It only took six months...and 1 day and $33.18 but we finally got a mirror in the bathroom.
I've been doing my face in a hand mirror hanging off the latch on the cabinet door. In our only bathroom. A bathroom with no threshold, no door trim, chunks of plaster on the floor and a fan that sounds like an airplane landing overhead. I get ready each morning in this 4' x 5' tile palace while someone else showers and a little someone else peaks in because that's where everyone is and isn't this fun?!
The next time Paulie says he'll do some thing when he can afford it, I'm going to clarify what "afford" means!
Me:"Did you enjoy your alone time today?"
Paulie, gesturing down enthusiastically :"I did! Did you see my floors?!?!"
Viv, with her pants off and a scarf on her head, carrying Papas belt, singing:
"Jingle bells, jingle bells..."
Papa: "Viv, that's my belt."
"Jingle belt, jingle belt...."
Before: nice retro globe, but out of place. After: Arroyo Craftsman handmade copper Craiglist find!
Paul finally had the chance to work on the house as planned today! His big renovation plans for his two weeks off (holidays and unused vacation days) were sidelined by a packed holiday party schedule and feverishly sick child.
Sicky-poo Viv finally rallied enough for daycare today; Paulie wasted no time. Three light fixtures have been replaced, curtain rods hung, and more, all in one day. It seems he is so much more productive when the kid is not around. Ditto me.
Following family tradition, Viv has developed a cold and fever on Christmas Eve. Nothing serious, just enough to dampen her spirits a bit. On second thought, maybe a fever-mellowed toddler is a Christmas blessing!
Viv : "I'm unhappy."
Me: "Why are you unhappy?"
Viv: "I want chocolate milk."
Paulie, pouring: "Is it supposed to be lumpy?"
Uh oh.
Kate: "I have an idea, let's get away for a weekend to a nice hotel just the two of us. We don't have to go far, just a nice hotel so we can have a little relaxation alone together".
Paul: "That's a great idea , it would be so nice to just sit and watch some tv".
So much for Viv's special birthday dress...she left for daycare all dolled up and returned as the true ragamuffin she is. She's two!
I do most of my parenting, feel most like a "mom" in the early morning hours before she is awake. Packing her lunch, making her bottles, laying out her outfits with matching socks is how I start the day.
Hazy mornings in a quiet house with coffee cup and formula can. Doing my quick-step, coordinated feed-the-dog-put-the-dishes-away-write-a-note-to-daycare-pack-my-work bag-empty-the-garbage dance in the cramped kitchen...that will be what I remember. She can't see me doing it, doesn't know the thought put into little containers of fresh veg and homemade pasta, has no idea how important the daycare bag pacifier double check is. She's sound asleep, all curly-headed, sweaty, puffy-cheeked baby in her toddler bed.
It's the best time of day.
Paulie: "You know that there are at least a dozen full grown women in Wisconsin wearing that exact same outfit today. In the same size!"
Today's thoughtful text from loving husband:
"Got the smell out"
Here we are having a little rest tonight after working non-stop on the house for three days. Viv likes to play on the slide in the front yard while I check on my flowers and bird feeder. Each marathon weekend like this ends in sore muscles, empty bank accounts and a bit more affection for the house.
Let me explain Paulie's bathtub-in-the-hallway selfie: We both hate Clawfoot tubs, it's one of the connections that bonded us deeply in our early romance. They are old, uncomfortable, impossible to keep clean and worst of all, they were originally made to be hog scalds. I can never unlearn that little factoid. Add to that the expense of adding a complicated customized shower on it (nearly equal to just replacing it completely) and that tub is out the window. Or down the stairs as it where.
Thirty minutes after listing it on Craigslist as "you get it out, it's yours for free" this morning, I had twenty emails! It was gone by noon; carried quickly down the stairs by a pair of burly brothers.
