COVID-19 sucks. I hope you have found something that is helping you cope a bit. If not, may I suggest starting some seeds and drinking some whiskey. Week 5 was, um, strange. I went from nervous about travel and plant neglect to worried about over-loving and over-watering. I diluted some apple cider vinegar this week […]
Category: The Carbon Zero Home Project
We are in, but it ain’t pretty.
Thanks to the heroism of Tim, Val, and Dave, we are in. There were a few falls, many bruises, a number of curse words, and oh — a partial condo yet to move… but we live here now and that is something. (pro tip: hire movers) The journey is one of disbelief. We have been […]
The one about money…
I’m going to ignore the water and mud in the basement of our house and talk money. Because – I just can’t. But here’s a few pictures for fun — back story, the team dug a trench to run utilities to the detached garage and then left for the holiday week. Trench (not filled in) […]
10 Day Countdown?
Technically, Monday was the start of our 10 day count down to move-in day. I say technically, because there was no way in hell we were moving in 10 days. The house had no decks, no exterior stairs, no lights, no installed appliances, no air conditioner, no toilets, no water, no… you get the point. […]
Is now a good time?
The team wanted to dig for the garage on April 15th. Dave and I, in the mode of saving costs wherever possible, wanted to wait until the frost cleared. Well – on April 15th, we got two feet of snow – so the stars aligned and we waited. After a 14-day delay, we finally dug. […]
Motherhood, Returning to Work, & a Home Update
Motherhood Little man is nearly 13 wks old which means I can move from counting in weeks to just saying “He’s 3 months.” It also means I’m down to my last 3 weeks of maternity leave. I pulled Viv out of school Mondays and Fridays and it has been mostly delightful. We go to the […]
Build Update #1
Readers note: there is an infant in my arms and a toddler down for a short nap. All of my posts have some errors in it – but this one may take the cake 🙂 Shovels broke ground November 1st! It has been a ride. The first 3-4 weeks were fast and furious. We were […]
Start Your Engines…
We are closing on our construction loan tomorrow! As with everything else – getting to closing came with hiccups, but not as many as there could have been. The biggest roadblock would have been if our appraisal didn’t come in around the same value as the cost of the house. The bank will finance 80% […]
The Career, The New Baby, and The House
The Career I write today from 35,000 feet on my way from Vegas to Minneapolis. Why was a 31-week preggo in Vegas you ask? Because my company asked me to speak at a conference and when you are trying to find your public voice & brand in your subject matter area, you don’t say no […]
From Approvals to Reality
From Approvals to Reality I oscillate between pure excited, pure dread, pure anger, and pure happiness while building this dang house. It is an intense process, and it comes with many surprises – the theme of this week’s surprises: mounting costs. Our house has the right guts: This whole thing started because we want to […]
Up North Urbanite 