We've taken on a lot, and somehow managed to stay in tact. Living life now as a family of 4!

So. Kitchen. I believe we went to the first kitchen place in February. Now, 2 months later, we have decided who will build the kitchen! My uncle Henry John! Isn't that amazing? Let me tell you about this. HJ is a master-builder and went to school to become a cabinet maker. However, working in a factory is not his style - so he does various projects from home. He builds the most gorgeous bookshelves, rocking chairs, cutting boards - you name it, he builds it. He also built our bed and night tables to match. He is incredible. I hadn't talked to him about the kitchen because kitchens aren't his favourite thing to do. Much to my surprise he suggested that he could do it! So it's a win-win situation all around. He gets the experience of doing a kitchen on his own, we get to have him around a lot, and we get a quality product and the best part for me is that it continues the home-made ness of this whole process and house. I love the idea that we are doing as much of th

One of the most fun parts of the reno-prep work we (ie, mostly Jake) has been doing so far is finding old relics of the lives that have been lived in this house before us. Seeing as it was built in 1922, that is quite a lot of living. Above is the whole selection. We are rapidly running out of room on our little board - we'll see how much more we find. Most of it has come out of the trim, or from behind built-in things, and there isn't much of that kind of thing left in the house.  On the inside of this card it says 'From Grandpa to Doris'. Jake has proclaimed the words on the bottom 'Happy Days and many a bright outlook' to be the slogan for this project-filled year. So far, it's ringing quite true! This is one of the oldest things we've found - it is a receipt for 3, 1 Gallon paint cans for 30 cents. What makes it really great are the notes scribbled on it, and also that it is from 1922, which is the year the house was built. It also has the o

Well, I know you've all been dying to know how things are going over here, and I am realizing more and more that if I don't blog every day (almost) I get WAY behind on what is happening. I think that is one of the biggest surprises in terms of time - how much organizing, moving, coordinating, and record keeping there is involved in all of this. I guess we wouldn't have to keep track of how much money we're spending - on the other hand, I think it will be worth it at the end when we can look back and see just how much pizza and beer kept this project on the move ;) But anyway, on to the reason for this post: STAIRS!  How it was. This is looking into the house from the side door, which is at ground level. There are stairs going down into the basement straight ahead, and the ones going off to the right go into the kitchen. Where Jake is standing used to be the pantry, with a built-in cabinet facing the stairs. Jake and I took all that down to get ready for the big switc

Ahh, yes, that most hallowed of holidays. Spring break! A week off! After this, it is a runaway race to the end of the year! Yipee! Since we are insane (see title of blog) and have assigned ourselves another full time job and a half (reno = 1, wedding = 1/2) on top of our paying work, this is only a break from going to school. The pace of productivity shall not slow. In fact, it may speed up! As I type, Jake is readying to switch part of the basement stairs around with some buddies. This is the first highly tangible, structural work towards the goal of the new main floor. This means we will reclaim a corner of the kitchen and hopefully eke out some inches for a highly functional entrance that will become the most-often used. I am cleaning, packing, organizing and prepping for some days at a cabin in the woods with friends, and also for the jobs I have given myself for the rest of the week. Which is what this post is mostly about. My job list. This way I will be held accountable, yo

On Sunday there was an extended gathering for my mom's side of the family that live in the area. These are her aunts/uncles and cousins that we all connected with at the family reunion 2 summers ago. To be brief about it, there are A LOT of relatives in this family and they are all great fun. We don't see each other enough. One of the best parts of the afternoon for me was discovering that there were many people there who read my blog! I was honoured and a little bit surprised, to be honest. It is humbling to know so many are watching what goes on here. Anyway, I want to say thank you to everyone who reads what I write. It really is an outlet for me, and helps me figure things out. It also helps with a sense of accomplishment. Like if I write about something here it is real, rather than just something that lives in my head. I am grateful to you all. Keep coming back! As I am writing, Jake and his buddy are poking around the basement stairs to see what supplies they will

I've been thinking a lot about roles lately. Who does what. How the work is divided. I think I've written about this before, but it's sticking in my head a lot right now. In university at CMU we learned a lot about some pretty incredible thinkers that challenged everything I thought I knew and understood about how the world worked, and my place in that world. After the initial shock wore off, I found that I really liked engaging in thinking about theology and philosophy. After stumbling through the first few theology courses I took Feminist Theology and then things really started falling into place. It wasn't even so much the course content as the reaction of my fellow students to the course content. There was a pervasive mentality that Feminist (women-centered, empowering women) and Liberation (empowering oppressed peoples) weren't as 'good' as 'real' theology. The thinking wasn't advanced or complicated enough. If anyone can pick up a Liberat

