June 28 - Last Day at Slide Ranch Camp

The older 2 girls have spent the week at a lovely, rustic camp in the Golden Gate Recreation Area close to Stinson Beach.  It is a bear to drive there but the camp is so fantastic, it's worth it!  They milk goats and climb through the fennel forest and hike down to the ocean and look in the tide pools ... it's magic.  I want to spend the day there.  Today was the 'Lemonade Social' where the parents a) get shaken down for donations and b) get a chance to 'purchase' the art and cooking projects that the kids have been working on all week.  This is why you live in California.  Such a unique and special place!

Jack and I dropped the kids off and then went for a run through the Marin headlands.  The air was fresh, the sun shining and the fog was sitting in the gate, just obscuring the cars on the bridge.  Gorgeous!   We got back to the car to find a voicemail from Jack's Foster City client.  Looks like it's go time for him.  Back to work!  I've enjoyed having a him home and working with me on the house but it's time for me to step back up!  I probably need to sign the kids up for some more camps ... : /

Jack and the GC pulled the permit for the bathroom yesterday so we are legit now.  2-weeks to the first inspection ... 

June 27 - 1600!!!

Laura's counts were 1600 this morning - over the 1500 that they require to be able to administer her last dose of chemo!  We knew the universe was on her side when we heard Don't Stop Believin' on the radio on our way to the hospital!  There is still a long road ahead for her but closing this chapter is a huge milestone.  I was so honored to be the one to be with her!


Back at the house,  the guys were busy cutting holes in our ceilings and installing the PVC pipe that will service the sprinkler system.  Learning so much in this process, not least of which is that the electricians should always go last!  The plumbers make such huge holes for their pipes that the electricians can skip all the Swiss Cheese holes and just run their little teeny wires through the plumbing holes.  The plumber actually asked me, "Who's running this job?  You or your GC?"  Ha! Funny!  I have a GC so I don't have to run this job ... looks like there is some confusion on this front ...


Jack also met with another structural engineer today and we decided to take the chimney out due to it's failing mortar and overall uselessness.  Two weeks ago, we made the decision to leave it in so the GC framed around it and the plumber got the rough plumbing worked out and now that we've decided to take it out, we have to undo all that.  I think the most frustrating part of this process is the forward and back.  We are so over our head on this -- we are just making mistake after mistake after mistake. Expensive, time consuming, frustrating.


Since our sprinklers put us back a couple of weeks, we are going to move out of Shady and into PODS since the house won't be ready to move right into.  Then it will be a few weeks of house sitting and sofa surfing.  Hoping that we will be walking to school on the first day from our new house.  Time will tell!


All of that said, a few days in LA with Laura provided a visceral reminder of just how very lucky we are.  These teeny, tiny, insignificant set backs are barely a speck in the grand scheme of things.  Today, I'm practicing gratitude.

June 26 - City of Hope

Oh ... so hot.  Heat escape was job 1 this weekend.  Saturday we lounged by the pool - taking advantage while we still have it (sniff)!  Jacqui's swimming is coming along nicely and Charlotte is not far behind.  Swim lessons with Kelsey start again on Monday for 1 month of intensive, daily lessons for all 3 girls.  My goal for the end of August is Jacqui and Charlotte floatie-free and Natalie on her way.  Lofty goals but, heck, this is California, ya gotta be able to swim!


Saturday evening we went to a friend's 40th birthday party and played ... are you ready for it ... Beer Pong.  Yes, that's right!  The cops came twice (although this is Ross, so what else do they have to do?).  It was a hoot and, although we were both knocked out in early rounds, it was a nail biter to the end.  Sunday morning was a little rough but we rallied and joined David and his family for a ride in their powerboat and a picnic lunch on Angel Island.  So fun.  Natalie found the sound of the waves and the fresh sea air a powerful soporific and slept in my arms on the way over.  It was so nice to have her sleep on me.  You never know when the last time will be for something and that might have been it for her sleeping on me.  It is such a wonderful feeling (although I did lose feeling in my left arm for most of the afternoon).  She woke up when we got there and enjoyed playing on the beach after lunch.  What a lovely day!

June 25

Off to LA with Laura for her last chemo trip! Hopefully her counts are good enough to get the drip. Fingers crossed!!

June 24 - Week 3 Begins

Isn't it amazing how quickly they destroy things and how long it takes to put it back together?

