Progress

Summer is drawing to a close; four of our five kids started school last week and our youngest (still in elementary school) will start just after Labor Day. We've been dividing our time between end of summer fun, painting and renovations at our new house, back-to-school shopping, and settling into a routine for the new school year. We have a buyer for our current house and are set to close on September 30 which is a great comfort in this tough housing market. It means that soon we'll be able to access the equity in this house to pay for the necessary repairs and upgrades at the new one. In the interim, we're throwing all our extra money and plastic at plumbers, electricians, flooring guys, replacement window folks, and kitchen renovators. The people at Home Depot now remember us and greet us as old friends, referring to us as "regulars" these days.

We're also working as a team; the kids helped us clean and paint the basement so it no longer resembles a dungeon. Here's the before shot, complete with hanging wires, decades of dirt, and large spiders.

Here's our basement after power washing, wire removal, new lighting and the family painting party. We even managed to have some fun in the process.

A little at a time...soon this space will house a playroom with a couch, a large TV, and all the kids' videogame toys. There will also be a workshop for Dad, storage space, and a laundry room. Our new front-loading steam washer and dryer will be delivered in a couple of weeks. Fortunately, the space now almost meets my specifications on the reduced basement creepiness factor to permit me to actually do laundry down here...and you should see my wonderful old soapstone utility sink! It's original to the house so it qualifies as an antique; it was gross and disgusting before Craig attacked it with a putty knife and cleansers, digging up layers of sludge and grime. Now it's clean and tricked out with a new faucet compliments of our wonderful plumber, the same guy who removed our 1950's leaking hot water heater and installed a spiffy new hybrid continuous hot water system that hangs on the wall.

Don't get me started on the kitchen renovation we just contracted for...I'll start weeping with joy. Then there are the new windows, the carpet for the stairs, the wallpapering and painting, the rewiring and new lighting...it's all happening in the next month or so. Now that's progress!