In: A Love Story* (*first draft)

Well, well, well. WELL, well, well. We are in the mutha fuckin' house!!! (Literally.)

So much has happened in the last few weeks and oddly (or not) I've found it really hard to crank out this post. A post, one would think, that this story has been leading up to. It is probably partly physical and mental exhaustion. It's been almost a week and I don't think it's quite sunken in for either of us yet. Plus, it's been SO cold in Creede lately that we've spent most of the time in the cozy upstairs of the bedroom and tv room. The house is well insulated, but the main room has so many windows and it's been below zero at night, so brrrrr.

And like I've said before, I never wanted to be just a "lister offer" of things that have happened over the past few weeks. I find that pretty boring as a reader. But the final push has been...like birthing a child. (Like, I said LIKE, for those who actually HAVE birthed a child and are laughing at me right now.) But you wait. Sometimes for longer than your expected due date. You waaaaaait. And in the end, you've done all you can and it's now dependent on outside factors.

Washer and Dryer. They work and everything!

The Sun/Laundry Room. Complete with sleeping, elderly dog.

TV room. Boxes of books and nice glassware.

My l'il office. Much to do, much to do.

Bath.

We spent our first night here the Saturday before Christmas. Our plumber arrived in the early afternoon to hook everything up and left around 8pm. Alas, nothing is ever easy. The city turned on the water a few days before at the request of the plumber--to make sure that if there is any sediment in the main line, it is flushed out into a bucket instead of into your brand new pipes. The water hadn't been turned on in at least three years, so it took quite some doing. The city had to come back the next day and do some light digging in order to thaw everything out. I worried myself sick about this and ended up smudging the house again just to feel like I had some control. Hippie control. It worked. Maybe. Who knows. But I sure felt better and that's what's important. PS. Hearing water moving under the house is my new favorite sound. And that's usually a bad thing.

Positive #3 (of many too numerous to list): Having a place for all your shit. I have been so happy to throw away boxes because, other than the occasional out of town job, I don't expect to be moving in the immediate future. I've been a nomad for my entire adult life and I love having a place to land. I'm used to, and even thrilled by, living out of suitcases from time to time. But not all the time. This is like your real, personal storage space and a whole lot prettier.

Sorry for all the blown out window pics. It's a sunny Colorado day. Living Room! Art wall continually growing. Note lack of trim and baseboard.

Come on over for a sammich.

Sleepy room (with a now inappropriate color of comforter cover).

Positive #2: If you have propane as your main energy source, having an on-demand water heater is "da bomb". You never run out of hot water so you can fill up a large antique tub with hoooooot water. Luxury, I tell you. That was one thing we splurged on as it is over twice the price of a standard water heater. BUT, saves you a lot of money in the long run because it requires way less propane.

Positive #1: Having your own home. (Duh, right?) I'm sure those of you who have one can attest to this feeling. At one moment it's overwhelming because you can't call your landlord to get something fixed if it's broke. But in another moment--so gratifying that this place is YOURS. I see both of us taking more care with things, also because we literally made this house from nothing. Anyone else would have bought the property and torn down the house. Only my husband thought it was saveable. I am now really curious to see the photos that were taken of it at its worst. I was not allowed to see these initially because RJ was afraid I would punch him in the face for taking on such a monstrosity and he was probably right. Only after we started on the outside of the house this May, did I really start to come around. Only then, did the project felt less like a burden and more like an achievable goal.

This story isn't over. As the title suggests it's more like a first draft. There are still many boxes out, but they mainly contain all the books that don't have a bookshelf yet to live in. There are outlets with no covers (on backorder from our delightful hardware store). There are no doors or drawers for the cabinets--hell, we still need a couple of cabinets. We need trim and baseboard in most rooms except the bedroom. The guest bedroom is painted...but has no flooring, trim or light fixtures. The downstairs bathroom is even less done than that. But the house is liveable--complete with all those things that most of us (and me even a year ago) take for granted. We've got running water, electricity, washer/dryer, and enthusiasm. The 180'' shower curtain just arrived today for the antique clawfoot tub, so we can get the monstrous circular curtain rod up and stop those ridiculous European baths ;) But on the flip side, there is nothing quite like a nice hot bath in a large tub. No, sir...not much like it.

As there are infinitely more drafts to come, I will continue to post on house happenings and poor person home ownership. Maybe I'll even start talking more about acting (or maybe not--yawn) or CO mountain town living in general. Though, as a home stylist I admire says, design isn't ever complete. Your style keeps changing and growing and so will this house. I'm just so g.d. happy to finally have a palette to work from.

Door knobs. Installed by yours truly.

I like to call this the Half Kitchen. It's halfway there but at least has all the components of producing and consuming food.

It's...Almost...Here...

Oh...oh...oh...so very, very close. The move in is practically upon us, people! We can smell it, taste it and reallllly really hope that the next few days are jam packed with making it happen.

That said, I do want to make sure everyone understands the difference between the house being "liveable" and the house being "finished". There are many, many things that still need to be "finished" but are not essential to us being able to live there.