So lots has been going on. We got a blazingly fast approval from the fire dept to put in sprinklers so that is hugely good news and means that we are less likely to be going to school on the first day from a tent in our front yard. It's still possible but just less likely!! Now we need the sprinkler guys to get in here and get it done 2 weeks ahead of schedule. No small task. (Blogging on my iPhone is so frustrating). We also dropped of cookies this morning at the fire house. A little thank you for everything they do (like approving my permits!)

It's pay day for a couple of the subs today so Jack had to stop by the bank -- again!!! The tellers are starting to wonder - drug problem? gambling addiction? They can tell by the beaten down look in our eyes that it must be a house remodel. Even a Chrystal Meth addiction wouldn't be this much of a roller coaster!

Good news today is that our bathroom permit was approved and is ready for pick-up. Once we get that, we are legit! No more sneaking around and trying to cover up the sound of framing going up with noisy tree work or the huge pile of debris with a bed sheet.

We made a bold color choice for the girls bedroom - walls: white, trim and ceiling ... purple!

Electricians are almost done. Then sprinklers and then it's sheetrock time!

We are going to make a time capsule with the girls and hide it in between the floors before they seal it all up. A little message to the future as to who lived here in 2013. Fun!

Girls started slide ranch camp today - their favorite thing ever!

June 22 & 23 - Hot weekend in marin

Summer finally arrived in Marin - we woke up to clear blue skies and beautiful warm temps. After breakfast, we shuffled over to the San Anselmo fair for some rides, some bouncy housin' and some cotton candy. We topped it off with a corn dog. Good old fashioned fair fare! We earned an afternoon swim traipsing around in the heat! We ditched the kids at dinnertime and walked over to enjoy a Moscow Mule (or 2) at a friend's cocktail party then onto Picco for dinner. Fun and lively conversation!

Sunday was s-l-o-w going ... hmmm? We stayed close to home and practiced letters and bike riding and making fairy dust. Ahhhh, to be a kid again!

June 21 - Permits and permit drawings

Last night, while we were at dinner with friends, our permit drawings arrived from our architect. Now we have everything we need to submit an application for a permit to build our addition and our garage!! The question is, do we really want to move forward with the big project, or should we just take a break for a year and digest what we've already started?

Other good news is that the fire dept. gave us an over the counter permit for our sprinkler system so we are back on track timing wise.

Still waiting for the building permit for the bathroom.

June 20 - Chairs on a road trip

Today we took the chairs (and kids) on a road trip to the East Bay. Chairs we dropped off to be reupholstered - see you in 2 weeks, looking fab - and kids we took to Ikea for meatballs and a few intoxicatingly inexpensive inessentials. I love Ikea - it makes me giddy. It represents a dream that has escaped me thus far in my life of having a home that looks put together, efficient and fresh. Jacqui asked me for the number for FEMA yesterday - she said: "Mom, this place is a disaster!"

On my own, I'm willing to admit that I'm not the most tidy or organized person - I get that. For my husband, the same is true if not more so ...! So together we are already behind the 8-ball. Then add kids ... I don't think that I was prepared for the level of chaos they would bring. They move things for no reason. Just move them from one room to another. Baffling. They collect things in little bags. Treasures like rocks and shiny beads and my car keys. It's maddening. Where is my _____? Oh, of course, it's wrapped in a tissue, stuffed into the toe of my hiking boot and wedged behind the couch. Why didn't I look there first?!? Children = chaos in ways I could have never imagined.

My friend who just completed a house remodel told me that she got a lock put on her closet. She keeps they key, just like the wicked step-mother in Cinderella, safely in her pocket at all times. I've already got a call into my GC - I want that too!! Heaven.

June 19 - we've got a new niece!!

Pictures to come! Sierra Mabel and mom are doing well!!

Congrats!!

June 15 & 16 - Father's Day Weekend

Saturday morning at the Marin Country Mart and canasta with Holly and Greg in the evening. Fun!

June 18 - Dead Bodies

Yup - today is the day we uncovered the first of the dead bodies. They were petrified mouse bodies but still, dead bodies none the less. The team removed a small patch of the ceiling in the soon to be mud room today and the evidence of mouse inhabitation came raining down (oh yes, you guessed it). Tomorrow, the rest of that ceiling comes down and I don't even dare imagine what's up there. 8( I was another big day for HVAC. Man those ducts are big and shiny ... so very big and shiny. It will be nice to have a new furnace and the HVAC guy and I figured out a temporary chase to get heat up to the bedroom level in case Phase 2 doesn't come together quite a smoothly as we hope. Since Phase 1 is a s**t show, I don't know why I would even imagine that Phase 2 would come together smoothly ...

