and then...

Starship sang it best, Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, which may be why we started demolishing our downstairs bathroom to get rid of the (hopefully) last of the foreclosure-gunk. What was going to be a clean and paint project has (predictably) turned into a demo moldy drywall, clean and refinish walls and cabinets.

One weekend, two garbage bins full and a heck-a-lotta squeals by Alison cleaning mouse poop and parts got us to the phase shown in the photos. So far it looks like all of the water problems are fixed, and with each surface we Killz paint removes more mold. I'll keep you posted with the progress...all the HDtv I watch has inspired big design ideas.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

With the house all decked out in Christmas wreaths, garland and lights we had Alison's family over to bake cookies and have Christmas Day Celebration Part I. Alison's brother Adam and Katie flew in from Boston for the week & got to play in the snow, have Hao Bien bun in St Paul, see the North Star Rollergirls, and play some good video games like Rock Band and everything Wii.

Jim Halloran also stopped by the house and met Brewer for the first time. It was an honor to host such a famous New York actor at our home.

All in all it was a great holiday, I hope yours was too. Today (New Years Day) I am taking down the decorations and reminiscing about family and friends and all that has happened in the 2008. I can't wait to see what 2009 has in store. I'll do my best to keep you posted...

A Minnesotan Good Time

Thank you all who put on the snow tires and restocked their emergency car kit to make it to our open house in a blizzard! We had at least 7 inches at the house, plus sub zero temps, plus blizzard wind conditions. It was great to see some neighbors stop by who have watched our house change for 30+ years. We were also able to show off our progress to THE BEST REALTOR IN THE WORLD PETE RATHJEN who helped us find, inspect, purchase and even repair parts of the house.

Lots of other family, friends and coworkers made it over to see before and after photos, have some home brew IPA on tap and take home prizes for the best homemade sweater, best P.C. sweater and most embellished sweater. It was a great start to the holiday week.