The Money Pit Has Been Dug

We returned from our holiday travels last night. As we pulled down our street we shined the headlights where we had left our house a week and a half ago and realized that we are now the proud owners of...

a hole.

Of course, it's a nice hole with a view of the pond and a short walk to downtown, so that's comforting.

-J

Just Like That

It's gone.

Sadly, after all this planning, we had to miss the actual demo yesterday. We had really been looking forward to seeing this part, but the timing didn't work with the holidays.

We heard from our builder this morning that it took all of half an hour to completely demolish the main floor of the house. By 11 am, there was just a slope where there the tiny shack once stood. We're hoping that someone made some pictures of the event.

Merry Christmas,

J and A

Dig This!

Zippy and Natalie- a final visit

The water is off. The power is off. Temporary power is on site and now heavy equipment is parked in our yard, towering ominously over our tiny house.

It was septic tank moving day yesterday and fittingly we had a front row seat from the, ahem, bathroom of our temporary abode next door.

The viewing gallery

The excavators were really nice, even "waving" their digger at Natalie and offering me coffee. (I felt guilty- it should be the other way around... if I knew how to make coffee). It was awesome to watch them rip up things and dig their big holes. Bundle-of-nerves Zippy was a bit unsure about the whole thing.

- J

Including the Kitchen Sink

The house is being emptied. Pieces are filling the basement of our current home and some things are being sold.

Kevin helping to take up the floor.

First we moved all of our stuff. Then we started moving things that came with the house. Then we started moving actual parts of the house. And just when I thought there was nothing else I wanted from the house, the neighbor got involved and started salvaging whatever was left.

Seeing someone else discern value from your belongings makes them so much more attractive. Suddenly every hinge and screw looked *very* important to me.

Apparently pipes are worth more than pink sinks.

Anthony came at it all with a very logical, "If you haven't needed it in the past three years, you're not going to need it ever."

My frugality kicked in with, "Think of how we'll save that 20 cents down the line because we won't have to buy a new screw..."

Salvaging the storm window frames

Bottomline was that time (and energy) was not on our side though. After months of waiting and planning for this, it turns out it's happening at an incredibly busy and stressful time for us: proposals, trips, returning to work plans, Natalie deciding it's more fun NOT to sleep at night, etc. We did our realistic best and got what we could, which of course included the kitchen sink, but we let the neighbor take the gutters. Perhaps he'll make a big ice cream sundae bar in one.

- J

A Reminder

Why did we buy this place anyway? Wouldn't it have been a whole lot easier to just get that one over on Peterson Road that was all finished and everything? You know, the one with the view of the Holiday Inn...

Oh yeah, we got it because we can't see room 303 from here.

- J

It's All Starting to Happen

We cleared out our house in preparation for the big re-do. It took a lot longer than anticipated. Maybe having a four month old had something to do with that? Only one of us (read: Anthony) could really do much at one time. We had some help with the big stuff (help that doesn't mind too much being squashed by our washer/dryer- thanks Kevin!), and we ended up selling off our stove.

We worked through the night on Tuesday, and the house is pretty much ready- we just need to salvage a few more things from the inside.

We took one final picture of the little shack as we knew it.

Asbestos removal day was Wednesday.

So the siding is now gone, and if the house didn't look bad enough before, now it's just plain pathetic. But hopefully pathetic in a people-are-trying-to-do-something-here kind of way. You know, something with a little promise.

Wow- this is really happening. Here we go!

- J

One of *Those* Days

Renting the neighbor's house, day one: Zippy pukes on their carpet. (As baby cries her little heart out.)

Upside to it all: Anthony masks dog-puke smell and negative emotions by baking brownies. (Yum.)

- J

November Flies By in the Blink of an Eye

What? No November post?

Where did November go anyway?

Oh yeah. We spent it waiting, and crossing t's, and dotting i's, and doing math, and trying to figure out other people's math, and filing things, and preparing to sign new contracts, and sweating about the lack of income my maternity leave is (not) providing, and reveling in the joy of chanting "Trot trot to Boston" for the twenty-thousandth time.

