PODS can pound sand
Ballpark costs:
- U-Haul truck $1,000.00 one-way (includes dolly and blanket rentals)
- Boxes & packing materials $100 (Sarah did great finding boxes)
- Kid next door, 2 days of truck packing $225 (a bargain – thanks Chris!)
- Fuel $250
- Days Inn $60
- Food $50
- Plane tickets $600
- TOTAL $2,300 (did I miss anything, Sarah?)
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The Families
Vacation last year (L-R): Noah, Grace, Tom, Charlie, Gretchen, Frankie, Dan, Frederick (Sarah is photographer)
Getting Ice Cream on Vacation (L-R):
Grace, Gretchen, Noah, Tom, Charlie, Frederick, Sarah, Frankie
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Packing and Moving… and Moving … and Moving
This past weekend Sarah and I really started to get serious about packing. We’re closing on our house on the 30th, so the clock is certainly ticking. We’ve only been in this house a bit over three years but have certainly done what we could to fill the house with all kinds of things in that time.
But the real challenge is our living arrangements over the next 6-8 months. Here’s what that looks like:
- April 30th move out of our house on 4th Ave in Minneapolis
- April 30th – June 9th in a furnished apartment on 13th Ave
- June 9th – Fall 2010 in an apartment in Brownsburg, Indiana
- Fall 2010 move into new house in Brownsburg
So four homes in 2010. I believe the term “constant transition” is relevant here. I hope we don’t forget one of the kids during a move.
Packing is one thing, but the big challenge is what stuff goes where? What will we need for six weeks in the furnished apartment? What will we need for five or six months in the Brownsburg apartment this summer? What goes into storage to wait until we get into the house? How much is Frederick going to grow in the next six months? Can we pack away winter coats? (the answer is “no” if we were staying in Minnesota, but we should be good in Indiana, eh?) Should we take the rice cooker to 13th Ave or ship it to Indy? How many floor puzzles will we really need over the next six-weeks-to-five-months? If we pack all the pie pans until the fall, doesn’t that mean no strawberry-rhubarb pie this year? Oh the horror!
Not to get too introspective about it, but this is basically an exercise in looking at every item you own and saying “when will I really need this?” or “do I really need this at all?” (or, more pointedly, “what is all this shit”?) Books, clothing, furniture, toys, housewares – it’s all scrutinized with a new lens. (For me, that lens is “I’m probably going to have to pick up this thing and move it about 2-5 times over the next eight months. Is the corresponding back pain worth it?” also known as the “Ibuprofin Corollary”)
Anyway – if we’re on your Christmas card list good luck tracking us down. I’m sure the USPS is going to assume we’re on the lam this summer. And if you drive by our house in the next week and see a futon with the word “free” taped to it, knock yourself out.
But the real challenge is our living arrangements over the next 6-8 months. Here’s what that looks like:
- April 30th move out of our house on 4th Ave in Minneapolis
- April 30th – June 9th in a furnished apartment on 13th Ave
- June 9th – Fall 2010 in an apartment in Brownsburg, Indiana
- Fall 2010 move into new house in Brownsburg
So four homes in 2010. I believe the term “constant transition” is relevant here. I hope we don’t forget one of the kids during a move.
Packing is one thing, but the big challenge is what stuff goes where? What will we need for six weeks in the furnished apartment? What will we need for five or six months in the Brownsburg apartment this summer? What goes into storage to wait until we get into the house? How much is Frederick going to grow in the next six months? Can we pack away winter coats? (the answer is “no” if we were staying in Minnesota, but we should be good in Indiana, eh?) Should we take the rice cooker to 13th Ave or ship it to Indy? How many floor puzzles will we really need over the next six-weeks-to-five-months? If we pack all the pie pans until the fall, doesn’t that mean no strawberry-rhubarb pie this year? Oh the horror!
Not to get too introspective about it, but this is basically an exercise in looking at every item you own and saying “when will I really need this?” or “do I really need this at all?” (or, more pointedly, “what is all this shit”?) Books, clothing, furniture, toys, housewares – it’s all scrutinized with a new lens. (For me, that lens is “I’m probably going to have to pick up this thing and move it about 2-5 times over the next eight months. Is the corresponding back pain worth it?” also known as the “Ibuprofin Corollary”)
Anyway – if we’re on your Christmas card list good luck tracking us down. I’m sure the USPS is going to assume we’re on the lam this summer. And if you drive by our house in the next week and see a futon with the word “free” taped to it, knock yourself out.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
What's in a name?
Ok, Dan. Love the Blogging...hate the name. As I took Charlie for our nightly walk I thought and thought of some (shall I say better?) options. How about 'The Common House'. If that doesn't pass I'll keep thinking because 'All of You ? In One House?', though funny, has to go.
Aside from that, we started our packing today. Let me rephrase that, Tom started the packing, Noah, Charlie and I "helped". I love it! Today made it all feel much closer and like it's actually happening. Our garage is full of boxes, two piles, one for storage and one to fit into our little 2 bedroom apartment that we'll be calling home for the next 8+ months. We can't wait!!
As for new home daydreaming, much was done today along the sub zero kitchen lines....ahhh.
Aside from that, we started our packing today. Let me rephrase that, Tom started the packing, Noah, Charlie and I "helped". I love it! Today made it all feel much closer and like it's actually happening. Our garage is full of boxes, two piles, one for storage and one to fit into our little 2 bedroom apartment that we'll be calling home for the next 8+ months. We can't wait!!
As for new home daydreaming, much was done today along the sub zero kitchen lines....ahhh.
