Before:

The house was listed as a "charming cottage" and it had been all but abandoned for two years. 

After:

Before:

Thankfully by the time we moved in the previous owners had removed all the stuff. The last fixer upper we bought was full of personal property that we had to deal with and it was such a time suck. You know that it's pretty much trash, but you don't want to accidentally throw away something super valuable. 

After:

Before:

We punched out this wall to widen the entry from the living room to the kitchen/dining room. 

After:

Walking into the kitchen and turning right we have the nook:

Kitchen Before:

Kitchen After:

Dining before:

Dining After:

Kids room before:

After:

Old Master bedroom before:

We punched out that back wall to end up with this:

We took the third bedroom - which was too small to actually count as a bedroom - and expanded it into this:

And added a master bath:

Before:

Above is the side yard after we'd done a considerable amount of work on it. It had a deck that was rotted through and a "sauna" which had trees growing out of it. We got into so much poison ivy on the weekend of this picture.

After:

So there you have the buttoned up version of what was a very grueling process.  

We'd planned on selling the house, but after the hurricane we decided to rent it out to some flood victims, which I'm really happy to be able to do. 

Even though the house survived Harvey with no damage, it was hit by looters who stole the appliances -and my banjo and Jacob's guitar - in the hurricane's aftermath. Looking at all these photos is bringing some sweetness back to the recent frustration of being robbed. I hope you've enjoyed them!

We Almost Cut Down the Mulberry Tree

When we bought this house two years ago, the bushes and trees had all but consumed it. No one had touched them for years and they'd freely developed their green kingdoms for feral cats and precocious rats. One bush had been about the size of a dump truck and sprawled across half the front lawn.

My dad came to town and bought my husband a chainsaw. We began clearing. We would cut down one sapling and quickly expose another leggy monstrosity. Years without sufficient light and competing for resources had left the bushes and trees ugly and misshapen.

We didn't want to cut down everything, but for every tree we cut down it was like we were taking the skirts off the rest of the trees and exposing a forest of gimpy legs. Many had grown at strange angles that made sense when they'd been avoiding a gluttonous bush, but now they jutted out with no purpose, Vs and Ps, like letters fallen out of their words, memories of the old lawn, incomprehensible pieces of a forgotten story.

So we kept cutting, and in one weekend the front yard became a forest of spikes and we met all of our neighbors. The men would slap Jacob on the back. We were liberating the street.

We left three small trees at the northwest corner of the house, and they stood there through the winter awaiting the second reaping. But come March we saw the mulberries. Like some offering of gratitude. Laden with the berries in their natural ombre of green to pink to black, the branches bowed to the ground .

The squirrels and the birds mostly had their way with the ripe berries before we could, but we heeded the tree's gesture.

And we didn't cut it down.

We went out last weekend to pick berries. They fall from the tree and hide like jewels in the St. Augustine, so we hunt for them.

We only met one neighbor. She told us to watch for cedar waxwings. They love mulberries, she said.

We love them too.

Quick Takes: Afternoon Off and Hidden Doors

On Wednesday Jacob finished all his work by noon and told me to take the afternoon off. I said I just wanted to hole up in our bedroom with a hot cup of something and my laptop, but he said the offer was only on the table if I left the house.

He was right of course. Our bedroom - though progressing - is still a construction project. And our children - though not my immediate responsibility - will always bang on the door if I'm on the other side. I was under orders not to do anything productive. I wasn't allowed to work on anything. So I went to a bookstore and I browsed. I picked up books and meandered. I told multiple sales people that I didn't need any help. Because I didn't. And nobody needed help from me.

Usually I take "me time" to work on administrative stuff for Jacob's business or to go on a stroller-less run or to just get stuff done. I can't remember the last time I wandered in a bookstore. It was glorious. I thought I would feel like I'd wasted that time, but instead I felt like a new person. Or maybe I just felt like my old person?

>><<

I've been trying to embrace smaller chunks of time.

For the past month I've been running and doing yoga almost every day. I've always been a consistent jogger, but since baby number three came I was only managing one run a week, if that. So a couple months back, I just decided to go on twenty minute runs. It's worked like a charm. At this point in my life, it's so much easier to find 20 minutes 6 times a week than 40 minutes 3 times a week. I think this is pretty mental: it's a lot easier to commit to a 20 minute workout.

Recently I've been applying the idea to yoga. Whenever I saw a 20 minute window, I just click on over to this website, set my filters to 0-20 or 20-40 minute workouts, and off we go.

>><<

While wondering through the bookstore, I broke down and bought some books for the kids. I almost never buy kids' books because the library is so easy and so free. But that day I had some cash and I wanted to do something splurgey. I bought Jake this classic which he loves. I wanted to buy Lucy June Ladybug Girl because it's much more my style of girl book, but she's in a big time unicorn phase and so I gave in and bought one called Uni the Unicorn. The flower illustrations got me. Especially this page with all the dandelions.

>><<

I'm on the hunt for a hot beverage that is caffeine-free and doesn't need milk or sugar to make it palatable. I'm trying to teach myself to like herbal tea, but so far so bad. I'd love any tea recommendations or tips if you got'em!

>><<

This is exactly what Jacob and I look like when we watch TV:

Please admire all my well placed wall art... 

>><<

Remodeling progress. Here's where we are with the master bedroom. (steps out the window are handy but temporary ;) Floors go in on the 13th. 

