The definition of family

On my mom's side of the family, the definition of family has always stretched way beyond the links of genetics. We called my cousins' other grandparents Grandpa and Grandma, and we visited my uncle's sister's family in Topeka on our way out west one summer just like we stopped to see my mom's cousin in Denver and great-aunt in Kansas. I was thinking about this yesterday when we went to the 50th wedding anniversary celebration for Dan's aunt and uncle. As we walked into the hall - a little late because we had to print out his parents' boarding passes for their return trip and couldn't do that until 24 hours before their flight - I was amazed at how many people I recognized and knew to talk to, and only some of them were in any way actually related to Dan.


Because we lived near Dan's extended family while we were in college and now live back here again, we've been more involved in their lives than the rest of Dan's immediate family. And thanks to the precedent set during my childhood, I find it completely natural to be included in the lives of relatives of relatives. I'm especially glad that my kids have this opportunity as well, so maybe it will continue to be passed on. It has sparked interesting discussions about how people are related, and now when we don't know, we'll say "that's your 8th cousin 12th removed", which cracks up the kids.

About the photos:
TOP - Greyson and Dan's parents
MIDDLE - The dessert table, which held the attention of the kids even longer than Super Mario Brothers. It had three kids of streudel, rugelach, and a Cleveland cassata cake (sponge cake with a layer of fresh strawberries in a custard cream and topped with whipped cream).
BOTTOM - The other item of fascination for the kids - everyone got a box of four Malley's chocolates at their place as a favor, like at a wedding. Greyson wanted to know when we can go to the next wedding.

 

Still making progress

The days are just flying by here, so I'm taking a little time from my lesson planning to post pictures of the renovations as of today. We're in a holding pattern until Friday, when the HVAC person comes to put in the heating/cooling stack from the basement up to the 2nd floor bedroom. The kids have loved having a hole in the floor of the mudporch, where one can stand looking down at the other who is in the basement looking up. Reece even thought he could crawl down through the hole - luckily I caught him before any part of him got stuck.

The windows should be arriving Monday, and then the changes will be more dramatic again for a while. Everything will get trimmed, the siding will be finished, all the electrical can be connected and then the interior finishing can begin. I, of course, already know where I want to put everything the minute I get the OK. Except that we don't even have most of the items that are going into the new rooms, because where the heck would we put them while we wait?? Have I mentioned my bike is in the living room? We are also going to paint the rooms ourselves to save a little money, so who knows when that will happen. Might have to lure Nat and Tara over on false pretenses and then not let them leave until a wall is painted.

Garage door is almond color, and the cedar siding will be stained "mountain ash".

Inside the mudroom, looking out the back door and at the door going into the house (facing north, for those who have been here). There will be a window to the left of the outer door, and below that will be a space heater.

Facing the door into the garage from the mudroom. Being able to enter the house from the garage without getting wet might be the single most exciting part of this whole project.

In the 2nd floor addition, facing north. The door on the left is the existing one into the house from the previous open porch.

Another view inside the 2nd floor room. The master bath is on the other side of the window and will just be boarded over until we redo that bathroom. A fan is being installed in the bathroom since there won't be any other ventilation.

The closet in the 2nd floor room.

And the boys, hanging out in the basement surrounded by folded clean clothes. We fear the Nintendo DS was becoming permanently affixed to Reece's hands so have since instituted a "no Nintendo during the week" rule.

A moratorium on unsubstantiated forwards

Ooh, this is my 51st post! Might have to have a party when I hit 100. I wonder how virtual cake tastes?

So I'm using this post to put out a notice to anyone and everyone, even though this probably doesn't pertain to anyone who reads my blog...

ATTENTION!!! I am no longer accepting any forwarded emails that are not either verified by the sender to be true (snopes.com or another similar site will do) or have the ORIGINAL source/author included in the email. No more "my sister told me about this...", or "I was in Kroger/Lowes/etc. and saw...", and especially no more "If you believe in America/are patriotic/are Christian..." do such and such. And I'd really rather not receive any forwarded jokes, videos, or funny photos unless they are of someone I know. I currently have over 2700 messages in my inbox because I can't even keep up with organizing and deleting the ones I get that I want to read! And let's not get started on all the piles of papers that are sitting on any and every flat surface in our house that need my attention far more than anything virtual that isn't even taking up physical space.