November came and November went and now it's December, so where are we?

Plans are being looked at by the structural engineer. New builder is ready to go. Building permit is ready to be filed. Conservation Commission planting extension until the spring is in hand (so that they have a better chance of survival). Loan has been applied for. We're slowly moving into the rental house. Belongings are being reassessed. Things are being posted on craigslist. Childcare for January has been secured (although impending going-back-to-work in January is being ignored). Zippy's still barking at the mailman. 

 And as for the little one... just when you thought she couldn't get any cuter- she does.

-J

...and Delay and Rethink

If September was about trying to get through committees and meetings that were constantly being delayed, then our current state is continuing with the delays and rethinking our schedule and plans. Yes, last winter the timeline was plan through the spring, committees in the summer, break ground in September, live in a winter rental and move in the next spring. And do it all within, or not too far from our budget.

Well, clearly we're off that schedule, and apparently it looks like our budget is rising farther and farther above us (How can original estimates from people in the biz be SO far off?)

This is very discouraging. We consider ourselves two hardworking professionals. We've saved; we've worked toward this; we're not trying to do anything extravagant. There's no reason why we shouldn't be able to build a small box in the town we work in with a mortgage we can afford through the years. We thought this was going to be an exciting example of common sense building on the Cape.

Apparently the excitement has worn off for others, and rather than seeing our project as a unique opportunity to join the rest of the world in common sense housing, we're probably just seen as small. It's bewildering to realize that we're pretty "second fiddle". That our schedules, time, and ideas are not important enough for the full attention of those working with us.

Yes, we're getting frustrated, and a little angry, but no- we're not giving up. This is part of the challenge of our affordable, sustainable, happy little safe dream.

We just have to rethink how we go at this.

-J

The Long and the Short of It: Town Committees

We're through the committees, and despite all the delays, I guess it wasn't as painful as we had thought. I think the most difficult part was watching the timeline shrink in front of us. We didn't get to these boards until September, as opposed to original plan of the summer. Then both Conservation and Zoning gave us dates, only to come back later to tell us they had to move them back because they hadn't been advertised properly. To echo our representative, Tom, "How can that happen twice to one applicant?" And to echo the #1 lesson Natalie taught us while she was in the NICU: "It is what it is."

First up was the Conservation Commission. We left Natalie with Grandma and Grandpa May and apprehensively, yet excitedly, marched down to Town Hall. I felt that we got a lot of positive comments about the gem of a neighborhood we are in, the value of our project, and the creativity involved in designing for the narrow, slanty space while showing regard to the conservation issues. We were almost through peacefully until an old dry well in the back became something for the committee to ponder. And ponder they did, until they decided that it wouldn't do and we needed to add a new interloper to our plans instead. Bottomline- draw that in and come back in two weeks.

Two weeks later... Anthony was out on a cruise, and wasn't expected to be back until after the 7:00 meeting was underway, so I went on my own- leaving Natalie to keep Grandma Kirincich company while she made meatloaf. Once there I realized that being on the third page of the agenda meant that it might be a while, so I walked home with plans to watch the meeting progress on FCTV and go back when it got closer to us. Turning on the TV I started to sweat as I watched them skip agenda item after agenda item because representatives were not there. Somehow it was now only a few items away from us! I hurried back only to wait, wait wait...waiting long enough for Anthony to arrive back, and then waiting even longer... When Tom mentioned that the case right in front of us would probably be contentious and take a while I decided to go home and enjoy my meatloaf while it was still hot. Anthony stayed behind. We thought about bringing him a nice hot plate to the meeting, after all, the committee members were passing around a container of tomatoes amongst themselves for snacking.

At home Jeanie and I watched as the time ticked by. Finally, about 3 and a half hours after the start of the meeting it was our turn. The admin. called our case and then recommended that it be tabled because the representative was not present. I started shouting at the screen that Anthony was there and then they realized that Tom was indeed there. They reviewed that he was supposed to draw the new piece.

Committee: "And did he?"

Admin.: "Yes, he did."

Tom: "Can I go home now?"

