Progress

These guys work fast -- you can see progress on our patio in just the past couple of days. (These pictures are taken from our kitchen and playroom windows so I won't be stumbling in and around them while they are actually trying to do work. They are a little awkward but you can get an idea of what things are starting to look like.)

Plan B: No Shed

So a bit of a course correction: we are having them take the shed. KLC and I had gone back and forth on this topic, and had decided just to keep the shed for some storage. The idea was it would be there for a year or so until we could figure something better.

Well, after seeing the start of the demo, we realized that the improved yard would look weird with this ancient, somewhat decrepit shed in the middle. Plus, it would have been a pain for them to make a clean edge around it on the concrete pad. (For the record, my mom, without having seen the situation except through a few photos, was advocating the shed's removal for quite some time.)

Anyhow, the shed is gone. We're off to Portland in a couple of hours and we'll back on Sunday. Hopefully, we won't encounter any surprises when we get back ...

More 'Before' Pics

A few more shots of the yard for history's sake.

The 'Before' Pictures

As promised, here are some photos of the yard/carport as they currently look. Notice that the carport is painted a lovely red while the house is blue. This is not the reason why we're tearing it down, but it's a hint of the amount of attention given to it and the yard in recent years. (By the way, we will be keeping the shed that's attached to the carport. One of the projects we'll personally undertake later this spring or summer is painting it a reasonable color to actually match the house.)

So, first up, demolition is scheduled to start on Thursday. They say it should take them a day or so to rip off that roof, jackhammer the concrete, and haul everything away. I hope they have a big truck. They are going to need it.

Next Up: Home (Yard?) Improvement Project

When we bought our house, we did so for a variety of reasons. One of the main ones was that it needed virtually no work. The same can't exactly be said for the yard. This will all make more sense when I post some pictures (hopefully in the next couple of days.) Without the visuals, however, imagine a hodgepodge of efforts, probably spanning several decades, and at least two owners.

The moral of the story is that we and the kids will be living through various seasons of mud and dirt -- not to mention an unused carport -- if we don't do anything. Hence, the impetus for what will be known as The Project. It involves demo (of said carport and current semi-crumbling brick patio), leveling of the yard, the installation of new stone patio, laying of new sod, and hopefully, eventually, living plants.

We signed the contract on Saturday with our chosen company, so it's full speed ahead. The crew is supposed to show up on Thursday to get things going. For me, these things are always fraught with a mixture of anxiety and excitement. Start writing large checks to relative strangers? Sure. Hope everyone shows up on time and does what they are supposed? No problem. Well, maybe ... *

(* As a footnote to this bout of neuroses, I should point out that we did research this company, which does give a warranty for their work for 2 years, and they sound great. Therefore, this bit of panic is simply related to a condition that arises within me whenever committing to something that costs more than a quarter of a paycheck.)

Better to be Lucky

Like about 93% of the citizens of the United States, I had a run-in with a little storm this past week. The monster that hit the Midwest and East Coast managed to impact, but not completely ruin, a quick trip I had planned back to Boston earlier this week.

For the record, KLC predicted that I could/would get stuck since New England had already experienced so many storms this winter already. I was casual and said that surely there couldn't be many more, and I was positive that I would have no problems on this quick trip back. Um, yeah.

The plan was to fly in late Sunday night and leave Tuesday night. The first part worked fine. I got to see my parents and then went into the office on Monday for the meetings that brought me back East. Then people in the office started mentioning the changing weather reports for Tuesday, and by the early afternoon it was clear that I stood a very strong chance to proving KLC right.

This is where being a government employee comes in handy. We are able to change flights without penalty, so I got myself on the first flight out (6:25am) to Dallas and then back to Seattle. Surely, I figured, Dallas was southern enough to miss this storm. (If you see a recurring pattern of me being wrong here, you are picking up on something.)

Getting to the airport at 5:30 am, I saw my flight was listed as "on time." By the time I had gone through security, however, and was waiting for my bagel and coffee, things had changed. In that 15 minutes, my flight and nearly every other one to Dallas and a lot of other cities were now cancelled. Imagining myself in the masses trying to wait in line at American airlines, I decided to seek out any human being in the concourse where I was suppose to fly from.

The only counter with anyone at it? The 6am flight to Seattle ... through Chicago. I knew this flight existed but didn't pick it the day. I had thought Chicago wouldn't be a good place for a connection because a blizzard was supposedly headed that way. Knowing I was on a perfect streak for wrong until this point, I decided to go with my anti-instinct and get on the plane. (There is a Seinfeld episode about this with George, but I digress.) After all, Chicago is halfway to Seattle, right?

Well, it turns out that not listening to myself works wonderfully. The flight to Chicago landed without a problem (and it was virtually empty so I had a whole row to myself). The connection to Seattle took off less than an hour later. It was early enough in the day that it was barely snowing. In short, I got back to Seattle by 11:30 am Pacific -- hours or probably days if I had not changed my flight plans. I might have been more lucky than smart on this little adventure, but I'll take it. And, I think I will wait until spring or, better yet, summer before I risk another trip back to New England.