Our House Is A Very, Very, Very Fine House

Or it will be, anyway. Just over three years since we moved in, and just shy of a year after our first meeting with the architect, we finally began the renovation that will transform the upstairs and outside of our house into what I only imagined when we first saw and decided to buy it.

We will spend massive amounts of money, inhale countless particles of sawdust, endure days and weeks of banging, sawing, drilling, sanding, siding, painting, and more. We will hate our contractor, love our contractor, hate our contractor and love him again. We will shop for tile, cabinetry, doors, lights, carpet, paint, faucets, toilets, showers and sinks. And we will be awed and amazed at, first, the destruction, and then, the construction.

Already, the pile of debris is accumulating in the front yard. The windows from the first floor bedrooms have all been ripped out and replaced. Tonight, they are hiding behind their temporary plastic table cloth treatments. Tomorrow, they'll get new moldings and the six over six grilles I like so much.

Tomorrow, the dumpster will come and start to be filled with the bricks and shingles that make up the current exterior. Work will begin on the new structural supports for the house that will take the place of the one we have now.

We have already made much progress toward making this house our home. Most importantly, of course, we have filled it with a loving family. When you have that, the physical trappings are just that. But we are fortunate enough to be able to tweak the setting, as well, and this next phase of work will bring us that much farther along.

As you can see, I am under no illusions of what that process will entail. And still, I can't wait.

I'll light the fire. You place the flowers in the vase that you bought today.