The Basics:
1. Heat
2. Running Water
3. Electricity
4. A place to make the foods

Heat, we have. Word!

Our friend who has been doing the electrical is spending most of the day tomorrow installing the remaining outlets, switches and lighting fixtures. Electricity is flowing to the house, but it needs to be available throughout the house.

RJ is finishing up the walls in the kitchen and installing the most essential cabinet skeleton (frames that have shelves, but not yet doors or drawers). He will then get the sink and dishwasher in place so that our plumber can come in and hook everything up to water and gas--the kitchen, upstairs bath and washing machine/dryer. And another friend of RJ who is a tile expert will make sure we have tile on the countertops.

All this should happen in the next several days. The internet folks are coming to hook stuff up/transfer service Tuesday, with Direct TV doing the same on Thursday. So, between now and then, in theory, we will be in. I've been slowly packing and moving boxes from the cabin to our house. And on Monday, we drove up to the Denver area, rented a moving truck and took a whole shipment of furniture and appliances back down to Creede, narrowly escaping death on 285 South.

Many things could go wrong. We've already had a bitch of a day today. RJ's fuel pump died and he couldn't get started at the house until early afternoon because he spent most of the morning replacing said fuel pump. The plumber knows we need him to come in the next few days...hopefully he will...as he's a busy guy.

I am so, so excited and also still tearing my hair out. Every whisper of a hiccup sounds like a scream. But, I went through a bunch of boxes yesterday determining whether they needed to stay in storage or be dispersed around the house. I realized that, at the end of the day, I didn't want to leave! I wanted to stay in this house. MY house. OUR house, that we have created together. It's pretty damn cool.

But...back to the list of major things that will not be finished until later due to time and/or money:

1. Downstairs bathroom
2. Guest bedroom and closet
3. Bar dividing kitchen and dining area
4. Trim windows/doorways downstairs and baseboard everywhere that's been polyurethaned (except the bedroom, which is done).
5. Cedar siding on the addition/prime and paint it. (Spring project!)
6. Finish Stairs (they are functional, just not yet pretty).
7. Shelves

The Main Thing: RJ has to go back to work. For actual money. All of these things I can work on during the day or we can attempt in the evening, but we gots to eat. Thankfully he has a job in town to go back to, but we are pretty paralyzed with brokeness at the moment. Not that we've every had a lot, but we don't even have just a little.

You may have noticed there are no pictures on this particular blog post...I'm saving those for the next one in which I hope I will be writing FROM the house. But I will say this so you can use your imagination: we have couches, some desks, my childhood dresser, RJ's childhood dining room table and a lot of stuff to be put away in various places coming soon. But it is happening. IT'S HAPPENING.

Okay, I must go and await more anxiety-ridden dreams.

Until the next one, friends!

And From the Ashes...

I've got to say, having heat in the house REALLY helps morale. I mean, shit. Working in barely 40 degrees as opposed to 55-60 is like you're outside without the fresh air or mountains to look at. You have a constant chill and life just looks a little bit more bleak.

BUT, after a little tweak to the furnace (it's a few years old and had a fan that wouldn't shut off), our house is getting nice and toasty. Even though it's set around the same temp as the log cabin we currently live in, it already feels much warmer--at least less drafty and chilled.

And today...was quite productive. We finished the miserable job of insulating under the house, that we started last night. RJ did most of the grunt work but I got him anything he needed. It's the least I can do after insulating the entire house! Though doing it in a crawl space is a special level of hell. Though we can already feel a huge difference.

The Access Hole in the closet of the guest bedroom. (Pervy jokes about access hole commencing in 3...)

Unda tha houuuuuse!

I also got another wall primed. Then...it was on to a lot of small but mighty things: I moved the rest of the flooring (which will go in the addition downstairs in a couple days) out of the elements from the front yard  into the garage. It was wrapped in plastic, but we're supposed to get dumped on with snow between tonight and tomorrow night, so better safe than sorry.

We raised the back door up about a half inch or so. We hadn't taken into account the thickness of the flooring that will be installed and though a pain in the ass to have to move the entire structure, the door will now open smoothly. We also put the doors in for the downstairs bath and bedroom. Those will be the rooms we finish after we move in, so having a barrier from the unfinishedness is a super duper.  Plus, all this makes it feel like a real ass house.

Doooooooooor.

I also prepped the upstairs for polyurethane tomorrow. Meaning...I spent over an hour dusting. All the sanding of the main floor downstairs created SO much dust everywhere (including upstairs), it took  well over an hour to get it all up.

Tomorrow is the big poly day for me (I probably won't need that drink after work) while RJ possibly/hopefully goes to build some of the cabinets and counters for the kitchen in a shop outside of town. Again, a lovely perk of Creede being Creede is that a friend can order you cabinet supplies at cost!

It's happening people!

