Kitchen didnt stand a chance!

And pooof! The kitchen is gone.... OK, not poof, but the cabinets came down pretty much as easily as I had hoped. Again, Claire was pivotal to this process. I asked her if she wanted to "coax" the beadboard off the wall. She talked to it gently for a few seconds. No luck with that so she tried a hammer and wonder pry bar with much better results. This demolition is surprisingly fun and satisfying. I have the kitchen designers computer drawing stuck on the wall ..... just keeping my eyes on the prize.

Tear down a WALL!

"Tear down a wall" is on my blog list. Now, while demolishing a bathroom and kitchen isn't exactly what I had in mind, I'm gonna check this one off. See the photos and I think you may agree. The photo on the left is the "before". The one to the right is how it looks now. I found removing kitchen cabinets significantly easier and less painful than removing bathroom tile. I keep hitting my hand with a hammer trying to chip that tile off the wall. Dang!! Claire, could NOT have done this without you.

Soon to be dream house....

There she is. A 1925 English Tudor Revival. I closed last week. I have already worked with a number of new folks. Closing agent, 2 restoration architects, home inspector, kitchen designer, bathroom tile wizard. The architect of choice, Bob Baumbach, got out of his car and said, "Jan, you scored!". Lovely little house. I can't wait to move in. But first, I need to get the kitchen re-done. First drawn plan will be done for me to look at this week. Bathroom, hardwoods definitely need a re-do. I found some vintage light fixtures online to replace the updated ones the previous owners had installed. As luck would have it, I found the original living room light fixtures in a box in the garage so I cancelled the ones I had ordered. The chandelier looks a little dungeonesque for me, but I want to put the wall sconces up. Now that the snow has melted I can see what I actually bought. :-) It is a good solid little cottage by all accounts. We are getting to know each other now.

Dream House

I have been searching for a house that I love for 7 or 8 years. I'd look at home listings online a few times a year and have gone to see 13 houses over those years. I put "Find my dream home" on my birthday blog list last year. In the winter of 2010 I had put that search officially on hold. I wasn't finding what I wanted so I planned to give it a rest. After I learned that another important person in my life is following his dreams by moving to New York City I started to get how really important my home is to me. I do not have a dream of moving to a different city. That nudged me back into my home search. I expanded my search area, and got more clear on my 'must haves' and my deal breakers. Today a seller and I came to agree upon the right price and I have a house under contract. After living 17 years in a house that is 'fine' for us, but that I have never loved, I am moving. WHOA! I am excited and occasionally just a little overwhelmed. I did my homework and used the opinions and expertise of a few people I trust before I moved forward. The house inspection and closing are yet to happen, so I will reserve more details for later. I'll get back to you on the rest. It's a great house. And I am really happy.

UPDATE: inspection complete, now looking at getting the sellers to fix a few details before we close next month.

COEXISTING- money where my bumper sticker is.

I have a "COEXIST" bumper sticker on my car and I have "raising money" on my birthday blog list of stuff I have done. I have a new opportunity to foster coexistence in the world AND another opportunity to raise more money. Whoop! Ever heard of the Initiative for Transgender Leadership? There is a good chance you have not. It is a pretty new thing going on here in Pittsburgh and it is created and lead by 3 awesome and powerful people who are up to big things. Ray Sorock is a transgender youth who has been awarded a fellowship to partner with an organization here in Pittsburgh, namely the Regional Internship Center, to create an impactful project of his design. The fellowship includes getting paid to complete the project. That is where fund raising comes in. I have made several donations to the Initiative and I invite you to check it out and do the same. There is a current fundraising challenge called 100 X $100. One hundred people or groups raising 100 dollars each will make a significant impact in support of this project. See the link to the blog for more information about this initiative.

What are you up to in life? Do you believe in encouraging coexistence in the world? To me that means working on accepting that there are countless cultures in the world different from my own that are a major contribution to the world we live in. Check out the blog and see what you think.

http://transyouthleaders.blogspot.com/

Make an "Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"

I didn't know I wanted to make this coat. Six months ago this was not on my radar. I agreed to be lead costume designer for this show. Once I took that on, I knew I would take on making this coat. Being in this role has been one of the most artistically satisfying things I have ever done. Once the vision in my head was there, the costume pieces started coming together, with the help of over 20 people. I gave away a lot of work to very talented and generous sewers. But I saved the coat for me. That was my prize for all the other work I was doing. It is extremely gratifying to see what was only in my head, end up on stage and looking quite beautiful. I had contributions from many people that ended up as the final look of the show. Thank you to all of those people.

aimless wandering

UPDATE: JUNE 2012 - Mission accomplished.  Something changed and it became appealing to my kids to do this.  Lauren and I got in the car one Thursday morning and drove.  While we didn't know where we were going, our goal was to get out of town; get to someplace we didn't recognize.  That took us to Trax Farm in Finleyville (I'd been, Lauren had not) Charleroi (sorry, but I think once was enough) Monongehela, and Uniontown - nice places, Coopers Rock in West Virginia, and finally, Frostville, Maryland then back home.  It was fun and we had a really good time.  Part of the fun was just spending a lot of time with each other. The pictures: The gazebo in the middle of town in Monongehela and the drive through Coopers Rock Park.

  On my blog list is, "Take a trip somewhere with no idea where I am going". I tried that a few weeks ago with my girls. They didn't seem too keen on having no known destination. I found myself looking up and planning some possible places to go. We also had to plan the date ahead of time considering all of our schedules. That turned out to be what I would call a "fail" on that item so I am not going to check that one off yet. We did have a great day out though. We went to Ligonier. Did a little bit of store hopping. Had some really fine gelato. I gave Lauren the choice of "art museum or Fort Ligonier". She chose the Fort and we had a really good tour through the place. On the way home we stopped at Monster Mini Golf. Ever do that? It is indoor mini golf with, well, monsters. They don't play golf. They just decorate the place along with black lights, fun music and well-planned graffiti. It was fun. Since that day I have found myself driving along and taking self-imposed detours on unfamiliar roads and finding my way home eventually. I find I like doing that. Then I had a look at my life and wondered how my life as whole is, or is not, a trip with a planned vs. unplanned destination. I'm still pondering that one.