Dogs

Bailey and Zoe

Dogs have been a part of the family for quite some time.  Gail grew up with dogs but I did not.  Shortly after Valerie was born, they family took a vote on whether or not to get a dog.  Valerie couldn't even talk yet, but she voted for the dog. 

The first dog was Bailey, a Cocker Spaniel.  He was conceived accidentally when one of Gail's friends left her dog in heat outside.  I affectionately called him butthead.  He wasn't real bright. 

Gail, on the other hand, is very bright and good at training dogs.  As long as she was holding treats in her hand, Bailey would do most anything.  She even made him a performing dog as attested to by the entry into Maria's 4th Grade Talent Show.  He was probably not the dog she would have picked, but he was a dog.

The second dog in the picture is Zoe, an Australian Shepherd rescue dog.  He came about because as Bailey was getting old, I asked her if she wanted another dog.  Before I knew it, she had found one and was training her as well. 

Professor Henry Jones Jr,
i.e., Indy

Bailey passed away in May, 2004.  Zoe in 2013.  She talked me into another dog about 6 months later.  Indy is an "All American Black Dog", i.e., a Lab mutt.  She's trained him well, although he probably gets away with more than the other two did.  You know how it is with the baby of the family. 

Remodeling - Upstairs Bathroom Demo

Huge Vanity

Didn't need that tub

On the second floor, there is a master bedroom suite.  The door at the top of the stairs enters the bedroom.  Off of an alcove on the right, there were closets along the left wall and an entry into the master bathroom.

The master bathroom had an 8 foot long double sink vanity on one side, a soaking tub on the other, and a toilet room with a small shower.  Very interestingly placed, but a large amount of unused space.

The plan we had was to move the laundry (which was originally installed in the pantry off the kitchen) to the master bathroom, removing the tub and enlarging the shower.  This was the largest technical challenge, with rerouting plumbing and electrical.

Laundry in the Pantry?

Didn't need that wall.

There was also a linen closet on the wall with the tub.  What we didn't know is if the closet was hiding something, since the back wall was six inches out from the other wall.

Who needs a linen closet?  

Luckily, it was only the exhaust venting from the downstairs bathroom.  They buried that in the wall.

Oh, that's where it went.

Remodeling - Main Floor Bathroom Demo

Before

The main floor bathroom was beige.  Tub, shower, toilet, paint, counter, sink, floor all beige.  The cabinet was unfinished wood, but apparently the dominant color in 1980 was beige.

Didn't need the toilet, vanity, ...

or Shower

It was functional and dated, but we really didn't like it and it went away.  Added what was there to the BPOS in the living room.

Remodeling - Garage Closet

Closet in Garage

This condo is a three story unit, more townhouse style than a typical condominium.  It is built on a hill, so the main floor opens up to the street in the front, and the basement has a garage out the back.

The garage is downstairs and the nature preserve is out the back, so a majority of the time, we will be coming in and out through the garage.  So, I decided to build a coat closet in the garage. 

The photo shows a door to the left that leads upstairs with a small platform.  Before I started construction, the platform ended about 4 feet from the wall.  Utilizing some left over packing crates from work, I was able to create a platform and a closet in the corner.  The chest freezer will go under the shelf when we move, and the majority of our coats will be able to be put in the closet. 

View into the closet. 

Even better, I was able to re-purpose material that was destined for the dump, old flooring from our bathroom, and other materials around the house.  The total cost (excluding labor) was less than $10. 

Remodeling - Main Floor Demo

Living & Dining Room - Before

Anyone doing a remodeling will tell you that the first part of remodeling in coming up with a plan, discussing what you want done, getting quotes from a contractor, going through the process of choosing products and all that stuff.

We kind of short circuited that process by calling up a contractor friend that we've worked with before, and told him in broad, general terms what we wanted to do.  Remove some half walls, put in some hardwood flooring, move the laundry upstairs, redo both downstairs and master bathrooms, and a few dozen other minor things.  

Living & Dining Room - After

Well, we decided that we wanted to skip a few steps since we owned two houses (i.e., two mortgages), and we wanted to have the remodel done before we moved in.  So, we called our friend, and he said, sure, let's go.  

Gulp.  

Downsizing

Downsizing.  We've been thinking that for a few years now, but only as a concept.  But suddenly, it moved from much more than a concept to a reality.

We’d just finished lunch on a Sunday in early December when Gail suggested we drive past Katie's house.  Katie had just moved in to a condo complex and she was going to be hosting Bible Study on Monday night.  Since she had never been there, and it is easy to get lost in most condo complexes, we decided to drive by. 

“Hey, isn’t that Steve from Church?”  Steve’s picture was on the For Sale sign in front of a condo as we drove by.  We had been considering downsizing and had been slowly pruning our belongings.  We sold our camper since we hadn’t used it in a few years, and I had begun the process of selling off some excess Lego (shocking!). 

Steve’s a pretty low-key Real Estate professional and when we called him up, we said we were interested in the condo life, but were not really in the market just yet.  He agreed to meet us over at the condo that afternoon. 

Of course, when we got there, Gail texted Katie that we were touring the condo, and got an immediate “We’ll be right over” response.  The group of us wandered through the 80’s style condo and kind of made fun of some of the design choices. 

The next night, Gail and I were talking and the one thing that we really liked about this condo was the location.  The back deck looks over a local nature preserve.  It only had two bedrooms, but it had a large living area, and huge garage and shop area under the house.  I took out a pad of paper and we wrote down what we would need to get rid of to fit into a condo of that size.  There were some painful choices on the left behind list, but it wasn’t anything that we couldn’t live with.  So, we called Steve back and asked if we could tour the condo again, with an attitude of “Do we want to live here?” 

The second time through, we started envisioning furniture placements, which walls to remove, what flooring to replace, how drastically the bathrooms and kitchens could change, and the like.  After discussion, we put a reasonable offer on the house.  The sellers accepted the offer and we started the dance with the banks, insurance companies, escrow companies, inspectors, repairmen, interior designers and the like. 

Suddenly, downsizing is a reality.