So there it was- our one minute exchange, which was only drawn out slightly so that the secretary could record the happenings.

Next up was Zoning. The three of us all went together to this one, but Natalie and I stayed outside the room until our case was up. This board seemed to run smoothly. Once again Tom did a nice job explaining our case and our efforts to be less non-conforming. Again we heard positive comments, both about the location and the design efforts. They reviewed that three of our neigbors had written letters of support for the project. An additional abutter stood up and voiced her support, and we found out after that another abutter was at the meeting as well. The only stipulation was that the office in the basement remain an office and not be turned into another bedroom. Fine with us!

ZBA voted their approval the night of the meeting, and Conservation voted their approval the following week. Barring any appeals, we were through!

-J

Meet and delay, meet and delay...

Delays seem to come fast and furious, progress plods along slowly. I wonder though, how many delays can the town actually push on you?

We are in the phase of waiting for our conservation and zoning commissions to view, comment, and hopefully, approve our plans (submitted months ago). These are still just the skeleton plans. The details are still on hold until these are approved. So we wait through delays due to newspaper postings, delays due to technical details, delays due to 'cooling off' periods.

We are starting to wonder if the whole thing will happen this year. Winter is coming fast, and June (the end of the winter rental season) is just around the corner.

-A

29

I didn't realize this would be a magic number for us as a family, but I guess it is. We were married on a 29 and now our incredible daughter was born on a 29, so it's clearly a life-changing number in our books.

Especially since, in true nonconforming fashion, our daughter decided to come very early and very quickly. Fortunately the good old Tacoma got us to the hospital just in time (albeit with the gas light on). It was its last big drive before being traded in.

Car and house stuff (while related) are obviously minor in comparison, however looking back on the to do list that started this blog, we did manage to check off buying the suitable family car and submitting paperwork for committees on that very same 29th day as well.

It's fun when you do it all at once!

- J

An Alphabetized Recap of July (So Far)

Agonizing decisions

Big baby belly

Cankles

Driving weekly to Boston (sometimes on dirt roads in an attempt to avoid summer traffic)

Everything at once

Floating in the ocean

Gear breaking

Hot and humid

Inching. Forward. Ever. So. Slowly.

Jumping, jabbing Flippy kicks

Kiddie pool- best gift ever

Lots of sunscreen

Mali visits

Negotiating for cars sucks

Overheating

Plans nearing completion

Quiet? Not our dog (especially when the mailman comes)

Rusting frame...why not now?

Scorching heat

Thumbs of fury (watching Mali text)

Up in the air about everything

VERY hot (have we mentioned this yet?)

Windsurfing instead of waffling at times

Xander? Still looking for viable name suggestions... (comment box below)

You'd think this house would go faster- considering the size

Zoning submitted?

- A, J (and a little bit Mali- in between texting)

Our Child Will Be Driving a 2000 Toyota Tacoma

Part of our year of growing up is to get a more family-friendly vehicle. The truck has served us well. It will be hard to switch to something else, something more child seat friendly, but it has to happen. (Just like the band-aid ripping off when Craigslist took our kayaks recently.)

Now it's time for the truck. However, the truck doesn't seem to know this; like the Energizer bunny it just keeps going and going and going. Sounds great, right? Hmm... here lies our dilemma and options:

1. Our truck's frame is supposedly prone to rusting out, and if that happens Toyota will buy it back at 150% of the excellent value *cha ching*.

2. We lived in Oregon sans salted roads for too long, thus this has not happened yet. It's running great and looking great, so who knows when this will happen?

3. The truck's not really built for a car seat (although it does fit).

4. With the whole house-building and baby-coming stuff (not to mention outstanding student loan), we don't want an additional car loan.

5. The truck is worth way less as a trade in (we already tried to trade it in at a dealership).

6. We don't really need two cars, but should we hang onto it until it rusts out or our kid needs it for college (buying a cheaper family vehicle in the meantime, as well as paying the extra insurance to have two cars)? Or should we see if we can sell it on our own so we can afford a nice family vehicle now? And what should that nice family vehicle be? (Below is one option- if we were going by coolest ad...)