I like warm weather as much as the next Canadian, but this is ridiculous and I am SERIOUSLY wondering if this is a sign of the 'end times ', as they say. Winnipeg was warmer than Raleigh North Carolina yesterday . And probably also today. I walked to work in a t-shirt and sandals, and home in a tanktop and sandals. I wore a sundress at work all day. I got blizzards during a thunder and lightning storm that was so humid t hat the blizzards were more like soup by the time I got them home. The normal high for this tim e of year is ZERO . Climate change? Is the evidence convincing yet? Last year when we went to the states for the weekend (admittedly, it was in April), we checked the Morris Flood Cam hourly to make sure we could get down there, and then we DROVE THROUGH the flood on the way back. For real. There were floating pylons to show where the road was. This year, the river at Morris is but a windy trickle at the bottom of the river bed, and the fields between

Ok, be honest. Put your hand up if you have ever watched TV all weekend because your to-do list wasn't that long, and if you did those chores first, watching TV would become lame - it would be come something you were doing because there was nothing else to do, whereas if you are watching because you're procrastinating - well, that is a whole other story! Come on, don't be shy. We've all done it. Well, my friends, those days no longer reside at our house. No siree - our To-Do is SO LONG and SO EXCITING that we are chomping at the bit to get stuff done. And it. is. awesome.  Reorganizing/packing the kitchen means assessing how many kinds of tea and bbq sauce a person REALLY needs. In our case, it's 2 kinds of tea (Earl Grey for Jake, and Peppermint for me), and the 5 kinds of bbq sauce already in the fridge.  A harmless look at the calendar to try to map out when Destructo day was going to happen turned into an on-the-wall art session. We're going to chip th

Yesterday was one of the best experiences we/I have had so far in preparing for the renovation. I got a contact from a friend at work who recently built a house of a general contractor to help consult on our beaming needs. You know, to make sure the floor upstairs doesn't cave in on the people downstairs. Also to make sure that what we wanted to do was possible and feasible. Well, folks, it is all of the above. Possible AND feasible! Also, we are now in touch with someone with stellar contracts (Us: 'We need someone to do the drywalling. Any recommendations?' Him: 'I'll do it'), who is willing to share his information generously and who will continue to consult if/when we need him. I am feeling just thrilled about this. Sometimes it feels like trades people are keeping their knowledge from the general public. After all, if we all knew what they know, they would be out of a job. Not this guy. He was giving tips left right and centre and sharing all kinds of i

Jake and I have a portion of a portion of a seat (that translates to a few games a year, of a massive season's ticket pack) at Jets games. I went to 3 games this year (Jake went to 6), and it has been both an eye-opening and learning experience. First of all, I do enjoy watching some good hockey. I remember the din of the Calgary Flames' Stanley Cup win in '89 or whenever that was quite clearly. I had to go to bed after the winning goal, even though it was still light out and even though the streets - even in our suburban neighbourhood - were full of revellers. I have carried a bit of a torch for the Flames all through my years in Winnipeg and spent one spring in 2004-ish rushing home from ultimate games to watch the Flames in the final series. All of this to say I understand the appeal of hockey and, I guess, of organized sports in general. I have not, however, spent any significant time watching sports live, especially not in a city overjoyed to have its team back.

What is with the insistence of people to demonize an entire food group? I do not get it. How did the wonderful, diverse, delicious, comforting, soothing carbohydrate get all the blame for weight gain and loss? How is that not the realm of FAT!? Which has 9 calories per gram, might I add. Carbs has only FOUR. Alcohol? SEVEN. So, maybe if you want to lose weight you should skip the fat and stick with the carbs and the protein. Besides which, all of this is ridonkulous since the ONLY way to lose weight it to use more calories than you consume. Hear me, insane carb-haters?! THE ONLY WAY! MAN! PEOPLE THESE DAYS! (what brought this on, may you ask? An attack against carbs in the staff room today. It just boggles the mind.) And now, a list of carbs that are delicious, and that I will NEVER STOP EATING. 1. Potatoes - baked, fried, scalloped, roasted, purreed, hashbrowned, mashed....seriously. I had a prof a long time ago whose family farmed potatoes and he said that they are the sing