How to drive your wife crazy and increase the value of your home all at the same time!

At the time, most shoppers were shying away from the house due to the condition of the basement. Truth be told, it was pretty rough: mostly super unfinished, moisture problems, jenky storage shelves and it was sort of a tetanus incubator. It was bad enough that the Sellers dropped the price AND (sorta) finished half the basement before getting a single offer.

By the time we spied it in late '16, we were ready to rise to the remaining challenge. Since then, I accumulated a substantial amount of time spent working my way through the basement remodel project; one space at a time. The workshop/storage space didn't put up much of a fight. The challenge on that front was mostly one of time management. I needed to have the floor painted, shelves assembled and work tables constructed before Wifey and the new baby came home from the hospital.

The office has been a real challenge though. With two kids, every minute I spend working construction is a minute Wifey spends managing two young children...alone. In loving appreciation of my wife, I dedicate my top ways to drive your wife crazy while increasing the value of your home:

1. Disappear into the basement right after dinner on a weekday without saying a word
2. Say that you'll be up in 10 minutes but don't emerge from the basement for 45 minutes
3. Ignore her design input
4. Admit that you're having fun working in the basement
5. Run the saw after the littlest one already went to bed

Now, get out there readers! You have everything you need to drive your wife crazy! Don't forget to justify the time spent away from your family by constantly overestimating the value that you've added to your home!

Office Update: Alex & Kinsley's Playhouse

This project is a couple of steps up the complexity ladder from the flooring, painting and wainscotting project that preceded it. It's going to be substantially more transformative though. The staircase is a hazard for young kids and a total eyesore. We originally planned to build a reading nook under the stairs but changed course in favor of a Nantucket-style playhouse for the kids to chill. It'll be a really cool space that's just for them. Here's what I started with; taken on December 31, 2017.

We built a fort in the backyard with Dad when we were kids. It was really cool - we even slept out there a few times. One night, we ran extension chords down from the house and watched the NBA playoffs on a black/white CRT TV. :-) Bunny ears and all!

While I remember framing a fort wall with Dad, this was definitely different. So, framing an interior wall was a first for me...as was coordinating with an electrician, hanging full sheets of drywall and finishing walls with anything other than paint. I was mildly terrified of the actuated hammer (which uses a .22 caliber round) to attach the sole plate to the concrete foundation. Here's what the framing looked like - it was taken on March 10, 2018.

There's a strand of LED lights that back-light the cubby and go around the ceiling of the playhouse for lighting. They're controlled by the switch at the door - the kids love to "open" and "close" the shop with the light switch and door bell. We put a carpet runner and some pillow seats in there to make it kid-comfortable. We didn't finish the interior walls so the kids can draw on them without us worrying about it. The cubby at the top is a space for some Boston sports memorabilia. This pic was taken on March 28, 2018 - 3 months after I started.

The playhouse certainly isn't future-proof. While we think we'll change it into a reading nook in the future, it might be hard to tear down and replace the memories that we'll create with the kids in the playhouse.

Up next: the staircase/stairwell project! Am I done yet?

Goodbye to Boom Beach

I can count on 1.2 hands the number of video games I've been truly invested in: Super Mario Brothers (8-bit Nintendo), Bubble Bobble (8-bit Nintendo), Revenge of the Gator (Game Boy), Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (8-bit Nintendo), Tiger Woods Golf (X-Box 360) and Boom Beach (iOS/Android).

As kiddos, Hollie, Matthew and I spent hours and hours and hours playing those early Nintendo games. While Ali and I were dating, Tiger Woods Golf was a common method for determining who was right. And during recent years, Boom Beach has been my video game of choice. That, however, is about to change. It's hard to imagine but I started playing Boom Beach over 5 years ago and it's time to let it go.