****I also want to give a sincere thank you to all the folks who sent me nice notes and comments about my last post. I was in a bad way, and this blog has been a great way for me to let off steam. Thanks for all the kind words and support. I love you, friends.

The journey continues. (With the help of a daily adult beverage.)

Shit Gets Real: You're Not Supposed to Talk About Money

I've always been told it's not polite to talk about money and I've mostly ignored that sentiment in my life and have been comfortable doing so. When I was younger, I often thought this "rule" only applied to rich people so others didn't know how much they "had". But now I realize it was also probably to save people from the knowledge of how little they had. Regardless of either reason, I'm REALLY going to talk about it. Like, right now:

This house, this house thishousethishouse. It is getting so close to being liveable. So close. And we are...so broke. The problem with being pretty poor in the first place and buying a house is that you have to find a house that's affordable. And in this case, what was affordable was also...a completely unlivable dump. Hence the construction loan. We will be OK, we really will. RJ has work for the entire winter but hasn't been able to work on the project because he's the main builder for our house. And all he gets from that is sweat equity. We have had SO many people helping, and continue to have help. Creede is great for that. But most days it's just him and me. And I do what I can but sometimes, I just don't have the skill to help. Also, shit happens--the flooring nailer breaks so you have to postpone a certain project. There's a snowstorm and the plumber can't make it. RJ has told me many times, when I've asked for a time frame, that he just can't give me one. There's an approximate goal but it is dependent on so many things working the way they are supposed to and they rarely do. And when you've got one to two people working, this basically fucks up your entire day.

And then, there's me. I'm paying all the bills right now. Alllllllll of them. A little background: Career-wise, I've been lucky over the past three years. Scarily lucky because I have had acting work for 75% or more of the year for three CONSECUTIVE years, which is AHMazing. In theatre, a dream gig is somewhere like Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which pays really well (for theatre) and is, at best, 10 months of employment out of the year. While not (yet!) working at OSF, I have had the privilege to either have jobs that have had co-productions that have extended my contracts. Or, I have had work that all but overlapped. For example, earlier this year I had a job that ended on a Sunday and a new one that started the following Tuesday. Baller!

As an actor, you can start to get comfortable with this sort of thing. And I have made an effort to be so grateful for the work, and to not take it for granted or expect anything. But there is a truly dark and desperate side to this profession. And that is, in the back of your mind--ALWAYS--is the thought (no, the worry) that the jobs will run out and you'll be in a spot where you're not working for a while. For many reasons I have little to no control over, I have currently hit that lovely place called a dry spell. For instance, I'm union and smaller theatres will often take an equally good non-union person over you, or they just don't have the money for the contracts in the first place*.  Also, sometimes you're just not right for a role or a season.  I've done a couple on-camera jobs lately (awesome) but those don't necessarily bring you lots of cash. RJ told me the other day that when he was a kid, he thought that everyone on tv was a millionaire. He now knows that that is rarely true.

All this leads me to the emotional stress of being truly broke for the first time in a loooooong time. When I say broke, I mean almost no savings, no cash, and I'm using my one, low interest credit card for lots of things, which I HATE doing. That thing is for emergencies, not for living.

I'm realizing that one of the reasons I started this blog is to give people a taste of building a house when you have little to no money. And what that is like. What do you have to be creative about to make it work (as Tim Gunn would say). It makes me think about the housing crash a few years ago when people were getting loans with unfixed interest rates that they actually couldn't afford. And the day came when they were utterly screwed, just to get a piece of comfort--a home. We made a huge effort not to fall into that and honestly, in the long run, this house is an incredible investment. The house will be worth more than 3 times what we paid for it and we have a fixed 15 year mortgage that, if we had our normal income, would be quite a reasonable monthly payment.

Now is the fucking hard part. This is the part that causes me to spontaneously cry in the middle of my almost done house. That makes me argue with my partner about time and money and crave the day when I can just. be. comfortable. When I can get up in the morning with my pets and my sleeping husband and have a nice cup of coffee and maybe buy a nice table cloth for the dining room table. I am so tired right now. Tired of knowing that I have $196.87 in my SAVINGS account. Tired of getting up and staining flooring. Tired of trying to be a cheerleader on the job that never seems to end. You think that these projects are going to be so invigorating and exciting. And that they sometimes are. But I can't help fantasizing how this process would be different if I had chosen a career (or a husband with a career) that actually made an average, comfortable living. This has mainly been buffered by the artistic work I've been lucky enough to be paid to do. A lot can be said for the impact emotional and creative riches have on your state of mind. But when you don't have that, life can seem pretty grim sometimes. And I (we) will be okay. It's looking good that I will be back at Creede Rep for the summer/fall next year. And who knows what opportunities will pop up before then. But moving into the holiday season of family and commercialism and giving and receiving, I struggle with my self-worth, my abilities, my...life. This is what it meant, when adults told you as a kid, that being a grownup is hard.

So...send good thoughts, friends. It'll be okay. But being someone trained to live "in the moment," all I want to do right now is scream.

