House in Progress Diary, Category:
Daily Diary
Grace's new obsession is Alvin and the Chipmunks (sigh). I have to admit to a certain fondness for the Chipmunks when I was her age and begged my parents to play that crazy Christmas song over and over and over again. Now that I am a parent, I feel their pain.
The only thing that has made watching this movie more than once even slightly bearable is a powerful, sexy presence in the film. Every time this presence comes on screen, I perk up and squirm to the edge of my seat, my eyes fixed on the screen.
I'm talking about Dave's bungalow neighborhood.
Continue reading "Um, gee, 20th Century Fox, thanks?" »
House in Progress Diary, Category:
Daily Diary
After six years, we feel like we've reached the tipping point. As of this winter, every single room in our house has had SOMETHING done to it. They may not be finished, but we have messed with every room in one way or another. Including....
...the basement.
The basement was really a last frontier of sorts, the repository for everything we didn't want to deal with or wanted to keep away from Grace. We used to make it the last stop on house tours so we could say, "And HERE is what the house looked like BEFORE we did anything." It was effective in eliciting gasps of amazement from visitors who congratulated us on our bravery/masochism/stupidity for taking on such a crazy project.
No more, my friends, no more.
Continue reading "Basement" »
House in Progress Diary, Category:
Daily Diary
Regular readers of the blog already know that I am a big, BIG fan of Fine Homebuilding. (And that I have fantasies of baking them muffins and showing up at their headquarters as a ploy to get them to autograph my Sawzall in silvery ink. Yeah, I'm crushing bad.)
Why are they so awesome? Practical and easy-to-read technical information on a well-designed website. A healthy respect for homeowners who like to use quality materials and who are interested in value over trendiness. Writers who got their hands dirty as craftspeople BEFORE they became writers. One of the best moderated and helpful forums (Breaktime) on the 'net to turn to for help and advice. Yeah, Fine Homebuilding is the gold standard in my opinion.
They've reorganized their Remodeling content into one clean and sleek section, which is happy news for those of us who are more about remodeling than building from the ground up.
They've also incorporated excellent guides for:
Continue reading "(Very!) Fine Remodeling" »
House in Progress Diary, Category:
Daily Diary
Just like last year's holiday gingerbread project, our little cookie house has become a metaphor for what is happening in our real house.
Right now, the top floor and front of the first floor are toasty warm and lovely. But the back two rooms on the first floor? Since we are still smack dab in the middle of the porch and basement project?
Big gaps in the walls. Freezing. Enter at your own risk.
House in Progress Diary, Category:
Daily Diary
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What on Earth!?
Earlier this week, I began a scanning project for the ephemera left behind in the house. I would love to post the results both here and on the LifeInProgress blog, but can't. The software for the LifeInProgress blog is better suited to entries with multiple photos and is more efficient. So, if you are interested in that project, you might want to keep checking in over there or on our Flickr feed. Thanks all!
House in Progress Diary, Category:
Daily Diary
,
What on Earth!?
It was exciting to open up my email this morning and get a note from Beth in Chicago (researcher par excellence, obvs) who has tracked down the identity of our vintage baby announcement family. And the story, as it unfolds, is pretty cool. I've omitted some of the more personal information she found.
The surname is spelled with an old style 's', so the name is actually Ressinger. Paul, the father was an executive with the American Typographical Society, which explains the fancy print. I believe that I found John A. Ressinger listed as an alum of Northwestern University. According to their records, he was from the Class of 1964. So, apparently he is still alive.
After receiving Beth's note, I did a little digging around regarding Paul M. Ressinger. Here's what I found:
Continue reading "I LOVE a Good Mystery, Especially When It Gets SOLVED" »
House in Progress Diary, Category:
Daily Diary
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