It’s been a weird summer. I had declared
it would be “The Summer of Vitamin D” for homemade ice cream and outdoor time,
but I haven’t done too much of either. I think we’ve made 3 or 4 batches of ice
cream, which is more than I’ve made most years but not as much as I had hoped,
and I guess the kids go outside for at least 90 minutes a day, but we haven’t
done anything “outdoorsy.” Most days it’s just the kids scrapping with the
other neighborhood kids: playing tag, shooting water guns, fighting over
plastic lawn mowers. The neighborhood kids tend to congregate in our yard,
which is good because then I can supervise. On the other hand, it means I HAVE to supervise. If Knox is out, I have to stay close by because he is liable to
wander off, even into the alley or toward the sound of the train that passes
through at least twice a day. If the five- and six-year-old boys—this neighborhood
is ALL boys— see me, they want me to arbitrate all their scuffles. I take that
back—they want me to declare them right and the other boy wrong and ban the offender from our yard, but I end up trying to arbitrate and downplay most offenses
instead. It’s exhausting. I’m often guilty of luring Knox back inside so I don’t
have to be Judge Carrie. Without an adult, they tend to work it out on their
own. They also are likely to find sharp metal objects in our renovation trash
heap and “saw” a hole into the bathroom screen.
As for the renovation, we are getting VERY
close to finishing! Though I guess it depends on where you draw the line for “finished.”
The walls are all up and painted, the ceiling lights are in, the laundry room
cabinets are installed and just got their butcher block counters (though we
still have to seal them). The new washer and dryer were delivered Monday, but
they haven’t been hooked up. That’s another weird part of this summer, I haven’t
had laundry facilities in our home since early July when the old laundry water
pipes were disconnected. The majority of our laundry has been done at our
tenants’ apartments while they’re on vacation. Friday I went to a dear friend’s
while she and her family had an overnight trip, and the kids and I camped out
for 5 hours and did 5 loads of laundry while feeding their dogs and letting
them out and cooking ourselves a frozen pizza and watching a movie there. I am
really excited for when my laundry room is going to be all done, but just
getting the washer and dryer hooked up is going to be a huge relief. I think I’m
going on laundry strike until that happens.
The other final steps for the basement are
installing the nice wooden stairs instead of the “temporary” stairs we have
used for 10 years, the flooring, the trim, hanging doors, the cabinet for the
utility sink in the laundry room, bathroom vanity installation, plumbing
hookups (as in new toilet and connecting the two sinks), installation of wall
sconces and light dimmers, rebuilding the radiator and baseboard heating loop and
installing the new ductless air conditioners. Josh and I were laughing that we
feel like we’re in the last 5 minutes of an HGTV episode where they show
everything in fast motion to get everything done by the end of the show and the
grand reveal. Our contractor Scott plans to start his next job Aug. 27, so
theoretically, our job *should* be finished by then.
And “finished” is going to mean finished
playroom, laundry room, bathroom and a hall closet. The mudroom has been booted
to the next phase. The mudroom is about 10 feet by 10 feet and currently has a
raw concrete floor that we leveled ourselves, concrete walls that have been
covered in a waterproofing cement product, and still the exposed flooring
ceiling. This was also supposed to be separated from the playroom by glass
French doors, but those have been put off for now, or possibly until our cats
die because the thought is that the litter box will go back there and the
French door would always have to be open anyway to let the cats in there (the
cats are 15 years old, isn’t that about average lifespan?). The walls and
ceiling will get insulation and drywall, but just not yet. I think I’m going to
make Josh and Scott do a blood brothers pact with me that we’ll still finish it
by Thanksgiving because I don't want it to stay like that for the next 5 years or until the cats die, but for now I’m trying to chill out and just focus on getting
my laundry room and moving all the toys down to the playroom.
Today is Aug. 8, so there’s a whole month
of summer left for me, as our family takes our second vacation during the first
week of September. But the kids seem kind of summered-out, and we thought Josh
was going to have a light work schedule for August, but when we try to plan fun
family things to do, there never seems to be the time for them. Next weekend we’re
finally going to D.C. to see some friends we had been trying to find time to
visit since MAY! It’s shameful! I wanted this to be a memorable summer for fun,
but I think it’s only going to be memorable for the basement construction
project.
Speaking of which, I believe we're getting a dump
truck load of dirt delivered this weekend. In the two monsoon-like storms we
experienced in the past two weeks, our basement got some water. Not what I’d
call flooding, but an amount closer to puddles than just damp spots. And this is after
thousands of dollars spent on replacing blocks in the foundation and coating
everything above ground and about 6 inches below ground with the waterproof
coating. It’s really frustrating, but the masonry guys kept pointing out that
our grading around the house is pretty messed up, and it’s gotten even more
messed up since they did the last round of work (and since 5-year-olds with
shovels keep insisting on further digging up the softened up dirt), so we
decided to try re-grading away from the house. A dump truck of dirt is going to
be a heck of a lot cheaper than whatever the foundation specialists recommend
next. It might work permanently, or it might just buy us some time. Praying it’s
the former and not the latter.
I’ve been writing this on my porch because
Scott is screwing down the subfloor with an air compressor and I guess an air
drill, and it is an intolerable sound. But now he’s doing the part by the
front of the house, so I can still hear it. I’m going to cut this one short and
try to write again next week. I have more exciting news to share about
back-to-school season!
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