Back to the truck- we've posted it for sale (Craigslist: Cape Cod), and I guess we'll see what happens. The emotional attachment is hard though. It's a decade of our life, and that decade's lifestyle that we're parting with here. Someone called about it the other day and I was tempted to tell them it was not for sale anymore; that that part of my life could not be bought- but we have to move on to our new lifestyle now, I suppose.

(Too bad it's not the seventies or something- then the truck would be a great family car. You could just throw the kid, the dog, and anything else right in the back there!)

-J & A

Husband Cries Foul Over Outlandish Headlines, Well-Groomed Dog Agrees.

It wasn't like that at all...

Ben and I missed the early ferry from MV and therefore, missed the last shuttle back to campus and the truck. Jody volunteered to ride down the bike path to the truck and come pick us up at the ferry.

Yes, it was foggy. Yes, she is preggo. Yes, I feel guilty. But "rescues"...?

Zippy, who's gotten many compliments on his new look, will back up my story.

-A

Pregnant Wife on a Pink Bike Rescues Oceanographer-Husband from the Fog

The headline is much more interesting than the mundane details of what actually happened, so I'll just leave it at that for tonight.

-J

If Only We Could Make Decisions As Fast As Zippy's Hair grows

It's time for another trim. Anthony's outside working on that as I write. I should mention that it's already dark out and he doesn't appear to be using a light source of any kind. Trimming a black dog in the dark of night- huh...I wonder how this haircut will come out! Hopefully, because we're spending more time on decisions like a house design and a different vehicle, they'll turn out slightly better looking than I'm expecting Zippy to look.

-J

Think Inside the 2o Foot Wide Box

How do you let someone in your head? How do you figure out the parts you can't figure out?

There are visions for how we want to live and how this house should look, and then there are the issues. We hired the architect to keep the first part of the vision, but then resolve the issues. A definite challenge. We know because we've been grappling with it ourselves for a while.

The conversations, program, drawings, pictures...

a lot of communication, and we're inching closer and closer. A lot of it is our site issues that are holding up the dream design.

For example, what side of the house (north- left as you look at the house or south- right as you look at the house) do we want to add a door in order to access the backyard from the main floor? This would be primarily for Zippy or for going out back to grill, or possibly an entrance to use after biking home without having to go all the way into the basement.

Anyone who has been to our house and knows our slanty, skinny lot- feel free to weigh in!

-J

Catchin' Up

Usually when people buy a home, the possibilities are there in front of them, dictated by the pre-existing structure. The rooms are laid out and you can complain about why anyone in their right mind would put the bathroom there or put some tile down over here. It was someone else's (or some other decade's) crazy thinking. You can be excited about making it yours with new paint or knocking out a wall, or maybe even changing out a pink/peach toilet and tub. And then there's homes like ours, where the location was right where we wanted to be, but there were oh so many things not at all right with the place.

That being said, we've had the idea of possibly owning this home for a couple of years. Our landlord had once casually mentioned perhaps selling it someday, so it was always there in the back of our minds as we searched for other homes- even when she didn't seem to want to do it at the time we wanted a home (what with the economy and all...) Still- we often talked about how we might do it differently- especially after a few years of living in it and fully recognizing its major issues. It may have been that when these issues were put out there that she was convinced to unload it on us. There's a definite line between bothering to fix something and just saying, "you know what- let's just start fresh."

So we're starting fresh, but not totally fresh, in a way. We have been casually thinking about this for a couple of years, and very seriously since last fall. And Anthony has always gravitated toward books like The Not So Big House, to the point where good common sense design and a nice dose of unexpected charm infused our daily thinking- causing both excitement (about possibilities) and headaches (about logistics) at the same time.

However our fearless architect, Alison, is starting fresh on this project- meaning all this time that we've been pseudo-planning and dreaming and scheming is time that she is now catching up on. She's discovering the issues that have long aggravated us. While we're excited about having someone else trying to work it all out, we're still the ones with the intimate knowledge of this project and we have to communicate this in a way that she can take her expertise to work it all out. Which brings me to my next point: the not-necessarily innate process of comfortable revision.

