Oh right, our HOUSE

Huh. Yeah. We did have this other Really Big Thing going on in our lives. It was eclipsed by the lovely daze of New Babyness which comes with Massive Sleep Deprivation Haze mixed with Total Emotional Overload and Inability to Get Dressed (Even In Yoga Pants) By Noon or to Get Anything Else Done.

So, we have remembered that we haven't always been cocooned in this modern beige high-rise apartment, and that we do in fact own a quite nice 1895 Capitol Hill rowhouse that is being renovated within an inch of its life. After calling Seth about shower heads and paint colors on the day Helene was born, our contractors considerately left us alone for about a week when Seth tersely explained, "Can't talk now. Had BABY." But now they actually want decisions on stuff so they can, you know, FINISH OUR DAMN HOUSE.

We went by the house today with some paint chips so we could choose paint colors for the powder room and sun room. (We actually spontaneously LEFT THE APARTMENT today for AN ENTIRE HOUR. BY OURSELVES. While Grandma Fran watched the baby sleep. We are living on the edge here, let me tell you.) If I weren't still in a slight stupor from days of not-quite-enough-sleep, and didn't have a still slightly sore C-section incision, I would have been goddamn jumping up and down and howling with sheer ECSTASY over the fact that OUR KITCHEN CABINETS HAVE BEEN DELIVERED. I did what I could with excitement, and tried to stay well out of the workers' way so they could WORK (faster, please??). We were told by our contractor that once the cabinets were delivered, it would be three weeks to completion. It had better fucking be, or I am no longer responsible for what cranky postpartum hormonal female velociraptor-esque rage that could be unleashed.

But Progress. There is Progress. Light at the end of the tunnel. Hope, and all that crap.

Kitchen - all drywalled and just waiting for our pretty, pretty kitchen cabinets.
Random sort of angle showing the basement bathroom. Still needs a sink. I hope I actually like the paint color. I almost don't care anymore.

OMFG, the basement looks almost DONE. Like an actual, like, room, in an actual, like house, that people, like live in and stuff. Except for the albatross, I mean gas meter in the left hand corner. This thing is supposed to be moved to the exterior of the house. This little project was started in, oh, June. Somehow, our contractor's people broke the old, crusty shutoff valve which is a little bit of a problem when you're working with flammable noxious fumes. Our contractor was not amused when I suggested painting it shiny fire-engine red and keeping it as a decorative element. At least I know he wants to get rid of it about as much as I do.
And the back of our house has returned, all new and improved. With a nice deck and non-deathtrap stairs too.
We are soooo, close people. We keep telling Helene what a great house we're working on for her. Just think of all the new and improved rooms she'll be sleepily oblivious to.