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20768. arkymalarky - 12/28/2006 6:50:23 PM I can't imagine how emotional the tearing down must have been with so many family and childhood memories there, Thoughtful.
I hope you will share all the processes, decisions, etc, of your house building with us--and pictures! I had not long finished my house when I began posting in the Fray. It is on Bob's family place, though not nearly so old, but we did replace their little family house. I've mentioned it before, but a former student of mine bought it for his dad who'd had a stroke and is confined to a wheelchair. I drive by it on the way to Bob's mom's house on pretty days and see him in his wheelchair on the porch his son built for him, happy as a clam.
WRT wood, it's awful here and termites are a problem, yet we've (meaning Arkies in general, not Bob and me) still managed to do a lot with old wood. I know you'll get great advice and help. This homeplace has been one since the late 1800s, which is a lot younger, but humidity is hard on houses here. Even so, when Bob's parents built they tore down someone else's old house that was on the spot and used the HUGE planks for barn shelves, and we still have them. One of the Methodist churches in town also made use of its beautiful old interior wood and pews to make a small chapel that looked like the inside of the old church. It's where Bob and I got married, and it's great. I have friends who've used old homeplace and barnwood (and church wood) to make an interior wall accent, wall a room, or even make furniture. A woodworker would probably have lots of great suggestions, and to me that was the most fun part of building a house--all the suggestions, ideas, etc, that are everywhere.
A dear friend of mine was building her house when I was (two of mine would fit inside it), and we shopped together, shared ideas and tips we had discovered or received, etc, but it's a lot more fun looking back on it than it was at the time. If I had it to do again I'd enjoy it more, but we were in a time crunch due to the loan requirements and other unfortunate and unavoidable circumstances at the beginning that ate up valuable time. But since then I haven't even changed paint colors, I'm still so satisfied with what we did. At the moment it's unfortunately suffering from benign neglect, but I'll remedy that this summer. 20769. arkymalarky - 12/28/2006 6:56:29 PM Ah, the public humiliation dreams. Bob used to have those. I've had the ones like Thoughtful where I can't find a decent bathroom in public places.
If there is any way you could show us that painting Wabbit, it sounds fascinating.
I've been staying up until 2-3 am working, which is just how I do. When I was frantically working to save rural schools I did the same thing and would go to work almost every day on about 3-4 hours of sleep. Now I'm sleeping late, but people call me in the morning, so I know I'm having dreams, I can remember having them, but don't recall them when I wake up.
When Bob worked nights and Mose was a baby and I was "way out here" alone, I had nightly nightmares about people trying to get in, not being able to dial the phone, etc, and I'd wake up terrified about 1 or 2 am almost every night, and rarely was able to go back to sleep. 20770. arkymalarky - 12/28/2006 7:11:03 PM I'm anxious to play around with our music and I simply can't before spring break at least. We bought a turntable and I used Audacity to digitalize part of a record, but I haven't had time to figure out how it all works and tweak the sound, etc. 20771. PelleNilsson - 12/28/2006 9:19:50 PM thoughtful,
I hope you made sure that the beams don't rest directly on the ground. I would recommend some kind of supports that give, say 2", for ventilation, Don't let the tarp cover up the ventilation space and remove it altogether when there is no more risk for snow. Seasoned wood is not susceptible to rain, but keeping it covered for a long time will expose it to mould. 20772. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 12/28/2006 11:09:25 PM Pelle knows his stuff––what he said tful. 20773. thoughtful - 12/29/2006 4:24:35 AM Thanks for the suggestion...we did put it on boards first before it was stacked and it is loosely stacked with air spaces in between. We will tarp it but hopefully, not for long...I want this house project over with already! 20774. thoughtful - 12/29/2006 4:28:31 AM Arky, when I was going to school nights while working full time, I kept telling myself that sleep was overrated. Not sure I ever fully bought it, but it helped get me through those excessively long days and nights....maybe it'll help you too. 20775. arkymalarky - 12/29/2006 8:35:30 AM Thanks! For my part, I'm way hyped up right now but it's about over, barring insomnia issues, which I've never had much problem with. Once I get this project turned in on Jan 8 things will slow down dramatically, though I'll still be fairly busy until around spring break. And after one summer class, I'm done. When I was doing all that rural ed work, my main concern was falling asleep on my rural 30 minute commute, but I only came close one time after being up the entire night before.
In going back to school I had to drop some things that I won't pick back up, with all the work on the state level I was doing wrt rural ed. I tried to do both at first (under pressure from state and national advocates I was working with/for) and bombed an ed law test that I didn't get to study for, after a huge out-of-town meeting (I'd have a 4.00 if it weren't for that--it dropped my A to a B). So I relearned how to say "no" and lived with some people being disappointed--most have been fantastic, though. I dropped playing any leadership role and will only write, research (what I choose, with no demands or timelines) and maintain our website (along with fun political and event stuff of my choosing), unless I retire from teaching. I'm in my niche with the advocacy work and have a much better perspective now, and that's where I'm staying, though I'm still totally committed to the issue and still work on it a lot--just not frantically and non-stop. By summer, my life should be like it was when I began posting in the Fray (12 years ago?), which is a very good thing. I have a long list of books I want to read, stuff I want to get into, etc.