For some reason, it is common for second graders to want to just be done with things. I spend a lot of time at work trying to get kids to focus on quality work, no matter if it takes a while or a couple of tries. I spend a lot of time emphasizing the value of revision. We talk about how rarely does anyone get anything perfect the first time and the important thing is to use each other to critique and and accept the criticism as something helpful, rather than hurtful. I have one student this year who particularly gets upset with correction and any part of the revision process, to the point where I have to actually announce to him that "I'm heading over to your desk to look at your work and if I find something that could be corrected I'm going to let you know because it's my job to help you do the best work you can." (The announcements don't totally stop the tantrums when corrections are offered, but maybe if I say it enough it'll eventually sink in...) The thing is that somewhere down the line we have to develop thick skin and come to that realization that others ARE there to help us develop the best product we can. Sure, sometimes the criticism is not offered constructively, or even remotely politely with the aim of aiding the work for the better. (Anthony knows this all too well from the ill-fated, petty "reviewer B" *insert exacerbated growl and fist raise here*.)

I'm bringing all this up because when Alison came over this week with three early options for us, I came to the realization that just because we're paying her doesn't mean she was just going to do it all on her own and instantly solve all our problems for us. Instead this was going to be a constant process of evaluation, critique, and revisions. She's caught up on our site issues, we're catching her up on our lifestyle issues and things we always pictured in our home. She seems like she's taking it all in. The revision process involves communication and the end result is hopefully that good common sense home with the nice dose of unexpected charm that we've been dreaming of.

-J

Tiny Wrapped Up In A Whole Lot of Stuff

We like to think of ourselves as simple. I definitely wouldn't call us minimalists, but with all the moves we've made, we've managed to prioritize what we really need (or enjoy having). We have noticed that each time we move it seems to require a little more as we acquire a little more. We try to cost-effectively weed out the unnecessaries, but then there's alway the essentials and the "might be useful somedays" that come along. (For example, those XL sweaters I saved from when big and baggy was in during the 90s? Useful now, as I begin to get big and baggy.) This time I'm not sure what it's all going to look like. Our "stuff" is changing forms as we change directions.

Looking back, we didn't bring over much when we moved to Macedonia in the Peace Corps, and not much came back either (especially walking across the border while being evacuated).

Anthony and Tom- heading toward the Greek border

When I moved from New York to California in 1999 I went on a plane with everything I thought I needed. Granted that included my bike in a bike box stuffed with all my clothes around it. My parents and little brother came too, and I allowed them only minimal personal items for themselves so that I could take a few more things.

Moving to Boston from California meant that my mom and I put all of my possessions in my VW GTI for the trip (the bike rode on top this time, there was underwear stuffed in the toaster oven, and we read 4th grade chapter books out of my teaching boxes for entertainment.)

California to Boston move

Boston to Rhode Island was such a little move, that even though I now had a second bike and a kayak- everything was still quite simple.

Rhode Island to Oregon was eye-opening in how much stuff we had amassed, but by this time it was the two of us moving together. We rented a 6x12 trailer to tow behind our truck because of the queen size mattress (which later became a mouse home in storage, causing us to ditch it anyway- but that's another story).

Rhode Island to Oregon move

I have no idea what extra stuff we must have acquired while in Oregon, but this time we rented a portion of a truck to move us back east to Cape Cod. (I will admit that in every move, a lot of what has grown has been my teaching stuff...)

Oregon to Cape Cod move

I bring all this up because, with our current situation of having a baby and tearing down our house simultaneously, I'm experiencing mixed messages and mixed emotions. My body is telling me to nest, and my brain is telling me to "un-nest". I won't be able to help move us out into wherever we're going to live while the real house is being built, so I feel like I have to get ready now by getting rid of stuff that I'm not sure we need and packing up stuff that's not vital for a while.

And then there's the issue of amassing and arranging all that will keep our tiny human alive and happy... While Flip may not need a very big home, per se,- he/she sure does require a whole lot of stuff! What's really necessary and how do we know?

