Progress, Palabras, and a Pit Stop

Though the last few weeks have been full of meetings, decisions, and hours of searching for the just right (and within budget) lighting and plumbing fixtures, the progress on the construction has been a wee bit slow.  The plumbing has all been roughed in (including an upgrade of copper to the kitchen upon Rob's request!), and the master bathroom shower floor has been reinforced with cement.

 Two of the tubs have been put in and are full of water in order to test that the floor can hold 'em?  I'm not sure, but they're there and they weren't before, so that's good news!

Master bathroom shower... we've got double shower heads!  The clawfoot tub is in storage and will go in later.

The fireplace has arrived (million thanks to Sean and the delivery guy who lugged it from the truck to the living room!) and should be installed sometime soon.

This Direct Vent Napoleon Fireplace is the result of many visits to showrooms, hours of research and consultation of energy efficiency engineers, and the collaboration of Rob and Sean.  Next is to design the door that will go on the front!

This summer, I've been co-teaching a graduate school class for the Heart of Texas Writing Project Summer Institute. We're working with 18 Austin area K-12 teachers on developing their writing and their teaching of writing.  Participating in this institute 5 years ago changed my career in education significantly. It brought me to UT's graduate program, to publish articles and present nationally, and, most importantly, to be more reflective in my teaching practice and in my position as a white teacher of privilege in classrooms with populations of students who have been under-served in our society and by our schools. 

In the writing that I've done this summer, I have thought a lot about our house and the men who are out there on days like today, in 106 degree temperatures, building the home where our family will live and our children will grow up for years to come.  Last week, I bought a bunch of sharpies and wrote a message (below) to the workers that, in short, asks them to please take a marker and write a message, blessing, saying, or just sign their name to demonstrate their work toward this project that means so much to Rob and me.  I've spoken to the plumbers, some framers, and electricians and they are thinking out what their message may be.  Stay tuned!

In the meantime, Steve, a friend and colleague of Rob's, brought a fun opportunity our way. He received news from a producer friend of his that while working on an indie film in Austin, the construction site where several scenes were to be shot had fallen through.  Did Steve have any ideas of where they might be able to film?  A few emails later, the film crew for Pit Stop was scheduled to meet on West Johanna Street to get rolling!


 We couldn't believe how many people arrived!  Somewhere between 20 and 30 people swarmed onto the property and brought a whole new feel to the place!  Rob, Sean, and I each grabbed a koozie and a cold drink, perched on the edge of our newly installed tub, and watched the action!

 Before they left, they wrote us a collage of messages on the floor of a bathroom.  We feel super cool to have been able to be a small part of their work and look forward to hearing about the premiere!

As if fame in film didn't provide enough excitement for a week, we were thrilled to see that the exterior colors we chose look great and to approve the samples.  As seen in the below photos, we'll have a grayish-green main color with a creamy white trim.  The windows have both a clay and a chocolatey brown color. We're also excited about the way the stain for the eaves it looking!  I can hardly wait 'til the day (maybe this week???) when I come around the corner and see the new paint color covering the house!

Lastly, on the baby 'front', I've decided to take part in those popular pregnancy profile pics.  Over the past few days my waistline has taken on a new shape.  What better place to document change than at the house!  So, here I am on the front porch and here we will document both the progress of my baby bump and of the house.  Stay tuned!

A New Addition...

Rob and I are excited to announce that we are expecting a new addition to our family!! 

Our little son or daughter is due to arrive on 12.21.12. Not long after circling the 21st of December on my calendar, I heard a radio segment that opened my eyes to the fact that the birth of this little McKay is, apparently, not the only much-anticipated event that gives great import to this day.  For those of you who have not had recent motivation to spend stretches of time reading up on the 2012 Phenomenon, here's the scoop.  Baby McKay's due day is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mayan calendar.  Some suggest that this date will mark the end of the world. Others believe the date "marks the start of time in which Earth and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation." 

And so lingers the question as posed in the image above (chosen from an unbelievable number of 12.21.12 images online), Doomsday or New Beginning for Mankind?  Although 12.21.12 (or somewhere there about) will likely mark the end of life as Rob and I currently know it, we choose not to believe those who would argue that our first born's due date marks the Earth's impending collision with a passing asteroid.  We, instead, look forward to collecting children's books, making homemade baby food, and jogging around Austin's Town Lake with a stroller.  Between the new house and our first child, we have so much for which to be grateful.

Along with such positive transformation to our lives, I do (secretly) cross my fingers that the supposed "galactic alignment" on 12.21.12 may bring us luck enough that we're moved in to our new home with time to set up the room that has long been marked on the floor plans as "nursery." 

