Myriam's Kitchen

First things first. Myriam gave me the crud as she was recovering. I however, recovered in one day. A double shot of NyQuil chased by a little tea with honey and rum, capped off with about 9 blankets and an equal number or layered clothes a good night sleep and back to business.

Anyway her kitchen. I cannot believe she left this off. I am going to try and get a photo or screen print from Glen to show the kitchen. In a nut shell it will be
20 x 20
11 ft. island we are debating whether or not to reduce the island from 11 ft. to 9 ft.
17 drawers, (at last count) 18 cabinets, 3 sinks, 1 ins-ta-hot water boiler, 1 custom built hood
1 pot filler

(I had no idea what a pot filler was; I always assumed it was the hired help in the back room who flushed the pot and baggies down the toilet and jumped out the window when the cops came) but incredible there can be a pot filler in a kitchen to. it sits above your stove and allows you to fill our COOKING POTS with water and not have to move them to the stove when they are full. Can you believe it just because e get older and our muscles begin to degenerate they have found yet aother must have. I figure I will have to save about 22,000 trips with a full pot of hot or cold water to save the cost of a pot filler. It makes me want to jump out the window when the general contractor shows up!!

and lets not forget
34 ft. of counter space. yes 34 feet. folks that is four feet longer than a bowling alley....and with it being 20 ft x 20 ft. I am thinking no gutter balls.

Raising the Roof

So, I have been under the weather lately- I had that terrible flu/crud thing that is going around- you know the one that makes you feel like dying. I am happy to report that I am on the mend and doing much better. Anyway- hence the reason for not blogging in a while about the house.

So, the house- it currently has a giant hole in it, with no roof, and the entire back wall is gone. It is kinda funny, because from the front of the house you really can't tell much of anything going on, other than it is really messy. But once you walk in- uh- there is no assemblance of any kind of order. The demolition part has been really hard for me. It's kinda like with your newborn, no really tells you how hard it is those first few days/weeks/months! It is really hard to see your home being torn apart- especially with no sight of anything getting better. However, today I learned that we are almost 25% complete! Although it does not seem like ANYTHING is anywhere near "completion", apparently it is! So that is a good feeling I guess.

So far we are on schedule- so that's nice. I guess there really isn't more to say- the pictures are worth more than any words I can put to them! Enjoy!!

A room with a view ( view from our "loft")


Michael is putting together a slide show of before and after pictures. The before pictures are sad for me, because I will never have that again and I already miss my house, my kitchen etc. I know the "new house" will have nice things, but I have no memories with that yet, so for now, I will just miss my old house and look forward to my new house!

Beverly Hills 90210

A few weeks ago I went to CA for a weekend with some college girlfriends. We had such a great time and it was truly so much fun to spend the weekend with some great girlfriends and reconnecting. Some of us had not seen each other since college- and it felt like no time at all had passed at all! We stayed in some swanky hotel in Hollywood, shopped, ate, talked, stayed up way too late, reminisced to our hearts content, laughed so hard my stomach still hurts and cried! Thanks girls for such a great time!!

We also went to our Alma mater- TMC. So here's the thing- Sweayze dorm looks much the same as when we were there! And we felt like we still look that young!! Seriously- we did- we know we don't, but it was weird to picture ourselves at TMC, walking around like we were just there!!

Thanks ladies- I can't wait for 2010!!

I have to post this picture- I know the girls will appreciate it- and of course there is a story. This is Sprinkles- Rhonda insisted that we go here and have cupcakes. So, after Carla and Fran diligently got us there- (thanks ladies- you two are the best navigators ), we stood in line, outside, for about 30 minutes- for CUPCAKES!!! They were tasty though- you were right Rhonda!! We cracked up at the sign being so small, and apparently they are huge in Beverly Hills!!

Courtney and Heather were great at spotting LOTS of stars- I think I would have only recognized Oprah or Dr. Phil- it has to be super obvious for me!! I think we should take the red, double decker star sighting tour bus next time!!