Now, of course, we have created a typical Kenmore problem....the place it vacated is now screaming for a large, luxurious and spectacularly expensive tiled shower enclosure.
It's a shame the wiring to this this lovely switch may have caused a small fire years ago. I've wondered what it was, but it was unidentifiable under seven layers of paint and failed to turn anything on or off. Turns out it was disconnected at some point. Inside the wall Paulie found charred boards and sections of lath and plaster blistered and blackened. The switch polished up nicely (that bottom red button is a nightlight, bulb filament still intact!), but it will have to go on the display shelf instead of back in the wall.
We will be getting the Tin Can Cottage ready for use soon. The benches and cushions are ready, the station wagon is full of supplies.The winter was long and cruel, but somehow I'm still not ready for spring yet...my trailer "to do" lists are too long.
I'm looking forward to it, but I have reservations this season...it still needs so much work, and we never seem to do anything but work. I want to keep the projects to a reasonable level this summer so we can get some rest and enjoy this time with Viv, not to mention each other.
I'm also nervous about the logistics of Toddlerhood at the trailer. I fear frustration will set in if we try to accomplish even the simplest of projects with Viv in tow. She won't sit nicely in a bucket while we paint or scrub aluminum or repair plumbing...this year, she will be right in the mess.
If it weren't for Dad and Molly, the biggest improvement in the trailer this year would never have happened --new dining benches (and subsequent bed). Thank goodness for all the help, we need it!
The Rossettos are an easy group to please. I have never known people so happy to recieve socks as gifts. They enjoy them so much that I wasn't the only one giving them--Lisa gave everyone cashmere socks!
I wasn't there for the Turtleneck or Underwear years, but I can imagine they were just as fun. The dress Gina made for Viv is gorgeous, and though it is a bit big on little CiCi, she looked like a doll. It reminded me of the dresses mom made for us, and of the classic velvet ones from Saks in the 80's.
Mom is the easiest and most welcome house guest---no complaints about only one working shower, plaster falling off the bathroom walls or trying to cook a holiday meal in our crumbling, disjointed mess of a kitchen. And she sure can carve up a roasted chicken!
Viv is both the most pleasant of all and the most difficult. The box of puppies was a huge hit, but she was so keyed up from all the socializing (and chocolate) that most of last night was spent wrestling her to sleep.
Monday was Moms surprise belated birthday night out, Tuesday was Christmas Eve at Kenmore, after we dropped off mom at the airport yesterday it was all day with the Rossettos (from church to chocolate it's a whole day affair), Saturday is the Rossetto Boat House party, Sunday is Dads day here....
...today it is just me, Paul and Viv and our new cozy robes. Today, we are taking it easy...
Brunch at Hubbard Park Lodge, tree on top of the station wagon, lights up, chowder in the crock pot, hot chocolate...all we need now is Love Actually. Sit down and shush hubby, it's going to happen and you're going to sit here and watch it with me. You got the Packer Game, I get this!
I've been giving Paulie a hard time about last years Laminated Wall Map Christmas present, and of course ramped up the teasing in the last few weeks as the holiday approaches again.
This morning I see 7 more packages set out for me! That's a total of nine now. Wrapped! In two kinds of paper! Yes, and an envelope that says "To my beautiful wife"!
I am screwed.
Its a celebratory week here at Kenmore Place---Paulie's birthday on Saturday, Viv's fist birthday on Monday! We are having a little get together at the cousins restaurant to celebrate. A little coffee, a little cake, a lot of talking. Just what baby Viv enjoys.
Everyone says it goes so fast. It does. At first it is painfully slow, and then you're over the top of the roller coaster climb and woooosh! Down you go gaining speed with every moment, every change, every day.
Out of nowhere, as he wrestles baby into a complicated onsie/dress combo, hubby exclaims loudly "Man, do I understand now why women are the way they are!"
He went on to expound the tortures of every item being a different style, with different fasteners in different locations each time and everything either stretchy or clingy or binding or lacking in pockets.