And so, as many expectant mothers do, I have posted the sonogram pictures on our refrigerator, cut unpasteurized products from my diet, and now, a week into my second trimester, have begun to wonder how much longer I will be able to avoid the purchase of maternity clothes.  Maybe someone out there can help me out... Do you think this t-shirt would be too creepy stretched over a baby bump?

All joking aside, we are thrilled to know that our baby will enter the world surrounded by so much love from our friends and family and are glad to announce the news so that you, too, can have even more reason to anxiously await and anticipate December 21, 2012!

From sticks to walls

Two weeks ago, my mother came to town to help us pin down some selections and purchases.  Now that we're moving forward daily, we need to finalize all of the details.  While Rob and I were at work, she and Sean spent the days pricing materials and narrowing down options.  In the evenings, we made the final decisions on wood flooring, bathroom tile, the fireplace, the vent hood, kitchen sink, etc.  We took a few breaks from all of the productivity to enjoy some of our favorite spots in Austin.  We enjoyed the Guiche pizza from Eastside Pies, the incredible Banh Mi from Elizabeth Street Cafe, and a 3D showing of The Avengers at the Alamo Drafthouse. 

master bedroom

In the last two weeks the project has progressed from a stick structure to a house with windows, columns, siding, and trim.  It's been an incredible couple of weeks and we feel so grateful for the truly unbelievable support from Sean and Mom in helping us to reach this point.

Next comes the HVAC, plumbing, and electrical!!!

rear view of house

front porch

and we have walls!

master bedroom walled in

screened porch

Don't those columns look great? Sean's the best!

Yellow isn't the final color, just the color of the product. We've chosen a green for the exterior with a cream trim.

As of June 2nd

It's tough to get a good look at the windows, but they open with cranks from inside and on the exterior are brown with a clay colored outer trim.

on the other side of that wall will be the entertainment center

screened porch

Progress every day!

May has already proven to be a productive month for the progress of the house.

The first week in May, the screened-in porch had a floor and the front porch had the frame to a roof.

While we were in  Florida last weekend, Sean sent us pictures of the roof being framed.  Those trees will provide shade over our living room.  Those ceilings will be lofted!

 That door way leads out to the screened porch.

Today when I got home the roof was decked.  I'll upload new pictures soon!

There she is!

A week ago today, we came home from work and.... voila!  There was our house right back where it had gone missing!  We can now walk through the rooms and get a feel for the layout.

 front door

 front porch will be framed up soon!

 That will be our living room!

 There's our old bedroom!  We'll expect to keep it full with visitors!

 There's our master bedroom!

 The screened porch will be next to the trees.

 Those steel beams mark the space where the screened porch will be.

Woo hoo! Here we go!

Where's the house?

My brother, Sean, is our architect. He has done amazing work designing and redesigning our future home as our plans have been revised over the past few years.  At one time, we thought we would continue to live in the house and fix it up one room at a time.  Then we thought we would build the addition while living in the original house and then live in the addition while we redid the original space.

When the economy hit its low only a few months after we bought the house, we listened to advice to hold off construction plans. We couldn't justify putting savings into the house when the job market was so unstable.  Sean stepped up to the plate when we decided to re-do the bathroom after almost a year in the house.  Another year later, we began to get bids from contractors.  As have many couples before us, we realized that our home improvement projects were more than the two of us could take on.  We needed professionals.  Also, breaking up the project could leave us with a disjointed end product.

All along, however, we have known that we wanted to keep the original layout intact.  I like the separate dining room to the right as you walk in and the open entryway that looks straight through the house.  Sean's creative work has integrated new with old. His plans update the original house without erasing the past.

In February, my brother moved to Austin!!!  I am overjoyed to have him here.  Now, he, Rob, and I are together working as a team and watching the progress, walking by the house each day to see what's new.

A few weeks back, in a meeting with the city and through consultations with the engineer, our 1928 house was deemed structurally unsound.   The bad news: we would be taking down the entire house to rebuild.  The good news: we can reclaim the clapboard out of which the walls were framed and the new structure will go up more quickly. 

Last weekend was Easter weekend. Sean, Rob, and I went to Rob's family's ranch in Menard, TX to camp on Friday night and headed to his parents' lake house in Canyon Lake on Saturday and Sunday.  Before we left town, we watched the work begin again.  On Thursday, the roof began to come down.

When we returned, the clapboard walls were being reclaimed piece by piece.

By the end of the day on Monday...

Today, I rushed home from school.  All of the debris has been hauled off.  The toilet and bathtub, salvaged from the bathroom, and the shiplap and flooring have been safely stowed away in the builder's storage unit.

I wonder what I'll see when I come home tomorrow!!