Egads! That just reminded me of yet another Dr. Suess Book I can’t stand, Go, Dog Go!
“Hello again.” “Hello.” “Do you like my hat?” “No, I do not like your hat.” “Goodbye.” “Goodbye.”
Riveting dialogue, that. Not that you get much better stuff here, but I’m not “dialogue-ing” with you.
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Now, let’s see. I spent last two weeks off, supposedly planning. Let me inform you that any planning that got done was all “mental”. It’s really not that bad, as I’ve mentally planned out for 3 kids. The problem, is Drew. I don’t have much planned out for him but his math and science.
So, this week it’s going to be put on paper. And I’ll share, ‘cuz I’m like that.
Oh, but I did manage to get 3 albums worth of photos labeled and put away. I will have, easily, another 3 done before I finish with this task. . .
Okay, I ‘fess. I’m a digital camera user and I “forgot” to print off pictures since 2002. I’m catching up. (Our avg. yearly pictures amount to between 750-1000 prints. And we were in Europe. . .and had some more kids. . .)
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Since I don’t have anything to share in regards to schooling, I thought I would go ahead and spill the beans on this dining room project.
No, we aren’t done, but it sort of “morphed”, so I’ll share where we are at as of now.
(The “beginning” pictures are shown in the above linked post.)
This will essentially be a picture post, but I’ll try to write summaries before hand (and there may be the occassional stray comment thrown in.
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Day 1: PREP DAY.
We are dealing with a 1924 house. Plaster and lathe, as well as, most likely, lead based paints. Furnishings and light fixture removed; drop ceiling removed (will be shown in Day 2), and openings covered.
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DAY 2: It gets MESSY!
Exterior wall removal (preparatory to putting in insulation), and partial ceiling removal — drop ceiling was placed there by some previous owner to cover water damage.
As you can tell, poor Tyler got stuck as Daddy’s apprentice for these two days.
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Day 3: Full Exposoure:
We were hoping for a fireplace, but discovered that it was just a chimney that had been covered. Carpet was removed (discovered red (bright, primary) carpet had been in the room previously and before that a “brick-colored” linoleum tile.
Note: Point of marital contention! Jay would like to keep the chimney exposed. I want to recover it. He thinks it adds “charm”. I think it’s an eyesore. By the way, can’t get rid of those two circles — they are cemented in — we are guessing they were originally stove exhaust pipe holes (???).
We may have struck upon a compromise, but I’m rather curious as to what your thoughts are?
By the way, aside from help from the two older boys and (RARELY!), me, Jay did all this work (contained in this post) by himself. I tell him frequently that he amazes me with his confidence, abilities and the beauty / quality of his work, but I’m tellin’ you all:
“My Man Is AWESOME!”
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Day 4: Electrical:
Not much to show here sadly, as most of it is hidden behind walls, or down in the basement. It was a full day’s work though, and Jay had an awful time chasing wires, and junctions.
Day 5: Plumbing:
I mentioned “MORPHING” right????!!!
Watch these photos! Now remember, (or for those that didn’t know), we have 3 kitchens in our house! (There were 3 parts of 1 family in our house, and they each had a floor, but didn’t “physically” seperate the house into apts.) The little guy’s room, currently only has the kitchen sink remaining — the stove had previously been removed by another owner. (Schooling tidbit: this is called “foreshadowing”. I just gave a hint to something you are about to see.)
See the wall covering the pipes?
HEY! What are we doing up in the little guys room, Jay???
Christine: WAHOO! I’ve been wanting to get rid of this sink since we moved in 2.5 years ago!!!!
And there she goes! Nice wallpaper, hmm?
Patched that nicely, but the remaining pipes will have to wait till next spring.
TA DA! Pipes from dining room are GONE. (Unless of course, you count those pipes running along the floor into my kitchen; can’t get rid of those yet, I’m afraid.)
Side note: This day was by far Jay’s least favorite! (Not that he especially liked any of them.)
He had to remove a gas pipe, which was a might bit scary (but he proved his awesome-ness yet again). And he had to remove another pipe that released, we’re guessing, 84 years worth of gunk onto him. It took almost 3 days to get the smell out of the room (lots of cleaning and bleaching as well)! Thankfully, it only took Jay 2 showers to rid himself of the smell.
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Day 6: Ceiling:
Okay so the light fixture had to come off again (hate those backward slides!), but Jay was able to put it back up at day’s end, so it wasn’t so bad.
For some reason, I didn’t actually take a “finished” picture of the ceiling; only a starting one. Jay is away with my camera at present so I’ll have to put that up later. (The ceiling still needs to be “jointed” and sanded and painted, but it’s up.)
I told the boys before they started that they would reach “muscle failure” rather quickly.
They, the two boys, did not believe me!
I was laughing at them, and their spaghetti arms, an hour later!!!
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Day 7: It’s known as the day of rest you know!
Actually, the “rest” is going on for about 2 weeks. We need to determine how best to proceed from here.
By “we”, of course, I mean “Jay”.
I mean I keep giving him suggestions, but he will be the one to do the actual work. . .(my work comes in later)
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So, today, I am starting the “paper planning”. I know you all are waiting with baited breathe to see what I come up with.
*giggle* Okay so maybe not.
Core Foundations 
Wow! I’m totally impressed with all of you.
Yep, your man is a keeper, Christine.:)
Holy criminees! I had NO idea I was THIS far behind! That’ll teach me to sprain my ankle! UGH!
I say only leave it exposed if you plan on putting in a word burning or some type stove for heating. If not, cover that eyesore up! 🙂