"Men---pants, shirt, same thing every day...boom done!"
I love him so.
Ten months in, and we are still seeking sleep. Paulie stayed home to take care of Ci Ci when the daycare was closed yesterday. One big benefit of that is a nice long sleep in. He returned the favor for me this morning.
Apparently Ci Ci ("chee chee", in the correct Sicillian spelling) isn't napping at daycare---too much excitement, she wants to be playing all day. So she zonks out on the weekends like a hungover college kid. And we happily join her.
Paul was out of town for work all week, leaving me alone with baby. He worried if I'd be able to manage on my own, I worried if four days would be enough alone time for me!
It was so pleasant to get ready in the morning without tripping over each other. The nights, however, were another story. A heat wave is not kind to 90 year old bungalows without air conditioning. We had installed one tiny window unit it in the hallway, in the only window large enough for an air conditioner, as far away from the only usable bedroom as possible. But it's two BTU's struggled to keep the attic rooms below 85 degrees.
Viv didn't complain, but she was a sweaty miserable little thing. The worst was the heat rash from the car seat straps. Because, like everything in our lives right now, the car too is in need of repair. The A/C is out in the only car that the car seat fits in. We raced to daycare each morning as early as possible, and after work I took whatever circuitous route home that would keep the car in motion, hoping the bit of wind might keep us both from frying. The only hotter and more uncomfortable I've ever been was during the deadly heat wave in the south of France in 2003.
The day Paul returned, he suffered through only one sweaty night before figuring out how to rip out a window sash to move the air conditioner in the bedroom. That same day, the weather broke with a cool breeze temps in the low seventies. Of course it did.
Fathers Day part 1 going great! I surprised him with a drop off at the cousins for drinks with his boys and friends --without wife and baby. Stay out late Paulie! Live a little! And let me enjoy the whole bed to myself a little longer.
Part 2 tomorrow---sex and pancakes and auto cross. Not necessarily in that order.
In true midwestern style, the neighborhood kids were in shirts and flip flops during this early warm spring weekend. We couldn't stand to spend another day working in the basement on a sunny day, so we tackled the yard.
I dug up enough rocks and gravel to fill the freshly repainted flower boxes. Moms old wrought iron planter looks amazing after a coat of Rustoleum. Paul restacked the retaining wall blocks so they were less "boob like" in their shape. The fussy-looking, non-functioning gas light post fixture was yanked out, as well as the stake lights. Yes, we already owned a lawn edger before moving in. How is it we (or maybe just I) doubted that home ownership was for us?
For a tiny little front yard (we don't have any back yard at all), it was a lot of work! Paul isn't keen on my suggestion to make the flower bed a rock garden, so we have more work yet to do.
Paul made the trek up to Door County yesterday to start the process of getting the trailer ready for the season. We had thought that the Tin Can Cottage would be our big renovation project for the year! Turns out, it may be our refuge from renovation chaos instead. Once we get some work done on it.
The cork-patterned vinyl tile is going to look fantastic. Just getting rid of the old, grey, filthy floor will make the entire trailer feel clean and fresh. As will finishing the coat of paint we had to stop when I got too pregnant, too hot, and too bitchy to continue last summer. I must have been really bitchy when we left it in August because Paul said it looked like we had just stepped away--things were left out, like swimming suits hanging to dry. Being up north in an empty campsite with snow on the ground in April isn't creepy enough.
This time for the floor, we are going to watch youtube videos before installing. There is such a thing as too much glue!
The flooring is a happy accident. I originally bought it to replace the flooring in the trailer (Tin Can Cottage), which we still will do. It's cork-patterned vinyl plank, very cheap and cheerful. Perfect for the trailer. But I brought a piece into the house just to see if it might also work to replace the old, dirty lino in the existing kitchen, office nook and hallway. It looks good, and for 69 cents a square foot, it looks fantastic!
