Where I Share Our Construction Plans

Do you have any idea how easy it is to be distracted watching fish? There are four tanks currently set up in our house so it seems every time I turn around I am sucked in. Some tanks are calming. Some are disturbingly entertaining as in this one with the live fish eating puffer fish, shark and catfish. It’s fascinating to watch natural instincts in action. The dragonfish, on the other hand, is not eating his live food. Now I’ll have to try some sinking pellets before he starves to death.

This guy is the meanest most aggressive fish I’ve ever owned. He just swims around pissed off all day long. We are going to have to keep a tank full of “food” for him so he’ll leave the other two alone.

So here’s what I’ve been working on. I went hog wild last week sorting through stuff and packing out almost 20 bags, and finally finished up. Everything wasn’t in this area to begin with, but it has good light for working so I sit and go through totes there. This photo is a half-way through photo. Imagine how full it was to begin with!

For the most part the area is now clear. There’s a doll house and kitchen that won’t fit in my room and some boxes of trophies behind them (Nick still isn’t sure what he wants to do with them…). Imagine a wall extending out from the right towards you. (Olivia’s bedroom door is that sliver you see on the edge). Also imagine an opening where the clock is. This will lead into (what was) the master bath and that big walk-in closet I showed you the other day. Em & Olivia will have their own bathroom to share… it even has double sinks!

The desk had to stay as well. The other is my sewing table on wheels so I can easily move it when the sawdust flies. I need to find another location for my hope chest and saddle as they are in the way.

So how does this work? I believe the left/right windows will go and the middle two will be taken out for a large one that opens (bedroom codes).

In this photo the wall would come out from beside the door and meet the other one to form a room. (The current section of wall on the left will be removed to make an entry. This space will be  14.5’ by 13’ and will be Emily’s room….and there’s your visual! :)

On the right is the hallway with Nick’s room halfway down, Elijah’s room at the end and Em’s current room to the left at the end. There’s also the laundry room and bathroom down there. The big construction zone on the left is where the kitchen was originally. This will become a 13’ by 15.5’ room for Elijah, Lucas will go to Elijah’s current room, I will go to Em’s, she’ll move to her new one and Olivia will stay in the room we now share that is 13’ by 16’. Whew! Lot’s of work to be done!! (Those three rooms will be really nice sized for bedrooms. Lucas is the next biggest and then Nick and ours’ are smaller).

This space was once a dining room. Walls will be built around it to become my craft room which is about 13’ by 10’ or 12’. Through the sliding doors is the 60’ by 8’ foot deck that we dream of making into a Spring garden area, but that is years away. Today I should work on the construction disaster, but I really need to plant some seeds. :) I’m very excited for the finished house… it’s just taking so long. Lack of time and expense tend to smother dreams.

I made yogurt the other day. So simple, so fast and look how thick! I can’t believe I didn’t know about this sooner. I bet there are so many other things I could be doing myself to save money.

Coached soccer practice last night and it went great. The parents were very receptive to me teaching the competitive aspect of the game rather than it just being play time. We worked on attacking the goalie until he either controls the ball or we score and effective kick-ins. Tomorrow we will have another game.

Today is early outs for the kids. I don’t have to go anywhere as Lucas can ride the bus home on these days. I guess I need to get crackin’ and take advantage of my alone time (Nick stayed out with friends. It’s so quiet in here….).