June 17 - Field trip to the Fire Station

Normally, field trips to the Fire Station are all smiles and plastic fireman hats; eating pancakes and trying out the fire hose. Not today. We took our plans over to see the Fire Chief to find out if, in fact, the Fire Department was going to require us, a homeowner, to install a public fire hydrant at vast expense. Turns out that yes, since we saved 2 trees that our neighbor enjoys looking at we do not have a compliant fire turnaround (driveway) and we will be required to put in a fire hydrant. I'm sorry, but in what world is a home owner required to install a public utility at their own expense. What is happening?!? Have we reached some tipping point in California where this makes sense? It makes me want to use a lot of these *&^$#$*&^ and perhaps pepper in a few of these *^$%^&%^ and, after a couple of G&T's, a whole lot of these &%$%^* (sorry to my more sensitive readers, I had to get that off my chest).

So, we also begged that he not require us to put sprinklers in an old house, destroying lots of 100-year old plaster in the process but he said no. Gotta do sprinklers too. So we are scrambling to bring a sprinkler guy in in time to take advantage of all of the holes that the electricians and plumbers made. There's no point in fixing all the holes, skinning all the plaster and moving in all of our furniture to just take it all apart again in 9 months from now. It's making me weary ...

June 14 - Plumbers are in the house!!

You thought the electricians turned the place into Swiss cheese?!? Get a load of what the plumbers did!!

June 13 - Last walk to school on Shady!

Today was our last walk to school on Shady! I will miss our idyllic little stroll to school with friends and bikes and strollers and dogs - good old fashioned chaos! Our trip from 20a to school will also be nice because we have the snicket! I hope we'll be able to keep using it : /

After dropping Jacqui off for her last day at school, we swung by the house to close the deal on the HVAC. The new house will now have a 2-zoned heat and cooling system - hurray!

We then took all the seats out of the van and drove into the city to pick up a tub. Not the best use of our time but the lack of tub was holding up our contractors. Jack turned it into a food mission though so all was not lost. Bacon donuts from Dynamo and a burrito from La Taqueria! Yum!

June 12 - Charlottes last day of preschool!

Our little baby Charlotte is moving on to kindergarten. Where does the time go? Good bye teachers and friends - we'll see you around town and some of you we will see next year in kindergarten.

As for the house, we met with the fire sprinkler guy and it isn't as bad as we
thought. The fire hydrant we have to put in is another story though ...

June 11 - Welcome to the House of Swiss Cheese

Sconces placed; bath tub crisis solved; sprinklers handled. What a difference a day makes!

The electricians are doing their best to make as many holes in the ceiling and walls as possible. Since their drills are round, it makes the whole place look like swiss cheese. The mudding and taping guys are coming a week from Saturday so all the swiss cheese holes will be filled and it will start to feel more like a home and less like a disaster area. We are also starting to pick paint colors - now that's the fun part. Jack's office will either be Britannia Blue or Ocean Floor ... you're on the edge of your seats ... I can just tell!

June 10 - Sconces and bathtubs and sprinklers ... oh my

My morning at the house started with the electrician asking where the plugs and sconces would go in the temporary master bedroom ... I don't know! Big research project and calling people and I still don't really know ... then the GC says he needs the bath tub *tomorrow* in order to proceed with the plumbing ... we don't have it! Then the fire department calls to say that they will require fire suppression sprinklers in the entire house (instead of just the new part) ... really?!?

But, even today was progress. We have a new electrical panel and a new plumbing chase so ... it's all good.

T-minus 3 days until school is out - that is the big crisis ... what am I going to do with all these kids all day. : /

June 7 - charlotte's preschool graduation:)

June 6 - Rough plumbing and electrical day

Well, today the plumber came in and started running pipes and drains through my walls! Watching that process is fascinating!

Electrician is fishing wires for new light fixtures and switches.

Plaster guy is coming on Saturday - should we fix all the cracks and wrinkles in this pretty old house or let her keep some of her battle scars? When you replace the old doors and baseboards and moldings, you start to notice the cracks even more ... The challenge is knowing when to stop!!