Category: Our House
Preacher’s Cart
How did this shopping cart full of miscellaneous hardware come to be parked in our yard for three months? Therein lies a tale. One day in late May, a guy came walking down our street. He started talking to Xy and somehow convinced her to hire him to cut our grass. Before I knew it […]
Read More → Preacher’s CartSecond Guessing
I’ve also been reflecting on our decision to stay in place for Isaac. Was it the right choice? There’s room for disagreement even in our house. Over the past week Xy has repeated “Never again!” whereas I’ve found myself saying I’m glad we stayed. So what were the pros and cons of that decision? It’s […]
Read More → Second GuessingPangs Eased
It’s been well over a year since we moved to our new house, and the pangs of regret are finally starting to ebb. Regrets? Well, yes. It’s my nature to look back at important decisions and wonder. Did we do the right thing? The answer keeps coming up “yes,” but still I have to worry […]
Read More → Pangs EasedEnergy Usage
I mentioned last January that we got stuck with a big ($500) utility bill that month. There was no question in my mind that our energy consumption was off the chain because of a record-breaking three-day cold snap. Now that I’ve got a year’s worth of utility bills, this is even more evident. Here’s a […]
Read More → Energy UsageCelebrating Saturday, Morning and Night
Saturday morning I was out early conducting a short tour of the Lafitte Corridor. I was skeptical about how many people would be up for a hike at 8:30 on a Saturday morning, but pleasantly surprised when a dozen people showed up, plus a half dozen more who joined us in progress. We walked from […]
Read More → Celebrating Saturday, Morning and NightConcrete Odyssey
It started one Sunday in early September. Xy and Persephone were out on a shopping trip, and I had just left on a bike ride to a discussion group meeting, when I decided to circle back around and pump up my tires. As I was finishing, a red car pulled up. A man and a […]
Read More → Concrete OdysseySleepless
Maybe it was the caffeine. And the lack of food. Or the physical exertion late in the day. Or just my old overactive mind. In any case, I didn’t sleep at all last night. I tried. Repeatedly. But I just couldn’t do it. I don’t think I’ve pulled an all-nighter since that freaky Jazz Fest […]
Read More → SleeplessFrench Quarter Green
I’m taking this week off work to get some things done around the house. My main objective is to repaint the porch. As I noted previously, the paint has worn away at a surprising rate. I suspect it’s an inferior paint or simply not enough coats. I’m pretty sure there’s a layer of lead-based paint […]
Read More → French Quarter GreenTo Do
I really need to get on top of this stuff before the list gets any longer. We’ve been living in our new house for almost three-quarters of a year now, and so far we’ve done very little. Of course that was the appeal of the place: a complete renovation. But every house needs upkeep and […]
Read More → To DoFloored
I recently got our energy bill for the period covering the recent cold snap: $500! Granted that was some record-setting weather but still… $500! Ouch. I’m still in shock. Or perhaps I should say I’m floored. Some of my friends assumed this high bill was indicative of high energy costs here in Southeast Louisiana. I […]
Read More → FlooredFumigation Days
The fumigation we’d originally planned for early December has finally been accomplished, and I must say despite the hassle that it’s better to complete than to abort. All living things have to be removed from the house prior to fumigation, and relocated elsewhere for approximately 48 hours. (Actually that’s not true; indeed, the whole point […]
Read More → Fumigation DaysMy Big Chill
By strange coincidence, I found myself watching The Big Chill Friday night. It’s one of those super-famous movies that I’ve just somehow never seen. Alas, when the flick was over and I turned in for the evening, I neglected to leave a trickle of water running, as I’d done Thursday night. This, despite the fact […]
Read More → My Big ChillOcular Emergency
Friday night my daughter stabbed me in the eye. Not intentionally — she was just waving her arm around. Her little finger somehow got past my glasses, and her nail sliced right across my cornea. When she realized I was in pain she gave me a kiss. Very sweet. It was pretty painful, but I […]
Read More → Ocular EmergencyWell, Crap
Overnight New Orleans got pounded by heavy, heavy rain for several hours. Also some serious gusts. We lost power for a while during the night and there was of course some street flooding throughout the city. The weather has caused our fumigation to be postponed. They were set to tent the house this morning, but […]
Read More → Well, CrapDrywoods
We’re having our house tented for fumigation to kill off some drywood termites. It’s kind of a pain, because we have to relocate three cats, a rabbit, and a fish, not to mention a baby girl and our own damn selves and our food. We became aware of the drywood infestation when we inspected. The […]
Read More → DrywoodsUnpacking
We are still unpacking. Many thanks (again) to my mother-in-law for her painstakingly accurate labels. But three weeks after the move, we are down to just eight boxes. Make that seven boxes. I just unpacked another one.
Read More → UnpackingExhalation & Disclosure
I feel like I’m exhaling and relaxing for the first time since — when was it? — late July. That’s when the idea of moving first entered my head. We’d learned our daughter had lead poisoning and then a few days later I had a close encounter with one of the guys from the corner. […]
Read More → Exhalation & DisclosureClosing In
I’m gearing up to sign a bunch of papers in about an hour and a half. First we’re closing on the sale of our old house. Immediately after that we’re closing on the purchase of our new house. The latter is predicated on the former. I have power of attorney so I can sign for […]
Read More → Closing InFive Things I Hate About Our New House
No, I’m not feeling particularly grumpy. Quite the opposite. We are settling in and making good progress on unpacking. We’ll close the deal soon and actually I’m pretty happy about the way things have worked out. But I thought I’d just go ahead and get these five points out of the way. The stairs are […]
Read More → Five Things I Hate About Our New HouseThree Offers
After a couple weeks of little to no activity, we got three offers on our house yesterday. There’s a long way to go to actually close the deal, of course. So I’m not throwing any parties, but I can’t deny that my mind is athrob with a steady pulse of excitement. We might just pull […]
Read More → Three Offers