Rockin’ Around The Rubble Piles

What’s this?

Is this, me, at the house? You mean I got a weekend day off? It was! I got to do work things at my favorite place last Sunday thanks to convenient scheduling at my job (a rare thing this close to Christmas). So, since I was around to take notes and pictures, this post should come much easier!

We left the house around eight thirty (mornings don’t agree with me as a general rule. If you need proof, I spouted off something about training circus chickens during the trip there) for our hour drive to the house wearing several layers of clothing as is the usual attire. When the wood burning stove isn’t going that place is colder than the outside temperature so yes, you will be glad you’re wearing flannel pants under your jeans.

This was right after we got there, before the stove had warmed the house up. Mom’s standing at the corner where the largest bathroom used to be. The upstairs kitchen was directly to her right. Once. Now the space behind her is going to be the master bedroom.

We did cleanup, working to the best classic rock station ever, and finishing the inevitable filling up of the dumpster outside. Walls apparently take up a lot of space when in pieces. But I was never so happy to see broken chunks of drywall in my life because at least I was getting to work on the house.

Look! Look! I got to do things! So right there is going to be part of the kitchen. The door to my right is going to be closed off and the area on my left is going to be kitchen all the way back to the chimney.

You can see the chimney right behind the blinding light to the right of me. The wall with the door we’re closing off is the white one you see at the right. The living room will be straight back by the stairs and on the left side as well as the dining room area.

We were able to work on the layout a lot more that day and figure out the bedrooms. Mom and I also included an impromptu hoedown which Dad, either purposefully or not, failed to turn around and see. He has a talent for ignoring us when we go momentarily crazy. I think it’s a defense mechanism.

He also got to start using his saw today. He was almost like me when I walk into a new antique store. Not that you probably know what the experience of antique shopping with me is like…Pack rations and lots of water.

So at the left you’ll have the kitchen, then the two bathrooms, and the master bedroom. On the right you’ll have my bedroom which I had way too much fun planning (it will have a reading nook), and then in the front right corner there, where dad is standing, is where the second bedroom will go.

We took a break for lunch, utilizing the downstairs kitchen which hasn’t been torn out (because we kind of need a kitchen still) and hung out in front of the wood burning stove to eat. That’s when we decided, we definitely needed to take out the bathroom in the store and put in glass doors that would show off the stairs, thanks to the idea of Dad’s co-worker, Janet. Imagine walking into the store in December and seeing those stairs covered in garland with a huge tree at the top through those doors…Man I can’t wait to decorate for the holidays next year.

Dad and I kept working upstairs but mom stayed downstairs to clean the kitchen. My comment being “Yeah, Mom, use the bleach, use it all!”. …Okaaaay, maybe it wasn’t that bad, but it had been left alone for awhile and dust and dirt settles. It was in need of help and still being invaded by the magical dying ladybugs of DOOM! Okay, they’re just ladybugs, but they’re everywhere and then they die on your floor and you have to vacuum all the time to keep up. We’ve been told it’s a fact of life around here.

Before we left we got a one foot portion of framing done and Dad did a little electrical work. The one foot portion was to extend my bedroom slightly so my bed will fit more comfortably. I was happy to get a bigger bedroom, Dad was happy to get some actual building done. I think that was the first day building happened as opposed to just demo.

As you can see, there’s kind of been a lot of demo…