I don't think I could survive working and full time school. I'm in awe of people who manage it. Nine hours was too many for me this fall, but it was just a one-semester thing. I just can't take the stress levels any more, and my personal relationships suffer too much. I should have done this a long time ago, but Bob went back to school when Mose was a toddler and then we built our house, and one thing and another, and before I knew it, it was "now or never" if I was going to have any control over the rest of my career and my retirement options. 20776. Magoseph - 12/29/2006 10:28:09 AM Dear Moties,
What are the more important tasks you want to accomplish in 2007 that will affect the rest of your life? 20777. Magoseph - 12/29/2006 11:36:13 AM Excuse me, I meant to say: What are the most important tasks you want to accomplish in 2007 that will affect the rest of your life? 20778. Magoseph - 12/29/2006 11:41:04 AM A year from today I will have reconditioned my skeleton to the point of having strong muscles supporting my frame. I am making this resolution because the brutal orthopedist told Flexy that I am a candidate for the wheelchair if I continue to neglect myself for his benefit (never mind that a bad posture, a shorter left leg, and wearing high heels are the main reasons for my back problem)--the man made his point with both of us.
Furthermore, I will see that Flexy has a year free of mishaps such as he had since last January. I will try not to obsess about basement, attic, and old garage versus even older garage-guest room, just because I hate to spend money and time getting them emptied. I will have one garage torn down, the other converted to its original purpose and I will sell the old furniture, even if it breaks my heart.
Your turns, Moties, if you please!
20779. arkymalarky - 12/29/2006 6:45:58 PM I guess "survival" would be too short a version. I'm fully in short-term mode for another week. Actually, though, after I wrap up what I'm on now, my New Year's goal is to do whatever I want for a while, and I haven't decided what that is yet. It's also subject to change from one minute to the next. Home improvements won't be on this year's lists, for sure (even though we just ripped up half the carpet in our bedroom due to a dehumidifier leak we didn't discover until FAR too late). Health habits/diet might, but I'm not committing to it. I do know it all will begin on my spring break (when all the most intense work should be well behind me both at work and in school) with a trip to Judith's house. She may have to shove me out the door when I need to head back home. ;-) 20780. judithathome - 12/29/2006 7:31:28 PM Naw, I'm going to make you stay a bit longer...
I can't think of much I plan to accomplish in the coming year except for maintaining my exercise and swimming program.
However, if you'd asked me last night, I'd have said getting over this pseudo-pneumonia enough to live til New Year's. I thought I was headed for the ER last night...coughing was out of control and I thought I'd broken a rib from it. Somewhat better today but I'm not shaking this thing like I thought I would. 20781. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 12/29/2006 7:43:40 PM I want to root, once again, for all the beautiful women here . . . and help drive Bush off the wagon.
Happy New Year to all Moties!
 20782. arkymalarky - 12/30/2006 3:00:29 AM Oh, and Judith, we saw our hay-baling friend at the grocery store, and she said the reason she didn't show up this summer was because she's had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. She said she still doesn't feel well, but she's feeding cows by herself again. Her husband bought her a Prius for her birthday and we were looking at it in the parking . It's a really great looking car. I don't think I'd seen one really close up before.
And I'm trying to talk my dad out of getting an SUV. No luck so far. He thinks that just because he's 75 years old he can get whatever he wants. Thankfully he didn't pass down his stubborn streak to Bro and me. ;-) 20783. arkymalarky - 12/30/2006 3:01:49 AM Happy New Year to you, Wiz! Your posts and pictures and Bushimations have really added to my frequent net breaks from school this fall!
And Judith, I hope you shake that stuff. It's really supposed to be bad weather here tomorrow. Is it there yet? 20784. judithathome - 12/30/2006 7:22:20 PM Yes, if you mean last night....late in the afternoon I was awakened from a cold meds induced stupor by the tornado warning alarm blasting all over town...scared the shit out of me. I finally turned the TV on and saw this horrible weather going on all around us...it missed my side of town but was headed straight for you.
Last night they showed mid 50s and sunshine predicted for the day of my party...I hope they're right. And that I live long enough to enjoy it...ha! 20785. arkymalarky - 12/30/2006 10:13:00 PM I'll be with you in heart if not in body. And I have one bottle of the wine y'all brought this summer. I'm saving it not for NYE, but for when I get this project done. It would be nice if those two events coincided, but I don't think they will. I do think I'm going to be much closer to done than I thought I would be when I started, though.
The weather didn't do much here. A little lightning and wind late last night. I guess it had dumped all its energy on Texas first. 20786. thoughtful - 12/30/2006 10:48:29 PM Arky, Staying awake during long commutes...ah yes, I remember those nights well. I had about a 30-45 min drive home depending on traffic. Fortunately I found a local FM station that had a call-in talk show on each night on my drive home (near about 11 pm which is late enough considering I had to get up at 5 am for work the next day) that featured a sex therapist who was not the least bit shy about answering questions, a deejay who was not the least bit shy about making jokes about sex and callers who were not the least bit shy about sharing intimacies. No way could I fall asleep on the way home!
I must say, I learned a few things, perhaps the most useful of which is how to pee standing up! 20787. thoughtful - 12/30/2006 10:49:55 PM Mags, that's an easy one for the thoughtful's....we hope to complete and move into our new home by 2007!
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