Tile is done in the bathroom. It's the first time we've tiled all the way up a wall and I really like it.

Jacob is almost done building the vanity and I can't wait to show it to you!

>><<

Then finally there's this cuteness. We'll be taking out this wall soon to make this room three feet wider, so last week Jacob cut a hole in it last week to make spot for the kids:

 Jake scurries in there every morning to look at books before the other kids wake up.

Go see Kelly and Happy Weekend. We're off to hide from the Super Bowl festivities which are happening up the road!

What I'm Reading (and Quick Remodel Update)

**chock full of affiliate links in case the almighty Google asks and threatens my $6/mo**

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

Story about several young people in London as they figure out their way through the first years of WWII. Think star-crossed lovers and coming of age. It had an Amor Towles feel. It honestly fell a little flat for me. My expectations were probably too high because I was hoping for another All the Light We Cannot See and this novel didn't quite hit that level of heart-wrenching. It's the only Chris Cleave I've read, and I'd be interested to hear other people's experiences with him.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

I loved this book and highly recommend it. I first encountered Kalanithi when I read his piece in the New York Times a couple of years ago, and like most of the internet, I was struck by his story: a neurologist finishing residency diagnosed with an aggressive and rare lung cancer. When Breath Becomes Air is his memoir about dying, so it's heavy, but his writing is so good and so poignant.

168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam

This is a book about how people spend their time/should spend their time. I liked it. She's got great statistics on how people spend their time today vs fifty years ago. After reading it, I decided to do some time tracking. This is pretty tricky for me because I'm someone who needs a lot of external motivation to maintain this type of practice. But in this instance, a disbelieving eyebrow raise from Jacob has been all the motivation I've needed to follow through, and I'm going on my second week of observing my time in 15 minute intervals.

I've LOVED time-tracking.  I haven't analyzed my charts yet, but the time tracking itself has helped me spend my time so much more consciously.

Designing your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

Ah. More self help! This book is about applying design concepts to "What should I do with my life" questions. It's very interactive and has you doing lots of exercises, some of which got me thinking creatively about some of the parts of my life that I want to change. It's one of the reasons I've been blogging more! It had been hard for me to justify spending time blogging, but this book helped me look at my emotional experiences without judgment. And turns out I LIKE blogging, and maybe I don't need another justification to do it.

Before We Visit the Goddess by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

A story about three generations of Indian women that spans decades and continents. I really liked this book: I liked the writing and the jumping around in time and the steady description of Indian food. But it also made me a little miserable...it seemed like every relationship was fueled by deception or resentment. I finished it one night late and crawled into bed with Jacob. I hugged him and was all "Ah love! Let us be true to one another!" and he was like "I was asleep."

>><<

Also: this is what my bedroom looks like today. 

We demo-ed (How do Chip and Joanna spell that, I wonder?) the old exterior wall the day before yesterday and now the room is twice as big and half as habitable. Never fear, the drywallers come tomorrow if we pass our final framing inspection today. #knockonwallstuds

Also the "we" here always means Jacob doing/managing everything and me in the background asking "Is that supposed to be that way??"

Back for a Hot Minute

Hello hello!

How about another doomed effort to wake the blog back up, eh? 

December was tough because I had bronchitis that deteriorated into a walking pneumonia and one particularly unforgiving coughing fit broke one of my ribs(?). So...we were lacking a little holly jolly in the festive department for most of the month. 

But before all that happened I managed to get some family photos taken by a super talented and sweet friend. The photoshoot was laughably difficult. Roman was unhappy unless we were letting him dig with a measuring spoon. Lucy June got wise to her power pretty quickly and stayed in tantrumville for most of the shoot. I was just praying for one - just please one - passable photo. Then when we got them back I was delighted.  

If you look closely you can read the hidden stories. (Mother who's been smiling too long has death grip on three year old while tickling her.) 

Or not so hidden stories...

Nothing like a magical photographer to make lemonade from your lemons. Or maybe a nice ginger lemon cocktail.

>><<

We are still deep into our house renovation. We redid the interior of the house last year and have recently begun adding some extra square footage and a master bathroom. We're basically turning a tiny 2/1 into a not quite so small 3/2. We'll probably finish everything up by late spring...which is precisely when we will move again. Because that is how we do. 

Adding on has been lots more fun than the original remodel work because it's all been outside. When your husband has to routinely decommission your kitchen or your only bathroom to work on the sewer line it starts getting old fast.

Of course we did have to hack into a couple walls. So my brother-in-law's room currently looks like this: 

He's a trooper. And he sleeps in the living room.

Back when Jacob and I lived in Los Angeles we would talk about renovating houses and got into the game a little over two years ago after moving to Houston. It's strange to say it, but I think that means that we're "living a dream." And not surprisingly that dream comes with layers of frustration and exhaustion, financial stress and decision fatigue, holey walls ands construction dust. I even find myself longing for some apartment living again. #grassisgreener #etcetc  

I'm getting my legs under me as a mother of three...now that the baby is 16 months old. I know this because I've started some kitchen fermentation again. We're starting light with carrot sticks and some kefir water. I should have my first batch of soda done by the end of this week. I have a friend coming over tomorrow who's a sourdough queen, so it should be a nice brunch/inquisition. I still don't get dressed everyday, but there's nothing like some controlled spoilage on the counter to make me feel like a functioning human.

Bye for now!