Paul went back to HOBO and snagged the last 4 boxes of it. I spent two of my "alone time" hours at 7am on Saturday at Home Depot. We are heavy into Renovation Mode.
My plan, there is a plan to my madness, is to get the Office Nook done quickly so that we can have at least one tranquil, clean and completed space in the house from which to plan the rest of the renovation work ahead. The weeks and months and years ahead...
Despite good intentions of a fresh start, yesterday was crap too!
We can't drop a 220 line for the dryer without putting in a sub panel so we need to get a gas dryer instead. Paul put up the clothesline directly across the walkway at the basement stairs. Running downstairs for a tool or another roll of paper towels? Smack, wet burp rag in the face. Oh, wait, that happens to me all the time anyway.
Paul believes in temporary fixes and jerry-rigging. I live by "do it once"; spending three times as much time planning before doing. This is not looking good for our relationship .
At least we both can agree that salvage yard excursions make great restorative breaks.
Me: "You aren't listening to me!"
Paulie: "There's so much to listen to!"
Thank goodness we can laugh at each other. Moving has been stressful, buying has been stressful, and now we have a mountain of renovation work to do. Time to resurrect our division of labor technique. I'm the Design Department, Paulie is Structural Engineer. I'm Project Manager, Paulie is Operations. We are both Labor.
More than 10 years ago, Paul was working at this custom-built workstation designed by his then co-worker, now design "god" Scott Wilson (http://www.mnml.com/).
Today, my company is decommissioning that office. TQ asked Paulie today if he wants to save one of the desks from the landfill--"it's perfect for the basement". Paulie is thrilled. I'm in awe. How small, and perfect, is our world?
I'm sitting in a folding camp chair in my empty dining room.
Eight years ago, I was doing the same thing. In Portland, in a tiny one bedroom apartment that had once been a Stumptown brothel. Now, it's MY dining room. As in MY mortgage. And it's in Milwaukee. Ok, Shorewood if you want to be a stickler.
I walked to get a cup of coffee this morning---out my front door and down just one sunny block to the coffee shop. I love this neighborhood. Like all my favorites before (Monroe St Madison, Historic Savannah, NorthWest Portland), it's lively without being loud, warm and walkable. The gourmet grocery, coffee shop, and pharmacy are all within a comfortable strolling distance.
It's a great house. Not the house I was looking for, or the house I dreamt of, it wasn't even on my radar. It's not the modern glass box I've always wanted, it's not even the retro ranch that would have been fun to make mine. It's everything I said I didn't want---"traditional", a detached garage, two stories, no space for a studio/shop, and so on. I had looked at so many houses that were perfect on paper (sound familiar?) but fell flat in person. Many were foreclosure nightmares---frozen pipes, bombed out kitchens, water damaged walls. Others weren't architecturally interesting enough to overcome location problems like train tracks in the back yard or suburban isolation.
But Kenmore Place has the things I didn't realize were so important until I walked in (and said to myself--"Finally, a real house!")---warmth and quality. That's Quality with a capital Q. The original construction is solid, and so immediately apparent. The woodwork, the windows, the dry solid basement walls, the coved ceilings. What's the point of renovating things that weren't good construction to begin with? That's not renovation, that's replacement. This little tank of a house will be a joy to bring back to life.
Which brings me to the next topic...all the work to be done! Stay tuned for many renovation updates as we dig into the giant project that will no doubt occupy our next decade.
Little "Chee Chee", as everyone (except myself) calls her, is five months old now. Though she's been doing it for two weeks, I still am shocked every time I see her sitting up. It's a different baby there, surrounded by pillows, looking at me horizontally. Sitting up, she looks even more like Paulie. I think it's the way the light catches those ears.
I gave her a little liquified banana this weekend. She let it rest in her mouth, then pushed it out with all the usual drool. Her first taste of food was very exciting for her Papa---I think he envisions her merrily chowing down on lasagna next week. I don't want to disappoint him with the truth of the very long series of baby steps until that point. And the diapers! Oh, the solid food diapers!
