Our Monona Mess

  We woke up to lots of snow.  Dave spent the morning clearing our driveway and many of our current neighbors' driveways. Then he headed over to clear the snow in Monona, while Lauryn and I ran to pick up our "self install" kit for the wifi at the new house. Tomorrow we have the inspection at our old house so Lauryn, Teagan, and I will be doing school in Monona for the afternoon.  When we arrived at the house, Lauryn and I searched for a wall jack to plug in the internet. Guess what? No wall jacks, just cables coming out of holes in the floor. We followed the wires and found where it came in the house. While Lauryn worked to get it hooked up, I joined Dave and Shelley, our realtor, upstairs clearing the debris from the walls from yesterday.  Shelley really came to knock down walls though.  She and Dave started working on tearing out the other side of bathroom wall while I installed a new thermostat. Finally we can control the heat in the house.  Lauryn had ...

Lauryn discovering the wall is thicker than anyone expected Current kitchen space Day 1 We began today by finishing a project at our current house before the snow storm rolls in and loading up both vehicles with as many tools as we could. By noon, Dave headed to the house to get started and Lauryn and I went to purchase the appliances for the new house. By the time we got there, Dave had all the woodwork off the dining room and master bedroom (we are moving it from the dining room to the master and getting rid of the unmatching woodwork in the master.) Dave's parents joined us and we were excited to knock down a wall, so everyone picked up a hammer (except Dave's mom, she grabbed the sledge hammer) and knocked down the wall between the kitchen and dining room.  Before long you could see right through there. But the drywall was covered in plaster, so it was much harder than we thought it would be.  Dave's dad sat out there and continued to take it off all day while we worked...

  Friday, January 29 The house is finally ours--should we be happy or scared? This beauty was built in 1950 and had a couple of updates a long, long time ago. It is dusty and dirty, but in great shape. We cannot wait to get it fixed up and looking again like the beauty that it really is. Here are first day pictures.   Dave took a chainsaw to the bushes out front within an hour of owning the house. He managed to get one side down and it already looks different and lets more light into the house.  When we arrived at the house, we had a ticket for uncleared snow.  While Dave took a snowplow to the sidewalk, I contacted the building inspector and got that ticket to go away.  I am sure it won't be the last time the building inspector and I chat. Thanks, George, you were super helpful!! I walked around and took a bunch of before pictures which I will share over the next few days.  Screen porch The screen porch is my favorite part. It is hidden behind the tre...