With the old program, I was imagining the length of time that transpired between when it was lost in the house and when we discovered it. With the coin… I was awed at both the time and distance it must have traveled, before we encountered it.
On Sunday, Bob and Julie both came by the house and offered more of their time and assistance. While Julie and Liz worked on stripping the paint from the windows and doors… Bob and I focused on the concrete. I say Bob and I, but again… this was another task where I helped where I could, and mostly stood on the sidelines.
This is quite possibly my favorite image from the holidays.
Later in the evening, my parents came over and stopped off at (where else) a nearby Chinese restaurant for some take-out. The dining room table was covered with a lot of stuff, so we set up shop at the kids’ table. Is there anything more quintessentially American than Chinese food at Christmastime?
One great gift that the Fords got was a Karaoke set. Shortly after it was plugged in, all the kids began taking turns singing songs. As you can probably imagine, it was both awesome and incessant for the remainder of the day:
Early Saturday morning, Liz and I headed over to the Lincoln Park Conservatory to do a quick photo shoot. But today’s session was to be a little different – instead of it just being Liz, we were meeting up with Meg and Michelle (and Michelle’s husband, Mike).
Tonight, instead of working on the house, we focused on prepping our apartment. We still haven’t found new tenants, which is a good and bad thing: good in that we have someplace to stay that’s warm, while we work on the house; bad in that we’re double-paying for two locations, for the time being.
A delicious pumpkin pie (somewhere, underneath all that whipped cream).
Stripping paint has its dangers – the primary one being splinters that find their way through latex gloves. Here Liz is receiving some emergency surgery from Bob (aka Dr. Robuston Bean).
Last night Liz and I went to the house after work, and spent a few hours stripping paint from the trim. We were a little uncertain if we would try to keep all the wood, as some of it is original and some of it was kind of “throw in” after the fact. But on closer inspection, we think that a lot of the wood in our place is yellow pine – something that’s rare, and harder to find nowadays (I think).
I cannot emphasize how dirty and disgusting the attic was. Liz and Julie braved the upstairs using Tyvek suits and masks, but from what they reported – the floor was littered with mouse pee and poop. There was a ton of junk up in the attic, and the mice/squirrels just had a field day with it all.
While a nice homage to Thomas Edison, I found this display really creepy. Partly, the display celebrated his inventions… but it also felt like they were using Edison to shill for the products here in the building. I walked up to look at some of the items in closer detail, and had this unnerving feeling that Edison would turn to me, smile, and ask if I needed any help finding the “perfect blender.”
Liz, working on covering the dining room with a layer of primer. Though we still haven’t found anyone to take over our lease yet, we’re basically in prep mode – packing, getting things ready so that we can move out quickly, at a moment’s notice.
It’s official! After a little over 90 minutes of sitting at a table with two layers and signing papers… Liz and I are new homeowners! Officially, legally, for-real homeowners.
Overall, the exhibit was surprisingly small. But at nearly ever display, there were tons of folks crowded around (cameras and cellphones in hand), absolutely mesmerized. Calling these guys hypnotic is an understatement, and I found myself often transfixed in place – unwilling to move.