Construction

An observation: I have not been as prolific with my blogging this summer as I was last. In fact, I seemed to hit a lull when our vacation switched over to Maine, and I didn't quite recover from it.

In some ways, returning from vacation was very anticlimactic this year. We received good news while away: a construction project that would turn our basement into a recreation room was commencing upon our return. However, that meant we had to immediately empty out said basement.

There was nothing fancy about our basement. It was something of a spill-over living space. Somewhat dark, somewhat humid, quite cluttered, it served as a place to assemble Legos, occasionally do school work, and store stuff. Emptying it meant turning our garage into a temporary storage locker (not too much of a loss, really). But it also led to a lot more clutter on our main floor.

The project is underway (more details in a few moments) and I'm eager to live in the finished product. But it's becoming a bit claustrophobic inside the house. I recently relented and pulled the Legos from their temporary storage in the attic (that made Sam and Caroline much happier) but that's pretty much rendered the dining room unusable to adults. Ah, tradeoffs.

Note the Costco pack of paper towels in the background. Where does one put the fruits of a Costco visit when the basement is out of commission?

Adults used to be able to eat and do work here. 

But we are excited about the basement. It's changed a lot since we flipped our calendars over to August.

After water mitigation.

In the midst of framing.

New rear doorway. 

Framing and insulation near closet spaces. 

New windows, framing, and insulation along our exterior wall. 

The hard work these contractors are doing is contrasting with the little work it appears I'm doing in the waning days of summer. One day, the young man who does landscaping for me appeared to care for a neglected tree in the backyard. I couldn't help but chuckle at how little I was working but how much three adults on the property were.

Our sugar maple after Nathaniel was finished. 

When I began teaching macroeconomics I found myself becoming much more at ease paying professionals to do things many would do on their own. I think, though, it's gotten a bit out of hand.