Building "One Big House"
So just to articulate what the plan is - we are going to build one big house that all of us can live in. "All of us" is quite a bit - Sarah and I have three kids age 6, 4 and 2. Tom and Gretchen have two kids - 3 and 1. And both families are discussing having more. So it's a lot.
This week we had some fun discussions regarding the house plan. Next Friday Sarah is flying to Indianapolis to join Tom and Gretchen at our builder's office to try and develop a floor plan. So our back-and-forth culminated into a two-plus-hour conference call where we discussed what exactly we are looking for in a floor plan. It was actually pretty fun.
Some key tenets of our floor plan:
- We want to organize the family sleeping areas into two "pods" with family bedrooms close together. So we're talking about a master suite, two kid bedrooms, a bathroom and a sitting area for each family. We landed on a pretty good strategy - our family upstairs and their family in a "wing" on one side of the first floor. Tom suggested an approach where you would enter their wing through opague french doors into the sitting area then continue on to a hallway with the bedrooms. I think this will also help enable our exit strategy as this wing could easily be converted into a mother-in-law apartment of sorts.
- The kitchen is the most important room in the house. I think this is the room that we go a little wild in. We want something that isn't luxury for the sake of being luxury, but is a big, highly functional, semi-professional kitchen. I used words like "Sub-Zero" and "Wolf" and Sarah couldn't believe they were coming out of my mouth.
- We talked Tom out of one story.
- We're probably looking at 3,500+ square feet above ground and a 1,000+ sqft unfinished basement
- Two laundry areas, one upstairs and one on the first floor
- Large great room, large dining room, eat-in kitchen
- 3-car garage and a screened-in porch
- Also, I work from home, so we'll try to find a spot to stash a small home office. That "bonus room" above the garage is a possibility. I'm open to this and will be fine roughing a room in the basement if need be.
I think we can build a pretty functional home for the (gulp) nine of us. We were debating whether we add another room to the first floor but felt like the basement will give us plenty of room for expansion. Tom is all about the basement, and I think we might even push that to 1,500 sqft as it's cheap to build now and will give us potential for later. (I have my heart set on building a home gym down there)
I'm really excited to see what the other three come up with next Friday when they meet with the builder. I think a floor plan will make this feel that much closer to real.
This week we had some fun discussions regarding the house plan. Next Friday Sarah is flying to Indianapolis to join Tom and Gretchen at our builder's office to try and develop a floor plan. So our back-and-forth culminated into a two-plus-hour conference call where we discussed what exactly we are looking for in a floor plan. It was actually pretty fun.
Some key tenets of our floor plan:
- We want to organize the family sleeping areas into two "pods" with family bedrooms close together. So we're talking about a master suite, two kid bedrooms, a bathroom and a sitting area for each family. We landed on a pretty good strategy - our family upstairs and their family in a "wing" on one side of the first floor. Tom suggested an approach where you would enter their wing through opague french doors into the sitting area then continue on to a hallway with the bedrooms. I think this will also help enable our exit strategy as this wing could easily be converted into a mother-in-law apartment of sorts.
- The kitchen is the most important room in the house. I think this is the room that we go a little wild in. We want something that isn't luxury for the sake of being luxury, but is a big, highly functional, semi-professional kitchen. I used words like "Sub-Zero" and "Wolf" and Sarah couldn't believe they were coming out of my mouth.
- We talked Tom out of one story.
- We're probably looking at 3,500+ square feet above ground and a 1,000+ sqft unfinished basement
- Two laundry areas, one upstairs and one on the first floor
- Large great room, large dining room, eat-in kitchen
- 3-car garage and a screened-in porch
- Also, I work from home, so we'll try to find a spot to stash a small home office. That "bonus room" above the garage is a possibility. I'm open to this and will be fine roughing a room in the basement if need be.
I think we can build a pretty functional home for the (gulp) nine of us. We were debating whether we add another room to the first floor but felt like the basement will give us plenty of room for expansion. Tom is all about the basement, and I think we might even push that to 1,500 sqft as it's cheap to build now and will give us potential for later. (I have my heart set on building a home gym down there)
I'm really excited to see what the other three come up with next Friday when they meet with the builder. I think a floor plan will make this feel that much closer to real.
We Finally Have Land!
This week was especially productive. After we were outbid for a property in Avon a couple weeks ago, we really felt back at square one. But we bounced back surprisingly quickly. I think the fact that we've been looking for a few months helped us quickly find our new course.
Anyway, after coming to the conclusion that we wanted to build - and build one house - we moved pretty fast. It's about 5 acres of farmland north of Brownsburg. Probably closer to Zionsville than Brownsburg, but Brownsburg schools. It's on a county road and we'll have neighbors, but it's 5 acres. I mean, it's 5 acres. Looking at it as a flat lot with no house, it doesn't look all that big. But I'm really excited by the possibilities.
It's great to finally have something we can plan around. Even though we have a lot of work in front of us, it's exciting to know this is where home will be.
Anyway, after coming to the conclusion that we wanted to build - and build one house - we moved pretty fast. It's about 5 acres of farmland north of Brownsburg. Probably closer to Zionsville than Brownsburg, but Brownsburg schools. It's on a county road and we'll have neighbors, but it's 5 acres. I mean, it's 5 acres. Looking at it as a flat lot with no house, it doesn't look all that big. But I'm really excited by the possibilities.
It's great to finally have something we can plan around. Even though we have a lot of work in front of us, it's exciting to know this is where home will be.
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