It is, I will accept, an "investment" in lifestyle. In community, in family, in comfort. And in activity--Paulie and I listed 10 years of projects in just ten minutes of "what if we did..." discussion. We will never again be without something to do on nights and weekends.
Man, one head of cabbage makes a lot of slaw! Paul will have cole slaw in his lunch for at least a week. Just don't tell him it is boob cabbage.
Transcript of the conversation in the bedroom this morning:
Is that my night bra? I've been looking for this!
Night bra? Crazy woman and your night bra.
You just imagine, if you had to nurse you'd want a night bra too. I've handled this breastfeeding bullshit pretty well!
*hack hack hack*
Ruby, are you still barfing up that pizza box?
Baby Vivienne can't appreciate it yet, but her mom loves the crap out of Christmas. I can't wait until she understands leaving her shoes out for St. Nick, leaving cookies for Santa Claus and leaving mom and dad asleep on Christmas morning.
I love cookies, Yule logs, putting another log on the fire, singing carols and Carole King, wrapping presents, picking just the perfect present and judging someones esteem of me by their present.
Yes, I said it.
It's not pretty, it's not Christian (which I also am not), but it's true. When your significant other gives you a laminated wall map, and only a laminate wall map, the thought will float in your mind as your heart sinks in your belly that perhaps your beloved thinks less of you, thinks that you were not nice this year, thinks you are ....a delivery driver.
There have been some nights when I thought I'd lose it as the Baby screamed for hour three...but we've gotten through that phase and learned how to calm her.
What I do seem to be losing is my memory.
Me, wandering around perplexed: "Somewhere in this house is a bag of breast milk".
Paul: "I thought you had two"!
Paulie took a few candid shots of his sleeping family this morning. Ruby was actually awake, on baby-watching duty. I was sound asleep...for 6 hours straight! Little Miss Viv is giving us a solid 5 to 6 hours each night for a few nights in a row now. Keeping my fingers crossed that she keeps it up!
The nursery closet is finally organized. It's chock full of clothing---onesies of every description, sweaters, snowsuits, and an endless supply of sack thingies. All of them are gifts and pass alongs from friends and family. There are four more dresser drawers chock full. And thats not counting the two bags of duck-embellished items I've regifted.
The second photo is the sum total
of clothing items that I myself have bought for the baby. Seriously, that's it.
Paul, enthusiastically as usual: "I love being married to you. I really love being married!"
Me, with what I thought was the same enthusiasm: "I'm getting used to it!"
We are picking up the Trailer this weekend. We travel from Milwaukee to Fond du Lac to pick up Dad's truck on Friday night. Then, first thing Saturday we head out to LaCrosse to pick it up. Learn as much as we can from the sellers, hitch it up, cross our fingers and hit the road! All the way then to Bailey's Harbor in Door County. The total miles is in the 800 range. The number one item on Paul's list of things to bring is a Fire Extinguisher. I'm 7 1/2 months pregnant. It's averaging 98 degrees outside. The trailer is 48 years old.
We have three simple goals:
-Return Dad's truck in one piece
-Get the trailer to the camp site
-Stay married
There are some things you must overlook when living with a handy Rossetto man. Like this contraption.. There is another fan at the other end of the laundry chute. I have to admit, it does work--the house is cool and comfortable.
Of course, we also have central air.
The first is the vehicle Paulie wanted to buy this weekend, the second is the one he needed to! He's still going to speed, I know it. Vroom Vroom
One year ago tonight, Paul and I had our first date. The weather was overcast with a chance of rain that night as we both walked from opposite corners to the restaurant door:
Paul: "God, I hope she doesn't think I'm a wuss because I brought an umbrella".
Me: "God, he brought an umbrellla--what a wuss."
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