While you were sleeping

I know, logically, that we are going to be paying dolla dolla bills to the bank over the next 30 years or so for this amazing project. But sometimes - like right now for example, when I've just gotten back from 10 days hanging out on the east coast - the progress seems like complete magic. Wizards and genies and fairy dust, seriously. Somebody pinch me, this thing is starting to look like a house!!

I reported already (thanks to the photo update from Steven) that the crew had started on the siding while we were gone. There's also been a lot of progress on the "house guts" - plumbing, electrical and HVAC. We had another meeting this morning with Steven and the head electrician, mainly focused on figuring out our AV needs. We don't have a TV, so actually all of our TV-like entertainment (Netflix, MLB.tv) is streamed through a computer to a projector. This has presented some complications in figuring out the wiring, where speakers should go, and such. However, it seems like we came up with some good solutions today. One of the most exciting things about this house is how intentional everything is. Our current and previous places have always had miscellaneous inconveniences - useless spaces, lack of storage, outlets hidden behind furniture (or no outlets a'tall). None of these things are a huge deal, and you learn to live with them. What's so amazing about this project (especially to a Type-A freak like yours truly) is that everything we own is going to have a place, and the way we live has directed every decision along the way. I seriously feel like the most fortunate human in the world to have this opportunity.

But enough of the rambling - here are some pictures! This is the current state of the exterior:

 

Don't worry, the battens will eventually be painted red as well. Faux zebra stripes is not a look we're going for.

There were some major changes in the basement, where as I'm sure you recall, the spiral staircase of doom used to spring from the fiery bowels of the earth. It is now an ancient (but fear-inspiring) memory, and instead we have some framing for the new mechanical room (where the HVAC, hot water heater, etc. will reside).

Also of note in the basement, they busted a door through the concrete block wall to join the basement with the new entryway (in this sentence I imagine "they" to be a crew including Superman, Captain America, and Hulk Hogan). You're welcome for the additional perk of Brandon's sexy laygs in this photo.

The new entryway (and the lack of the giant hole in the middle of the floor) really makes the first floor seem huge and spacious.

Here are a couple more shots of the house guts...

Pipes and ducts and wires, oh my!

Elmo approves.

The electrical work is all supposed to be done in the next few days, because insulation is happening at the end of this week, and drywall next week! I believe the drywall is actually slated to start on Tuesday, which is our third wedding anniversary. According to Wikipedia (reliable source of all important information), the traditional gift for the third anniversary is leather. I'm disappointed, I was really hoping it would be gypsum plaster.

To end on a note of "things that never would have occurred to me as river-based recreation," Steven came over yesterday with a remote-controlled model sailboat that he built. The wind was a little shifty (can we blame Irene out here in Michigan?), but the boys still had a good time launching and sailing the little boat.

Unfortunately there was a small malfunction - either the batteries weren't quite charged, or the boat hit the Bermuda Triangle of the Huron River, you decide - and a rescue boat had to be launched.

(No ships were lost at sea in the making of this post.)