Out of Time Out of Patience and out of Money

OK the last couple of weeks has been absolutely crazy. Michael his dad, brother Bruce, brother in-law Dave and Nephew Joe attacked the house we vengeance last week emptying rooms pulling up carpet and pads and finally ripping out Sheetrock...lots of Sheetrock. We literally removed two tons of material from the house, so says contractor Glen who keeps track of such things.

The concrete foundation and stem walls are in and have past inspection. Next came the patio slab and sidewalk. The contractors have also filled in the 16 inch deep ruts in ours and our neighbors yard. Next we paid for the infamous wort case scenario drain. More money to be spent at a later date.

OK enough of the remodel. the family is officially out of the house. The kids moved out about 10 days ago. Michael moved out last Friday and Myriam came home from her California college reunion of six to ten close friends and landed in the RV early Monday morning. So far it is OK. Only had to go 4 days without hot water and the kids only had to retreat once to the RV to give Nana and Opa some space. You have to give the Burgstahlers credit all this time with just the two of them and overnight five people moved in and disrupted the balance of the universe.

Nolan is dealing with the concept of TV without TIVO, "How come we have to watch commercials" How come I can't fast forward, there's nothing on TV. Michael will be hooking up the Wii today or tomorrow so he will be able to escape reality soon enough.

Sophie will not go over to the house. Not sure what she thinks about the whole thing, bit it's evident she is not comfortable there anymore.

Chase is good as long as wherever he is he has his trucks and dirt. He loves going over to the house to knock holes in the walls surprise surprise.

Myriam just got back from a weekend trip to California to visit with her college girlfriends. and Michael just dodged a two month assignment in Mississippi then another in Renton. Had he been assigned to the new engine plant it most likely would have been until late May and who knows about assignment extensions.

I have posted some photos and will probably post a collage later.

Afterthought

Michael said I ranted in my last post. I told him it was quit therapeutic for me....... clearly I need more therapy!

My thought this morning is this: When I go to the store, I have a choice to buy a name brand item or the store brand. In most cases the name brand is going to cost more. I tend to be pretty frugal. I see this drainage system the same way. Both drainage systems - the "french drain" versus the elaborate drain, will provide the same result. It still doesn't make sense to me why we have to have this elaborate drainage system, just in case of the worst case scenario- which is what?? We have had plenty of rain this year and in years past, and again, we have no water under our house. The elaborate drainage system will also result in having a 2 1/2 foot manhole in my backyard. Now that sounds safe with children around doesn't it?

So I have to believe that the inspector always buys name brand things and thereby expects me to do the same thing.

Our first inspection

I have been told numerous times that this is a stressful process... its true- it is. Today was not such a good day. I find this blog to be therapeutic at times and "another thing to do" at other times. Today, it is therapeutic.

Yesterday we had the inspector guy come over and although he liked the stem wall, he mentioned that he thought we needed a drainage system in our backyard. Glenn thought this would run us about an extra $1000 based on the type of drainage he would put in. Apparently the inspector dude needed to talk to his boss- and today the result is that we need some kind of really fancy drain with all this elaborate manusha to the tune of $4500. Okay, fine. But here is my issue with this- bear with me: First of all, we have had lots of dirt removed from the underneath part of our house- and there was NO WATER there. We live on the high side of the street (I know this probably has little to do with anything, but for some reason it makes sense in my mind that we are not prone to having water fill up our yard). Our house is 10 years old and this drainage thing was not required then, so why is it now? All of this together, to me does not warrant this elaborate drain system the city wants. According to the inspector guy, he wants this particular type of drainage system "for the worst case scenario". Um okay- that makes a ton of sense- Mr. I work for the city and my job is to make as much money as I can for job security. Really, there is no reason for this drainage system that makes any kind of sense to me. Then to top it all off- we are stuck with this inspector throughout this process..... and there is only one other guy who works this area and they conveniently share an office. Nice.