(Update: Today is a better day and I'm back to being pretty excited about things and all that jazz. Plus, I've had lots of kind words from many of you and it's so good to hear. :D ALSO: The plumber is coming this afternoon to hook up the furnace and hopefully the upstairs bathroom. Comfortable pooping commencing soon!)

(Update #2: My husband just texted me, "The furnace is a go!!!" Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!)

Talk to the hand, Life!

 *Drop my union card, you might say. For many reasons this is a terrible idea at this time in my life and I'll explain another time.

I see the light. Sort of. It has paint on it.

Pro.Gress.

I noticed today that my toenails were long. Longer than I'd ever had them. I hadn't noticed it. The majority of my days consist of getting up, taking the dog out, making breakfast, heading to the house to work, coming back home for dinner, zoning in front of the computer, reading (maybe) and falling asleep. Sometimes a good hour or two before RJ comes up. I can't actually remember most of the time, I'm too tired.

Today represented the best and worst of the overall progress. First...The Best: We started painting. Most of it can probably be finished in the next few days. One of the processes you go through for just plain, painted walls is: 1) drywall 2) drywall tape the seams 3) 2-3 layers of mud, which you sand smooth after it drys so you have a smooth wall. A reason why a lot of houses have textured walls is because it's easier to hide the imperfections of this process. 4) prime 5) paint. Some of the walls need some touching up with the mud (which has to dry and be sanded) before I can prime and paint them. BUT. Our ceiling downstairs is pretty much done except for a quick second coat. And it's a glorious color called brandywine (kind of a jewel color of red and purple). We had an early idea to wallpaper the ceiling but good/cool wallpaper is around $30 a roll. And a single roll doesn't go very far so it just wasn't in the budget. A colorful wall is a great and cheap way to mix things up.

The Worst: The downstairs wood flooring. It's different from the upstairs blue stained pine that I was sanding and staining. RJ got it from a friend of his who had been sitting on it for many years and decided to let us use it. It is very narrow and it took 2-3 guys about 3 1/2 hours to get not even 5 feet across. It'll look great but it'll take days to put it all down and our house isn't even that big. And we most likely won't have three people working on it either. Dammit to hell. And once it's all laid down it has to be sanded, stained and polyurethaned. 

Woah...could it be Sunday already? I actually fell asleep before finishing this blog post. That's how I roll lately folks. And now...it's the Broncos game and I'm a wee drunk. Here's some pictures. PEACE!

See you guys, I do actually do stuff.

Beginnings of the downstairs floor.

The crazy ceiling color. It looks way more pink in this photo.

Work it.

FLOOR!

Someday my furniture will come...

It's the Little Things

The upstairs is beginning to come together.

As the Broncos game rages on in the background, I am actually excited at all the little things we've gotten done this week. I also worry that I've lost my sense of humor and that all my blog is now is reporting what we do, which is what I WANT to do, but in a unique way. I'm just so tired right now and still overwhelmed with what we still have to accomplish before moving in in less than two weeks. Plus, building this house, while exhilarating, is like having PMS every day. Have I mentioned that already? Oh fuck, I don't even know what day it is. But I digress...

Things that happened this week that may or may not be exciting to you in any way: Flooring went in upstairs in the bedroom and closet area and today I put polyurethane on most of the bedroom plus a second coat in the bathroom. (I won't mention the lovely buzz I got from the fumes, oh crap I just did. I'm totally fine, Mom.) It's pretty cold in the house since the furnace isn't quite hooked up yet, though I'm happy to report that the house does not lose heat overnight which is a HUGE improvement over the cabin we currently live in. So, due to the fact that it's right around 45 degrees in the house consistently, the polyurethane was the consistency of honey. So it was like putting down a double coat in just one! Craptastically, I still have about a 4'x10' rectangle to go. With it being Sunday, the hardware won't be open until tomorrow to restock. So I must wait for the completion. Daaaaah, completion!

Ready for polyurethane!

This weekend RJ worked on the flooring and trim while I cleaned, sanded and stained, and put in some random insulation. But I'm a pro now, so it ain't no thing. I moved some things around in the tiny garage (aka the work shed) and semi-organized--well, I just made room to put more crap into it. I cleaned out the shell of the guest bedroom  downstairs and decided that, yes, it's going to be a nice, cozy little place to rest your weary head.

Other adult crap that made me gizz in my pants a little: I ordered some brand new sheets and towels. We only have a couple of old sets of sheets so I thought treating ourselves to a nice new set would be...nice. I also bought us half a dozen towels. When I actually thought about how many of the towels in the cabin are actually ours, I realized that out of about a dozen...it's maybe three. New house, new towels. And I don't actually have the money to buy these luxury items but dammit, I've been living in itchy, dusty, dirty clothes and hiding my unwashed hair in my large fuzzy hat, so I can have some plushy towels if I damn well want them!

Oh, but there's more! I never thought I would like shopping for lighting and plumbing fixtures, but I DO. It's yet another way, that's much more satisfying than Pinterest because it's not a fantasy, to actually visualize what everything is going to look like. My email is filling up with order notifications from Faucet Direct and Home Depot.

