Wen-D & Robbie

Plywood sheeting has been added to the exterior...

Some new photos! Plus, I've created a collection for all the remodel pics.

What were you afraid of as a child that seems silly to you now?
Submitted by navelgazer.

Vampire Bat

VAMPIRE BATS.
    It was a National Geographic article about vampire bats that did me in...

    It wasn't that they were bats--it was that they sucked blood, were real, and had vampire as part of their name. From that moment on I took my knowledge of how to ward off vampires and armed myself to prepare against an attack.

    I stopped washing my neck, I pulled a "stake" off my favorite climbing tree and careful tucked it under my pillow along with the garlic salt I stole from the kitchen pantry. I wrapped a blanket around my neck every night to hide my neck and allow extra time to grab the stake, unscrew the garlic salt cap and get into position ready to fight off the fierce vampire bat!

    Every night at 10pm it was my mom not wanting to lie--saying that yes, they DO exist, no they don't live anywhere near us, and yes they do drink the blood of animals--yes, even cows, yes, cows are larger than humans, yes we have blood that they would want to drink but they are so tiny and we are too quick--NOW GO TO BED!... Ahh--my parents were so patient.

    Still, vampire bats are creepy--just look at those sharp intimidating teeth and searing red eyes just ready to steal your soul...  

I've lost count because it's so slow going. Part of the reason we've only just poured the foundation was the discovery of a cesspool underneath the build site. A cesspool is where, back before the days of septic tanks and sewers, people would just dig a hole and dump their crap in it. The structural engineer was afraid that the fill dirt that was used to cover over it was not compact enough to support the addition... So, we had to change the foundation plans, get consultations from soil engineers, structural engineers, the architects and the dreaded City of Los Angeles... It total, it cost us about a month and probably $2,000 (final costs TBD). Sure, we were told to be prepared for surprises--but it's just the foundation! We haven't even gotten to the demo of the structure! Ugh. But it is good to see some progress. We're still hoping to be near-finished before the end of the year.

We've got foundation!

New foundation, looking south

It was like $4 on the clearance rack. You can't tell from the photo, but it's on a camouflage background. I like to think it was a subversive Target buyer who brought this into the stores, hoping parents would pick up on the irony.

Mission Accomplished, yo!

Our baby is 9 months old today. She's 100% for height, 95% weight,and 99% head circumference. Look out world the 50 foot woman has arrived.

9 months