Dear BB,

We had a good run but it's time to face facts and embrace the current reality that I'm just not that into you. I'm tired of the same monotony day-in and day-out. Sure, it was fun taking all of those resources from Dr. T and the other players. But once I upgraded all of my offense and defense, things started to fall...flat. Mega Crab is still cool but the Task Forces, Tribes and Warships aren't doing it for me.

We made a few memories. Remember the time I accused you of miscalculating my resources? And the Support team responded so promptly and with total professionalism. I was SO embarrassed...

Listen, it's not like I was just playing all of the free stuff. I bought diamonds from you - even Wifey bought diamonds from you! This is ridiculous. It's you. It's not me.

So long, BB! Despite being a HQ 65 who's maxed in every other way possible...I'll keep that one sniper tower at level 1 just for ol' times sake.

-Commander

P.S. I disabled the music and sound effects the first time I played.

The Office Reno

We are so totally knee-deep in home ownership and my sights are set on the basement office. I'm excited to introduce to you this 3-stage approach to the office renovation.

Stage 1: Admire how well photographers can make a room look. This is the seller photo that was used in the listing. During this stage, I find it useful to initiate contempt and channel it towards the previous owners as a means of motivation and action. Take the drop-ceiling for example. Sigh, have they no decency?! Look at the floors. Gasp, how could they?! And you just know they're hiding a hideous mess behind the camera lens. Tautology!

Stage 2: Despair and otherwise grasping that I've bit off more than I can chew. Also that I'm probably making it more difficult than it needs to be. But hey! Those floors look impecable. This is surely the longest stage of any project I run.

It's always useful during this stage to engage reinforcements. Here, Alex pitches-in by pushing the sawdust around with a moppish thing-a-majig (also courtesy of the sellers).

Stage 3: This is the stage of self-negotiation. Most of the big stuff is done. But not all. Dialogue turns inward as the finish-line is called into question; "chances are I'm the only person that'll notice if I don't put bead of caulk along the edges of the wainscotting." Or, "If the door stays shut, then maybe we don't really need that flooring transition."

There's still a bit of work to do but I'm officially filing this one in the "Done" column!

Safe Secrets at Christmas

One of many blessings I've received since matriculating into parenthood are new perspectives, including the ability to see experiences, perhaps a second time, through my parents eyes.

In my formative years, Christmas was a time of joy, love, celebration and family. To the later point, a time that pitted father against sons in the eternal battle of keeping presents a secret until they were intended to be opened. I reflect upon the Rollerblade Christmas fondly - it was brilliant really. The only way into our attic was through the access door in my closet! It blew our minds at the time; the clever ol' man essentially hid the presents behind enemy lines. I can still remember the feeling of raising my head into the attic for the first time, fixing the flashlight on never-there-before boxes and looking through the packaging at a new pair of "blades" with black, purple and green laces. We must've pulled ourselves into the attic 25 times during the buildup to Christmas.

Another year, I think it was my TV year, the presents were nowhere to found. We checked Mom & Dad's shower, the trunks of their cars and the attic. Nothing! As Christmas approached, fate shined upon us. There was a shimmer coming from whence a black handle had been previously unremarkable. It didn't make any sense to us, why had a new padlock been installed on the shed? In truth, it didn't matter. The game was on. We couldn't find the key or pick the lock so we did the next most rational thing. We took the double doors (which never functioned properly again) off the hinges and walked right in.

And so it continued. Year after year. Some years we'd win by unearthing the mother load. Other years tilted in Dad's favor.

Then THE Christmas happened. No one quite knows where the idea came from but it was the ultimate in Dad-strategy. Perhaps he became weary of doors no longer working or attic insulation collecting on the closet floor. The one thing we know for sure is he changed the game and forever quelled the Christmas hunt. See, by piling the gifts in the middle of the basement and (sorta) covering them with a (sorta transparent) sheet, he altered the entire dynamic. No longer was it an annual high-stakes winner-takes-all game of Hide & Seek.