And while we speak, I just won a five piece set of used Le Creuset cookware for less than $100 with shipping! Le Creuset is an incredible French cookware company that makes delicious looking pots and pans that are also VERY expensive. So getting a five piece set for a third of the price of a single pot is pretty baller.

My badass husband made these crooked walls look so fine.

So...my shit internet is taking forever to upload anything significant, so I will do it tomorrow. There aren't many photos that I haven't posted on facebook lately, but I'll do it here anyway. For my people.

(Update: the pictures are up!)

The bathroom is going to be awwwwesome.

Update #2. We used a neighbor's one hundred year old wood to make the wall going up the stairs. It looks pretty fly!

In closing and off topic, this is Coco. 

Coco Vovant (Josh Lamon)

And one of the funniest 10 minutes I've spent in a while. Enjoy.

An Element of Design

The upstairs is getting close, so close! This week is all about trim and flooring as I attempt to keep RJ supplied with sanded, stained wood. I should specify that a particular part of the upstairs is taking FOREVER. It's the master bedroom--also the area that has wonky-ass, crooked shit ALL over the dang place. So each piece of trim has to be custom cut, placed, and manipulated so it looks...not crooked.

Detail.

This is looking up. There will be four angles that look like this, meeting at the top.

RJ is on his third day of this sodding trim and I'm about to pull my hair out. Not because he's slow, (and it looks SO COOL), but because it takes a ridiculous amount of time to get everything placed right so that you fool the eye into thinking you see a straight line. I am getting to the point where I have to see progress and if I don't, I have a mild panic attack. BUT, I have been assured that the downstairs--being all right angles--and even the upstairs addition, will go extremely quickly. And the great news is that other than a few pieces of trim and baseboard in the upstairs bathroom, it is pretty much done and ready for the plumber to come in and hook everything up. We are also painting the main part of the claw foot tub black. OMG, an actual stylistic element!

Another Pinterest Inspiration. (Photo by: Brittany Ambridge)

 

 

This above picture is of a Manhattan apartment complete with $300 rug. Ha. Hahahahaha. Anyway, we'd originally wanted to go with some subway tile in the upstairs bath, but ultimately decided (and going with what supplies we already had--something RJ is brills at doing) on painted tongue and groove on the walls, a wall of cedar to back the tub, blue stained pine on the ceiling, and dark stained wood flooring.

The painting of the tub.

The Claw Feet! They kinda look like busts of a lady up close.

The floor of the bathroom, the cedar siding used the wall behind the tub.

I don't even want to start on the downstairs. It's got most of the drywall up, but is mainly just a workspace for cutting, sanding and staining. And once again, that will be the easy part...once we get to it.

And now: Angry Crutches Game Face: Sanding Edition!

For those who don't know, Angry Crutches Game Face started last year after I got my hip surgery and was starting on my PT and damn sick of my crutches. This type of selfie has come to represent: "things that are sucky, but by god you're gonna get that shit done!"

It's Crunch Time, Folks.

If I'm reading a theatre review, I tend to dislike it when the reviewer gives a "synopsis" of the play. Instead of writing about the play, how it made them feel, etc., they give a run down of the plot. Snooooooooore. But...this is not a play. It's my house. And a lot has happened, so I feel like some of what I have to say is, a "synopsis," but by god I will try to make it entertaining. And throw some of my thoughts in there too. SO:

I returned to Creede yesterday after a few days in the big city of Denver. I went up primarily for some auditions, but it ended up being a nice "escape from THE PROJECT". We have now moved into the home stretch. Our optimistic end of October move in deadline is not happening, but we are confident that not too long after that, we'll be moved in. Some major developments in the last couple of weeks:

Last week my stepfather, Gerry, spent six straight days helping us. RJ's father, Roger Sr., came in for a few days later in the week as well. Their help was invaluable. While I cleaned, sanded, primed and insulated, Roger tinkered with the furnace vents, and RJ and Gerry put up drywall upstairs, downstairs and on the ceiling (that actually required 3-4 hearty gentleman to accomplish).

Lots of hands.

We had the tankless water heater hooked up, got a blue tag from the inspector (the blue tag story is longer and not terribly interesting, but VERY IMPORTANT), and Monte Vista Co-op hooked up the gas line from the propane tank to the house. We ordered flooring, a storm door, one entire extra package of roof shingles though we unfortunately only needed a few to finish the job. While in Denver, I bought us a refrigerator and gas range. And my mother and step-father have graciously gifted us a dishwasher.

Behold, The Gloriousness. Especially for propane, the extra initial expense means that we will end up using way less propane since it heats the water as it goes through the heater. It doesn't store it, like traditional water heaters.

