Well here I am again...dreadfully behind. However...I DO think it is better to get work done than to blog...and in my defense we did get work done on most of the days I have been lacking in my blogging.
NEW FLOORS! We did indeed put them in and it was very exciting. My dad came to visit us over Christmas, and as per usual, we put him to work on our house. The poor guy never gets to come here and just visit...he is always my champion of duties I don't have patience to do. I have to say I am very impressed by how much he has offered his time to help us and I feel forever indebted...really he has helped us a lot.
We still need trim around all the edges. And two rooms still need to be done (once plumbing is finished).
This time, my dad helped level our floors using shingles (a supposed construction technique frequently used in old homes). I found this silly and gave up after about two minutes of using this leveling technique.
My dad apparantly is not the one who passed my impatient gene to me...because he laid on those floors and leveled them like a CHAMP. Thanks Dad!
I got to lay all the floors down...which was great because I was worried that the menfolk wouldn't do a great job alternating the color patterns. It was satisfactory for me to get to click and snap them in place (we have engineered floating floors...BTW this is SO EASY to install). I even ventured to cut the boards by myself with the electric saw toward the end of the project.
Nate spent most of the floor laying time with filling in a variety of holes in the floor that were left from the cold air returns and other random vent holes that were part of our original venting system which no longer functions. Unfortunately that took longer than the leveling and floor laying, so my dad and I spent a lot of time playing Scrabble. Okay, I may have not minded the downtime ;o).
We did get to have some fun times with my dad...the BEST time was the last night we saw him (incidentally the next day he flew home and prepared to propose to his girlfriend in New York and is now engaged!). We went to a sexy Tapas bar in downtown Columbus (tapas are like appetizers so you get a lot of them to try). We got calamari, mussels, and the men got a variety of short ribs and lamb"sliders". Nate and I shared a pitcher of Sangria and my dad sampled beers. The only downside of the evening was my dad mentioned that they have fresher seafood in NY and therefore he was too good to try it here. This made me want to move SOONER!
Speaking of which, I have been spending time looking at houses in New Hampshire (Nate and I are considering moving for the Free State Project) and was excited to see some cool properties, potentially very affordable WITH sweet features like a pool and tennis court, AND lots of acreage for our dogs and potential growth for a boarding facility etc. Again this makes me want to move MORE.
Then I was looking for a design engineer job for Nate, and was saddened to not find much. Seems most engineering in NH consists of electrical or software. Bummer. Guess I will need to look harder! There are a few possibilities...
Another interesting idea Nate and I have with moving to New Hampshire is hosting workshops for dog and animal care etc for children in the "unschooling" community. We could charge a small fee and have kids come learn about a variety of animal care, birthing. etc. Additionally, we are thinking about maybe having a chicken hatchery for Easter etc. Lots of ideas for making money at home so Nate may be able to stay at home eventually.
Unschooling is a homeschooling technique. Another (better sounding) version of this is Child Directed Learning. The concept is basically that you teach your child the essentials to allow them to learn on their own, and then you allow them to teach themselves and do projects on things that interest them. Likewise, when you teach them reading and math, you attempt to make it more interesting for them...like mentioning STOP means stop when driving and teaching math while they help you cook (by halving recipes etc).
It is an interesting concept...I wonder how capable I am for it! I can say I intend to try to teach our child reading very early on, so perhaps we will play it by ear as we go. If we are good at it perhaps there could be a way to make money with it. One property I looked at had a SCHOOLHOUSE on it! Wow. Seems you can get a lot for your money in NH (just need to keep your eye on the property taxes!).
I got to lay all the floors down...which was great because I was worried that the menfolk wouldn't do a great job alternating the color patterns. It was satisfactory for me to get to click and snap them in place (we have engineered floating floors...BTW this is SO EASY to install). I even ventured to cut the boards by myself with the electric saw toward the end of the project.
Nate spent most of the floor laying time with filling in a variety of holes in the floor that were left from the cold air returns and other random vent holes that were part of our original venting system which no longer functions. Unfortunately that took longer than the leveling and floor laying, so my dad and I spent a lot of time playing Scrabble. Okay, I may have not minded the downtime ;o).
Then I was looking for a design engineer job for Nate, and was saddened to not find much. Seems most engineering in NH consists of electrical or software. Bummer. Guess I will need to look harder! There are a few possibilities...
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| Checking out the Tapas menu. |
Another interesting idea Nate and I have with moving to New Hampshire is hosting workshops for dog and animal care etc for children in the "unschooling" community. We could charge a small fee and have kids come learn about a variety of animal care, birthing. etc. Additionally, we are thinking about maybe having a chicken hatchery for Easter etc. Lots of ideas for making money at home so Nate may be able to stay at home eventually.
Unschooling is a homeschooling technique. Another (better sounding) version of this is Child Directed Learning. The concept is basically that you teach your child the essentials to allow them to learn on their own, and then you allow them to teach themselves and do projects on things that interest them. Likewise, when you teach them reading and math, you attempt to make it more interesting for them...like mentioning STOP means stop when driving and teaching math while they help you cook (by halving recipes etc).
It is an interesting concept...I wonder how capable I am for it! I can say I intend to try to teach our child reading very early on, so perhaps we will play it by ear as we go. If we are good at it perhaps there could be a way to make money with it. One property I looked at had a SCHOOLHOUSE on it! Wow. Seems you can get a lot for your money in NH (just need to keep your eye on the property taxes!).
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