Big Weekend

What are you doing this weekend? Well here is what I have in store.

Tonight we will be eating out with the in laws to celebrate my and granddaddy's birthdays. His is on Sunday and of course mine was this past Monday. Did I already tell how we stretch our big days out to more like a season. We're hitting this little rinky-dink seafood place down the road that has the best crab cakes ever. However, whatever I get will have to be broiled this time. It should be fun and we won't be out late.

Tomorrow is another story ... but let me back up a second.

BHE and I have lived in our house for seven years now. I believe she refers to it as Casa de Envy. What she did not tell you is that we live in a very small space as far as houses go. When we bought the piece of land we are on back in 2000, our original intention was to just hold on to it for several years and maybe build in the future. But I could not take the subdivision life after 6 grueling years and had to make a move before I killed someone. I guess I just need my own space.

Being the analytical person that I am, I had to formulate a plan for development for the property. I mean like for the now and the future. At the time, all of our parents were still living and most remarried, basically doubling the potential for us having to take care of someone in the future. My thought was to build something small ... basically an in law suite that we could live in temporarily (a few years is what we figured) and then we could build our dream house in front. Whoever we ended up with (that doesn't sound nice) would then be able stay close, but still have there own little space. It was a great concept.

I designed the small house to resemble what we like to call a carriage/pool house ... with the living area on one side, with a double garage on the other end. The pool would then be off of the living end and the main house would be in front of the pool facing the drive and field.

Can you see it, or have I totally confused you?

Two years ago, we had plans drawn for the big house. We went through the design process for several months until we got just about exactly what we wanted.

Then we started getting prices ...



... so we opted for the pool instead.

Now, instead of building the house of our dreams (the one we don't need since we already have one and the fact that Snow White will only be around for a short while and the fact that spending all of that money on something to show rather than something to use makes no sense at all) we are enclosing our garage and making it into a big family room complete with gas fireplace and big screen tv with surround sound. It still won't be a big house, but our living space is gonna just about double, and that is a dream come true.

Now I can tell you what I am doing tomorrow:




CLEANING OUT THE GARAGE

Have a productive weekend.

(Oh, and by the way, all of the parents are on there own now ... no, just kidding. We'll have to deal with that when it comes around.)