Now I have to rave about Sears Outlet. I may eat my words if the stuff ends up being crap, but it's a pretty awesome feeling to acquire a new stove that is 50% off simply because a contractor installed it in a house, the owner didn't like it because it wasn't self cleaning, then had it removed so they could exchange it. You can't sell something full price once it's been installed so who benefits? WE DO! The fridge was the same deal. Brand new, but returned. Slight dents on the bottom sides that no one will see anyway--at a third of the regular price. Winning!

Fancy schmantz fridge

So...A LOT is happening and we're seeing our construction loan balance get lower and lower, which is terrifying. When you initially apply for a construction escrow (or loan) you have to create a budget ahead of time to include in your application. When you are working on the house in reality, certain things gain higher importance, others become an after thought. For example, plumbing has been WAY more expensive than we originally thought because RJ thought he might be able to do a lot of the plumbing himself. But because it's not an area he's particularly skilled in, we decided to hire a plumber, got the best products we could and in the long run, it'll be great. However, it's going to end up being more than 20% of our ENTIRE budget. Also, the amount of insulation in that house continues to be staggering (YOU'RE WELCOME). But we'll hopefully save in the long run because the house will be nice and toasty.

The goal by the end of the week is to have the upstairs (master bedroom and tv room) pretty much completed. RJ is tackling the bathroom and today, I donned my painters cap and put color on the stuff I primed last week--a white with a slight blue tint to it to bring out the blue stained pine and in the barn wood we used. I bought a shop vac at Home Depot on my way out of Denver so I can FINALLY clean how I wanna clean.

I'm not gonna lie. This project, especially the last couple of weeks, has been one of the hardest things I've ever done. I'm tired. I'm pissed. I don't want to do it anymore and I wish it was just fucking DONE. Trying to keep up morale when you both feel like it's never going to get finished is really hard. Drywall helps a lot because you can actually start to see the shape of things. That said, drywall dust is a whole new level of hell. Not that it's dangerous, it's just messy and hard to clean up without something like a shop vac. It occurs when you apply "mud," to cover up the seams between sheets of drywall and then sand it so looks smooth. And in some places, even out some non-straight surfaces. The fine, white dust from what you've sanded just sits on the ground as well as on you and makes you look as though a shipment of cocaine exploded in your face. It also tends to clog up the shop vac if you don't have a bag. (I did NOT find that out from experience. Ahem.)

But...it will get finished. Things slowly but surely come together. I have to remind myself that, on average, there are only two people working on this house. Many times, less. We have had some awesome help from friends and family--the thanks are endless. But I was gone for almost all of last week so RJ was mostly on his own. Luckily, my trip left me somewhat refreshed, or at least refocused, and I started off today with a lot of vacuuming.

And in a shameless act of begging: if you are in the area and want some hang out time while you do something with your hands, come on over! We can't provide much more than food, adult beverage and gratitude, but, as it is said, someplace by someone, "it takes a village."

ONWARD!

When The Magic Fades...

Pass the fucking pinot grigio.

Taken a year ago and I'm STILL dealing with insulation. I will be happy if I never see another piece EVER.

As RJ and I both shout obscenities at the old part of the house, which seems to have been built by a drunk person, we stop and reflect on the fact that...it was. But more on that later.

Once the euphoria of actually getting through the refinance and the construction loan wears off, the reality of Everything (with a capital E) begins to sink in. We have a time frame, we have a budget (that things don't always like to stay within <coughplumbing>), and it feels like it's getting colder in Creede every minute. So...we're getting short with each other, we're swearing at uneven walls and sometimes at each other. The fact that we have given ourselves a deadline of getting the house liveable by the end of the month is, well, stressful. We're getting a lot done, don't get me wrong. The shingles are up on the addition and insulation is full steam ahead. Plumbing was roughed in recently and it passed inspection.

The new shingles on the addition. The color is not an exact match, but was the closest we could find.

Roughed In Plumbing Montage

Floor insulation. Probably the easiest to do. Because...no angles!

But unfortunately, moving forward right now is contingent on other people. We've gone through the steps to set up power, but the San Luis Valley Electric Company (SLVEC) is the only game in town and is only open Monday-Thursday. So, we're looking at early next week to be hooked up to the grid and hopefully this weekend we'll get the final rough in done. Once the electric rough in is finished, we get inspected and the guy only inspects in Creede on Tuesdays. Only then can RJ really start to do the drywall and FINISH THE INSIDE, which is most important for moving in. Duh.

Which brings me to the state of the working relationship between husband and wife. I've always thought RJ was a great boss. He's patient with me. He helps me. But we now have a self imposed time limit. Mainly because, starting this month, we are paying mortgage AND rent plus utilities. Mighty expensive. Mighty sucky. But that said, you can't let the pressure you are putting on yourself or your woodworker husband get to you. Otherwise, things get frustrating very quickly. Part of being comfortable with someone is being comfortable bickering, and I've always attempted not to take my personal frustration out on my partner, but when you're working as a team...it happens. At least there are plenty of soft things to throw.