What Dad knew was that the prize (finding the gifts) was equally proportionate to the amount of effort required. In what could be described as an escalating arms race, he just decided to drive the amount of effort required to find the gifts down to zero. And in so doing, the prize had no value. Sure enough, we were surprised that Christmas.

Now, in 2018, I have to smile because in my home office is a pile of gifts...covered with blanket.

If experience has taught me anything, I am 100% sure the secret is safe.

Cloudy with a Chance of a Money Pit

Me: Knock. Knock.
Ali: Who's there?
Me: Amos.
Ali: Amos who?
Me: Amos-Quito!
Ali: [turns. leaves the room]

Frick and Frack, the previous home owners, made many a ding-dong decision. One of the dingiest-dongs was the addition (and eventual loss of interest) of a garden pond. Honest question, what was your reaction when you read the previous sentence?

Oh, garden pond. Where for art though purpose?

One thing was obvious: that swamp station, mosquito haven, zombie lair needed to go. The years and years of accumulated rain, leaves, mud, animals (unverified), potted plants, branches and rocks totaled 1,357 cubic feet of sludge. For reference, a gallon of water weighs 8.34 lbs. In total, I hauled 11,317 lbs of yack-inducing chuck toss. Blah.

I eventually reached the bottom of the 3' beast. Then the fill dirt arrived, clouds parted and the Red Sox ripped towards their 4th World Series Championship in 14 years.

From there on, it was mostly smooth sailing. Kinsley and Alex had a blast playing on the mountain of dirt and going for rides in the cart. As we entered the second half of Fall, the garden pool was full and Alex posed for one more picture. For some reason, he thought it was hilarious to lay on the ground like this.

I sure am happy to cross this project off the list. Makes me sleep a little bit better knowing there's no pond in the yard. I think I'm shorter than before I started the project. And I'm glad I didn't find a body while dredging nasty nast. Take that, Frick/Frack!

It's Pronounced [loo-is], Y'all

We've had difficulty finding time for a vacation this year. We've cancelled, rescheduled (twice) and also shortened. Total downer. Makes me wonder, what's the longest a family has gone without a vacation? To the best of my knowledge, we never had a summer without a vacation when I was growing up. Ocean City, Deep Creek Lake, Rehoboth Beach, Outer Banks. Most years we'd team-up with aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. Other years we'd bring a friend.

I have a greater appreciation for it all now. Good thing Ali's driving this ship. :-) To Lewes we go!

This was the first time Kinsley was old enough to play at the beach. She went head first into the sand fun but was understandably apprehensive about the water. It is October, after all.

Alex must have been feeling more adventurous: he was living it up in the water. All he needed was a shovel and bucket. After that, he was good to go. Eventually Kinsley's curiosity got the better of her and we ventured into the water together. She and I went in far enough that I could let her sit on my knee. The water was cold but she didn't mind; she blew bubbles and even splashed some waves over towards her mom and brother.

The highlight of Alex's trip was the Pirate Cruise. They really do a great job engaging the kiddos in pirate adventure. He's been keeping an extra close eye on his bounty but I'm willing to bet that his favorite part was defending the ship via water cannon during the pirate attack.

We lucked-out because there were only a few kids on the cruise. It gave us plenty of room to play and explore. 

While the kids are goin' bananas for beaches and the pirate life, Ali and I are judging a 4-day battle of the baristas. We tried a couple different coffees each morning in search of Lewes's best cup of joe. From Station of Kings to some other place that I don't recall, we both agreed that the First Cup bean at the Bake Shoppe was tops. Bake Shoppe's losing points for other things but they emerge victorious in Battle O' Coffee 2018!

One of the things that keeps us coming back to Lewes are our wonderful Aunt and Uncle. Google seems to think my Aunt/Uncle are Alex & Kinsley's great Aunt/Uncle but that makes my head hurt. So how's about we roll with Grand Aunt/Uncle? Either way, they make us feel welcome even when our circus-on-wheels is in tow!