When we delicately questioned why this type of elaborate drainage system- (that you bet your bottom dollar I will be showing off to anyone who will listen) rather than the other system, that would probably work for the second most worst case scenario as opposed to the WORST case scenario, the inspector answered that we could question him once, then call his boss, then he would shut our job site down and require a city engineer to do land surveys and also require soil samples which is $6300 and in the end we would still have to do what HE is saying, so really he is saving us time and $6K....... okay. I am left with everyone wants more money and they have us where they can do that. I hope that I can change my attitude on this, otherwise it is going to be a very long 4 months.

Hopefully the inspector hasn't found my blog, but once I am done with him, I am gonna send him a letter- maybe I will send in an editorial to the local paper. To bad his isn't an elected position- I would stand in front of his office just to make a point that I don't' think the city is very fair. The fact that he isn't even willing to listen or negotiate the type of drainage system tells me we have a flawed system.

So, its been a bad day...... mostly because its the culmination of it all. We are barely two weeks into this, my house is a complete mess, I have 15 yards of dirt in my back yard that is slowly making its way into my house, and everyone wants more money. Now let me say this, we have paid ALOT of money for this project so far, and so far it stinks. There is nothing worse than being this far into it knowing that the city can completly back you into a corner for apparently no good reason.

I am going to go eat chocolate chip mint ice cream now.

Digging, Mounds, Demo, and our first Inspection

Things are moving rapidly..... here's an update, I will leave the photos to Michael, since I just cannot figure that out!

So, last week they began digging out the area for the new foundation and then they put in the stem walls (those create the foundation, so says Michael). The other morning I was getting the kids ready and right around 8am the jackhammer started going! It was loud!! I didn't really have a warning about this, but it was a gentle reminder that there is no turning back!

I know I go back and forth on the stress level thing, which I think is to be expected. Today we had our first inspection of the stem walls. I was a bit surprised that this would happen so early, but then again, there are alot of checks and balances through this process. Today was just such a day. We were not expected to be here, so Glenn waited here for the inspector. I guess it all went well, with the exception that we need to dig a trench for water flow........ and of course there are dollars attached to that. Nice. See, that's where the stress comes in.

Do the math;

How much dirt do you get

when you dig a hole 30ft long

8ft wide and about 5ft deep.

Answer: MORE THAN I CARE TO THINK ABOUT!!

We have mounds of dirt in our backyard and are trying to get rid of it. If you know anyone who needs some fill dirt, have them contact me- we have a ton!! I actually listed it on Craig's list- which I have been doing alot of lately- I actually sold my kitchen- isn't that funny! I sold my entire kitchen, cabinets sink and all- cool. Anyway, I digress....

We have started the inside demolition process. Michael will post some pictures of graffiti throughout our house. Michael also says that the house looks like a transient crack house that has been shut down...... not that he has any experience with this, just what he has gleaned from watching MSNB Investigates with me! Seriously though the house is a mess- another stressful part. The kids are moving out this weekend.....my mom said she would take them- that was kind of her! It is amazing how quickly a house can be torn apart. We also got our SAM today- Store And Move container. So, we are systematically moving out and starting the demolition project.

Tomorrow they will be pouring the cement for the foundation. I gotta tell you- Chase is LIVING for tomorrow. Chase LOVES trucks- he is all boy- in fact he has about three large trucks that go with him everywhere- they are large- one is so large, he can actually sit in. But it makes him happy, so most days the large trucks go back and forth between our house and my moms with him. Anyway, he knows we are getting cement and that cement comes in a BIG truck. Every time he sees a cement truck, he asks if it is coming to our house. So far, the answer has been no.... but tomorrow the answer will be YES!!! He will be ecstatic I am sure!! We'll post some pictures of him for you!

I will let Michael post some pictures, I think I covered it all....... it is hard to remember to capture everything that can happen in our lives during one days time!