We actually attempted some drywall yesterday afternoon in part of the upstairs (in a spot that doesn't need inspection) because that's one place we would like to be pretty much done by the end of the month. Not everything has to be done for it to be liveable, but having a finished place to land and sleep is important to us. But, as many of you who have seen the top floor know, the ridge lines of the roof intersect in several places and that gives us many cool, but frustrating, angles to deal with. That, plus the fact that nothing is straight up there. Or standard anything. Everything is either a little or A LOT off. When you've spend most of your time on a brand new part of the house that is, for the most part, straight (we did use unfinished wood in several places because it was cheaper, and isn't always completely straight, but it is easily correctable as you go along). Our best guess is that B (the former owner, then tenant) was most likely drunk when he worked on this place.

This is what we know about B: A lot of it is hearsay, though from fairly reliable sources. In any case, this is what we know from the information we have. He's a genius at design and woodworking. RJ has been heavily influenced by his work, some of which has appeared in Architectural Digest. The below images are from a commissioned work. The house he lived in, that we bought, was severely neglected.

B's Epic Work. The Boathouse in Creede, CO. Based on Norwegian stave churches. (Photo by David O. Marlow for Architectural Digest)

Inside of boathouse. This shit is amazing. (Photo by David O. Marlow)

He's originally from Kansas and is an extremely shy person with a lot of ideas and talent. He is also a SEVERE alcoholic and hoarder. I've mentioned him before in this blog. How he put up a fight over the sale of the house, at least partly to give himself more time to get his stuff out. How when we actually closed, 6 months after starting the process, RJ would not let me inside the house until he'd cleaned it out completely and gutted it.

B came to Creede from Kansas like a lot of people in his age bracket--now in their mid-60s. The Creede Repertory Theatre was started by KU students in the summer of 1966. As the theatre grew, a lot of friends and family from that area began to populate the Colorado mining town, especially in the summers. According to a neighbor, B bought 112 E. 6th Street in the early 90s from an elderly woman in declining health whose family wanted to sell the house and move her to a old age home. Once this happened, B started making some major upgrades. He put a foundation under the main part of the house and replaced a lot of siding. And about 10 years ago, he re-shingled the roof. Both of these things gave RJ faith that we at least had a house he could work with that wouldn't leak or sink into the ground. But over the years, perhaps because of B's extreme shyness, or his genius, he developed a very unhealthy alcohol problem. He's known around Creede as a "drunk". And when I say "drunk", I don't mean he hangs out at the local bar every night and drinks until he's drunk. I mean: a man whose dog would have to be cared by others for several weeks because B was trapped in his house, unable to get up. A man who would walk into friends' houses to take their alcohol. Who, more than once, had to be dragged out of his house full of junk in order to be taken to the hospital because he'd been drinking a bottle of vodka a day for two weeks. He'd have periods of sobriety, usually an average of 18 months, but then fall back off the wagon into a stupor. The house had no running water or electricity for years. He borrowed power from a neighbor and probably used the gas station bathroom on the next street down to clean himself. It's rumored he would pee in bottles when he was on a binge and stuck in his house.

About 10 years ago, a wealthy family in town who B had done a lot of work for offered to buy 112 from B (because he'd been unable to make payments) while letting him still reside there. The deal was that he could remain in the house IF he would pay property tax and utilities and keep the house clean. He did none of these things. For ten years. As the disease worsened, so did the hoarding. Again, I never saw the inside, but it was packed to the walls and ceilings with stuff. Most of the windows were broken. B started putting aggressive and accusatory signs and artwork up in the backyard because he felt he'd been wronged by everyone: the town judge, former friends, former employers, etc.

Oddly, those signs are actually one of the main reasons we have the house. The city had ordered the owner to take down the signs and clean up the backyard. She hired RJ and a couple of his friends to do this. One friend who regularly works for the owner on other projects heard they just wanted to sell the property, and mentioned this to RJ while they were working. That started the whole process in motion.

We keep hearing B is trying to get back to Creede from South Dakota, where he'd most recently lived with his mother until she passed away last winter. We also hear he's been sober for almost two years (since the selling of the house). He still has a few buildings full of his...stuff...in Creede. Seriously, good luck to the guy. In the few times I'd dealt with him, he'd always been pleasant and interesting to talk to. And when he was sober, he made truly amazing art. But when he wasn't, he built a dang crooked house.

In other regrettable news, this house project saw its first significant injury. Two weeks ago, I smacked my left pointer finger with a tack hammer while putting in insulation. I actually broke the tip of it. It's my second broken bone, the first being my pinky toe when I was 12. Not too shabby. The finger is slowly healing and I may lose the nail, but that remains to be seen. Onward!

I altered this glove to fit my "bird cage" which helps one avoid re-smacking one's finger.

This project is a HUGE undertaking and doing it yourself, even with a skilled laborer, is fucking hard. I know it will turn out really great, but the end is just far enough away for it to be aggravating that more isn't done. Luckily, we'll get a few more hands in a couple of weeks, as RJ's dad and my stepdad will be coming to town to help "get 'er done". And I wish I had more photos to show, but the changes have been much more subtle since the addition went up. Though as the inside is finished and more design elements come through, there will be more excitement to share.