-J

Not Much Room Vs. Cozy, Comfy Abode

We've chosen our team! After fighting the slight urge to throw up while handing over our initial payment (just one of many to come...) The Design/Build team of Alison and Bob at A&E Architects of Brewster have won the race, mostly by being excited (and not being scared off) by our budget constraints, site plan and vision for realizing its potential.

The good part is that now we've put all our unknowns about the design into somebody else's hands for a while.They seem like they'll be able to work with us on cost, as well as understand our common sense, happy living approach to the design. Like most of the world (our country excluded), they did not need convincing that no, we didn't need more room. They get it.

I mean, take a look at "Flip". At our last ultrasound on Tuesday it looked pretty tight in there, yet in true kiddo fashion he/she was having a ball, squirming all around, playing and drinking. Kids dig small spaces. I'm sure that whatever size room Flip ends up with she or he will still crawl into a box someday and call that their home.

Families are meant to be close. The question is, (if we went with it) how close would a 20 foot wide house make us?

-J

(Whale) Death & Taxes

While I'm glad that we were able to make use of the 1st time homebuyers tax credit, here's one deduction that I was bummed we didn't qualify for...

From page A8 of the 1040 instructions:
"Certain whaling captains may be able to deduct expenses paid in 2009 for Native Alaskan subsistence bowhead whale hunting activities."

I'm sure the 5 people that might actually qualify for this appreciated such specific instructions in the tax code.
-A

Architects and Dog Groomers... Things That We're Not

With our apologies to Zippy, the last few months have shown us two important things about house design.

Number one: we need help with this.
Number two- this is going to cost us, so we need to "trim" our budget in other places.

The pun there was intended since poor Zippy became one of our budget savings. "We don't need to spend money on a dog groomer, certainly we can cut the one and half pounds of hair off you ourselves."

Four hours later and he's happy and skinny, the bird and the squirrels are happy, but man is he scrappy-looking!
Let's hope since we're putting the dog grooming savings into the house pot, the house will come out looking much better than he does.
-J

Architects!

So, we've finished our final round of meetings with potential architects. With few real recommendations to act on, cold-calling random people to see if they would be willing to help you with a 'low' budget project has been grueling. I think I've had phone and/or in-person meetings with 20 or so. These have garnered a large range of responses. From big firms, fancy firms, single employee firms, design-and-build firms, to the architecture student that we met in the Barnes and Noble we've gotten responses from 'I can't help you, I only do $350/sf homes.' to 'You guys seem nice, and I'd like to help you but you'll have to double your budget.' to 'Sure, I know some guys.' and only a few 'These are the types of projects that we like.'

Apparently, its really easy to build an expensive house, but much more difficult and time consuming to get a well-built, inexpensive house, especially one with lots of 'issues'. What with the economy and all, you'd think that more would be interested...

Also, all of these guys have made the same comment: 'Wow, you guys have really done your homework!' This seems odd to me. How are you supposed to find someone that will fit your situation if you don't know what your situation is?

-A

"Good Fences Make Good Neighbors..."

However ours was rotting and would fall over one way or the other whenever it got too moist or windy around here, so we decided it was time to take it down.

Pros- it opens up our yard and street view.

Cons- Now you can really see our shack (and all the other stuff that needs to be done on the property). And that open street view?

Zippy is having a field day with that!

However it's our little slice of the cape and slowly, but surely, we'll transform it into something wonderful. (Right??!!)

-J

"To Do" List

(In no particular order, although I'm numbering them for my own love of structure.)

1. Build house (sub-categories: choose architect, builder, go through committees, move out, tear down pre-existing, non-conforming (PENC) structure, build a new one that might be slightly less non-conforming but at least will have insulation, move back in.)
2. Buy a car.
3. Find out if I still have a job next year. (Would greatly help with #s 1 and 2)
4. Have a baby!!
5. Get my dog to stop barking randomly.
6. Figure out all the sub-categories for #s 2-5.
7. Start blog to help organize the chaos that is rapidly descending on our lives. (check on #7)

Timeline ticking...

-J