can you guess what i did last night?

although i'm certainly a sports fan, i'm not normally one to bask in the glow of the accomplishments of professional athletes. i don't live and die by the games, i follow the games and teams for the entertainment value. there's something about a game - a broncos game on a crisp fall sunday afternoon takes me back to the days as a teenager when i'd listen to the game on am radio with my brothers while tossing the football around, and an matinee baseball game turns my mind to the days i worked on my grandparents farm in north dakota... driving the tractor on the hot prairie and listening to twins games. there's a romance to the games that brings back the joy of the boy i used to be - and still am inside...

last night was another magical moment in what has been a run that has invigorated a city. if you're a baseball fan, you've heard about the numbers and the streak by now - and if you're not, you could probably care less. and while the exploits of professional athletes probably shouldn't bear so much on our collective psyche, there's something about this team, this run, that creates new romance. it doesn't just drum up memories of days gone by, but invokes real joy in the moment. it actually feels like we're living in a movie script, and in the next moment robert redford's going to bust out the floodlights with an impossible hit...

i was lucky enough to go to the game last night with my brother and experience a moment that i knew i'd never experience again. the sheer joy of that place, the improbability of this team's run, knowing that this is the only time we'll be able to experience the first time - it made all those other things that i worry about melt away in the moment. and while we hear a lot about sports' ills and cheating and unruly fans, it's moments like these (and this moment has lasted an entire month) that make you realize why sports capture us. to believe in the impossible, and to watch it unfold in front of your eyes, is something you can't describe. you just have to ride the ride until it ends...

my only regret is that ian isn't old enough to understand what this is all about. because i'd like nothing more than for him to look back when he's my age and remember that romantic and magical run, this epitome of a team - and believe in the unbridled joy of youth...

go rockies. no matter what happens next, you've reignited that belief in a whole lot of souls...

a week's worth of progress...

the contractor cleaned up and cleared out early last week. framing and drywall complete, and the house ready for my projects. new floors. kitchen cabinet-hanging. painting. trim work. seemingly endless projects - but it beats the heck out of the seemingly endless mess that we'd been living in for 6 weeks...

the floor project began last sunday. i opted to install new wood floors over the existing hardwoods for a couple reasons. 1) the existing hardwoods are nearly a hundred years old and worse for the wear - and in half the house are covered in a layer of tar used to glue down yet another wood floor. and 2) the deal i got on the new hardwoods was just barely more than the cost to refinish the existing floors - with about 5% of the mess...

so sunday, monday, wednesday and thursday nights were floor installation. thankfully and graciously, my brother jeff was there each of those nights to help - which made the work go more quickly and much less painfully. by the end of the evening thursday, we'd managed to complete the floors in the kitchen, living room and dining room. i've still got another half of the house to do, but the renewed availability of those rooms to once again live in has been emotionally uplifting...


progress photos taken from the living room towards the dining room and kitchen

on friday and saturday (again, with jeff's help), the kitchen cabinets went in. i'd never installed cabinets, and was actually surpised by the ease of the process. that is, until you're forced to deal with 95-year old brick walls and sloped floors. it took us several tries to master the connection of the cabinets to the brick exterior wall and - with some sometimes-substantial shimming - the cabinets are all in place...


kitchen cabinets in place

finally, on sunday my uncle came to build a template for my countertops. this uncle runs a home remodelling business, and in partnership with a friend just started a concrete countertop company. as one of his first projects, i'm getting a great deal on a concrete countertop - which will go great with the design character of the kitchen. the countertop will take a couple weeks to fabricate, but i can finally see the end to this kitchen-less existence that we've been living with for nearly 2 months now...

and all that happened in the course of a week. at some point on saturday afternoon i realized that between work on the house and work on, well, work - i hadn't taken time to stop during that week. but seeing everything come together, and finally having the chance to do things with my own hands, has been so rewarding that i don't want to stop. except i know that i'll have to slow down a bit... my body and the rest of my life can't possibly keep up with this pace.

next steps: choosing paint colors, finishing the floors, and trim work.