Cool old heating vent.

PS. FUCK YOU, TACK HAMMER!

Fuck You, Insulation: And Other Tales

Hey, hey, hey...cool things happening on the house front, people. But alas, insulating the addition is not one of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that insulation is trés important, especially in the freezing Alps...I mean, winter in Creede. But Styrofoam insulation is a little bitch.

There are many different types of insulation--Styrofoam, fiber glass, spray foam. And it all comes in different sizes and thicknesses. The first step in insulating the roof is cutting out and shoving this Styrofoam stuff into these lovely slots in the ceiling. This is something I get to do because it doesn't require tons of construction knowledge and is the shit RJ doesn't have time for (aka: doesn't want to do). For good reason. Because it sucks.

I think it sucks so much because it requires SOME type of calculation, so you can't just zone out. You have to measure the length and width of each space, size it down slightly, and shove. And pound. And shove again. All, ideally, without breaking it. And depending on its thickness, it can go pretty easily. It isn't a HUGE deal if it snaps, but it sounds like a popping balloon and somehow makes you feel like a failure. Also, when you cut it up, it's a bit like nails on a chalkboard. It squeaks and squeals. Plus, it's frickin' messy and you end up with tiny bits of it all over your clothes and in your eyeballs. I've had to wear my glasses all day because several pieces got stuck in my left eye this morning, making contacts really irritating.

The Necessary Evil that is Styrofoam insulation.

Next, you use spray foam insulation to seal up any holes you've left via breakage or miscalculation, and then you add fiberglass insulation on top before sealing it all up with drywall.

Ah...fiberglass insulation. I'm told it has become less hazardous over the years, but still makes your skin itch like hell if you're not careful. All of this bullshit will totally make your home toasty and warm in the winter. And I can tell you: after spending several years in a log cabin, in the colder months, in the mountains of Colorado (read: cold as fuck), consistent warmth is very exciting. So I do it. For me. For us. For the world. For the baby seals.

Gentle Readers: As you may have realized, the installation of insulation means that the addition is now closed in! Yay!

The dormer RJ added to his "Mann Cave" on the second floor. He has fantasies of filling this space with an incredibly large (ahem, obnoxious) flat-screen TV. Boy, am I married to a MANly Mann or what?!

RJ is now working on adding and finishing interior walls and other smaller things before the plumbing goes in. His plumber friend stopped by this afternoon and they talked through what was going to be happening over the next couple of weeks.

The plumbing will most likely be our most expensive investment into the house, to date. We really are starting from scratch with both this and the electric.  I'm not sure how long B (the previous tenant--genius and severe alcoholic/hoarder) was without either, but it was at least a couple of years.
***I really want to write an entire post about B, but I feel like I need more facts to do so properly. All I can really do is talk about what I've heard from other people. He sure is a tragic legend around here.*** 

I think once we get water and electricity flowing to the house, I'll feel a bit better about moving in at the end of next month. The end of October is the goal because it is also when we have to start making mortgage payments, and that PLUS rent at the cabin is no bueno. And though I have said in the past that I did not EVER want to live in a house that wasn't finished--when rent + mortgage payments are staring you in the face, you re-evaluate real fast.

One thing I love about RJ is his artistic spirit when it comes to building. And what creativity can come out of doing things cheaply. It forces you to think outside the box. RJ remembered recently that he had acquired a bunch of old windows several years ago. They aren't practical to use as actual windows--they're old, single pane and not entirely straight--but they are really useful for decoration. Therefore...we've added several inside the house!

A half wall, on the other side of which will house the washer and dryer.

View from the Mann Cave. The staircase is right behind the windows. 

Since my last blog, we've added the sheeting (OSB) and Tyvek to the roof, which is a bit thrilling and scary to do. I know 'cause I helped! And RJ has built a brand new staircase with railings made from an old fence (another creatively re-purposed item).

In the midst of all this continuing progress, only two weeks remain in CRT's 2013 theatre season. This is both good and bad for me. I have no job lined up yet for the winter, so I'll be in Creede until at least the end of the year. After this month, I can spend most of my time helping RJ with whatever he needs, plus making him meals and being generally supportive. Not because I'm a "wife" but because this is his thing--this building thing. And he's doing it for us. And honestly, it's one of the most satisfying things I've done outside of theatre. And the wonderful difference is that it's a creative outlet that will last long after we finish it. And we can keep creating it, be it a garage or a new coat of paint or the addition of a painting or piece of art.

Right after the creation of the front porch many weeks ago, RJ mentioned that we should get a couple of chairs for said porch--to relax and enjoy the view. After a couple months of lazily searching, some friends who live in Mexico most of the year but own an Airstream trailer in Creede, let us borrow a couple of their teak folding chairs to serve this very purpose. So tonight, I bought a couple of 24 oz cans of cheap beer and we sat out on our porch, on these chairs and admired the view.

The chair. And the Banquet of Beers.