Can you tell I'm feeling a bit frustrated and possibly overwhelmed? Mostly, it's just that I received yet another of these today and must have hit my forwarded emails tolerance threshold. Also, it's become more obvious that we have too much stuff, since it is now piled nearly to the ceiling in the basement and my bike is in the living room and we have no fewer than 6 recyclable grocery bags that I trip over constantly but never remember to take with me TO the grocery store. Oh, and I'm teaching a graduate level course for the first time ever and there were no notes or slides to go from, so I'm making all the lessons from scratch. For a topic that is not actually my strongest area of epidemiology. And I'm supposed to be getting all the rest of my work done and keep ahead of the bills and remember to buy the correct sized lightbulbs (I think we have 8 different lightbulb types in this house) and find pants that fit Greyson in both the waist and length and grocery shop for only "whole foods" that are from local sources and plan healthy, balanced meals and lunches that can be packed.  GAAAA!

OK, I feel much better now. On the plus side, the weather has been gorgeous, work is progressing nicely on the house, I'm actually saving money on groceries by mostly shopping at the farmer's market (and, seriously, the food tastes better), and Reece hasn't thrown a tantrum in probably 2 months. And what's really keeping me going is that Dan and I are going to Hawaii in October. I can safely say that here because 1) I'm not saying WHEN in October, and 2) my mom will be here with the boys to both supervise the construction and beat off anyone who tries to steal anything. Nobody messes with Mom.

Thank you for your time - I promise the 52nd post will include many pictures and many fewer words.

Back with pictures

Where were we? Oh, yes, I was silly enough to do some cleaning and then couldn't find the connection cord. Turns out, all it took was me saying to Dan, "I had it here and was putting it in a safe place..." and then I turned and saw it!

So here is where we were on the 31st:

 

And then on the 3rd:

And as of today:

 

I think they'll be putting the doors on tomorrow so that we can discourage little critters from entering the mudroom area. We haven't picked out a garage door yet, but I'd like to have one with windows. Anyone have any experience with those and care to share wisdom?

In other news, Greyson told me yesterday that he got to hear President Obama's speech at school. I asked him what the president said, and his reply was "He said even though we have parents and teachers around to help us, it is our responsibility to work hard and do what we need to do and he would do what he needed to as president." I didn't get to hear the speech, but it sounds like the message was received by at least one schoolchild.

Reece has been saying recently that he doesn't like school. Further questioning leads me to believe that he's just readjusting to having lost most of his closest friends to kindergarten and having new friends in the classroom. He went from being one of the youngest to one of the oldest in less than a month, and I think that has thrown him as well. Even when we're with family or friends and their kids, Reece tends to be the youngest or almost the youngest, so he's definitely not used to being one of the "big kids".

Quick update without pictures

Yes, things are progressing on the house, but I have managed to misplace the cord that connects my camera to my computer, so I can't download the pictures. You see, we cleaned recently and now I can't find things. You'll just have to visualize it until I unearth the cord or find some other way to get the pictures copied over (concentrating really hard on the camera doesn't seem to be working).

Both the first and second floors of the addition are framed and roofed, but there are no doors or windows yet. Also, the sides of the garage are framed, but it is open at the top. Dan already parked his car in there, supposedly to make sure it would fit, but really just because he could, I think. The trusses for the garage are coming on Tuesday, so the roof for that will go on then. The electrician is also supposed to start next week. Unfortunately, the windows are delayed two weeks, so things might not be moving at as fast a clip as they have been up until now. Oh, and I have to write another large check, but the bank that gave us the HELOC only sent credit cards, so I had to specifically request checks that will arrive in "7-10 business days". I guess they thought we'd be able to buy everything we needed at Lowes or IKEA and just build it ourselves. Clearly they have not met us.