Before + Progress Pictures: The Historic House By The Water: Living Area, Part 5

Before + Progress is an ongoing series keeping you up to date on whatever project is currently occupying our time. There is still lots to be done at this point to make the Progress photos actually qualify for the coveted After stage.

Double click on the photos to enlarge.

Yes, I most certainly have Progress Pictures to share with you. I do. But first let's discuss Very Important Things.

Fortunes and butterflies.

Behold...



That is the fortune that P.F. Chang's bestowed upon me for lunch today.

Quite appropriate, don't you think?

When I first busted open the cookie I wanted my money back. All it said was Carrot. Then Andrew pointed out that I was reading the Learn To Speak Chinese side. Which explained the Hong Luo Bo written beneath it. So I flipped it over to reveal this little treasure.

Wise, old, insightful P.F. Chang's.

Ahem.

Moving along.

Let's talk butterflies. No, not the pretty, fluttering kind that I spent an entire day of Girl Scout Camp making a net to capture in only to end up spending half of that summer using said net to catch toads in the creek with my brother. Toads that we would stick in our socks and tie around the handles of our bicycles and take home to my mother. Who would scream, "Get those out of my house RIGHT NOW!" and make us disinfect ourselves outside with the hose.

No no no, not those kind.

The kind in your stomach. The ones that you get when someone delivers big, huge, life altering news wrapped up with a pretty, white bow. Or says the dreaded, "Why can't we have a serious conversation?" Or takes the liberty of putting themselves into the address book in your phone. Without your permission.

I call them Adrenaline Butterflies. Or, Nervous Butterflies. Or, Did That Guy Really Just Throw His Keys Across The Closing Table Butterflies. Or, I'm Jumping Out Of A Plane Butterflies. Or, That Is In Fact A Panther On My Porch Butterflies. Or, CALM THE HECK DOWN You Can Delete Him Later When He's Not Looking Butterflies.

Those ones. You know the kind.

Anyway, I have them. The Butterflies. Bad. But that's not the weird part. What's odd is that I've had them -- get this -- all day. ALL DAY LONG. For hours. HOURS. And, I ask you, what do I have to be nervous about?

Not a single thing.

Nada. I have no excuse. For the first time in, oh, TEN YEARS OR SO I am completely and utterly relaxed. Calm. Mellow. I actually let people say the entire word goodbye before I hang up the phone. I don't feel anxious. I don't feel nervous.

So what's with these butterflies?

And as if that isn't enough, there's more to thicken the plot. I took your advice -- Waaaiiittt a minute, you say, You WHAT? That's right. Don't look so shocked. I totally took your advice and saw a chiropractor. Aaand guess what? It proved what you've suspected.

You are, in fact, smarter than I am.

And so was the chiropractor.

Actually, he was a genius. I've seen chiropractors before (two, if you're asking) but nothing -- nothing -- came close to this David Copperfield of a doctor. He was brilliant. It was like he single handedly lifted fourteen suitcases stuffed full of bowling balls and Chicago bricks (they're really the only kind to pave with, are they not?) and removed them from my head, shoulders, and neck with a few well executed Mr. Miyagi type dance moves. The fact that he hasn't yet received a Nobel Peace Prize or Nike sponsorship should be the subject of public outcry. If his wife didn't work the front desk (and my vision was somewhat less inept) I may have kissed him right there on the spot. Really. The relief was that good.

Anyway, besides working his magic on my vertebrae, he also took my vitals. And guess what? High blood pressure. High blood pressure. Me?! (If you follow this blog, than you know that I'm an avid runner, workout junkie, and pretty darn healthy overall.) The only time that I've ever had high blood pressure is when I was working eighty hour weeks. But now? High blood pressure? Butterflies? What in the world is going on here?!

I'm relaxed. I'm not stressed. I'm not anxious. For me, this is slow motion.

High blood pressure and chronic butterflies. Seriously? Seriously?!

What do you all think? Anyone out there who can offer some insight?

Doctors? Nurses? Psychics? Mr. P.F. Chang?...

All right.

No more random babbling. I shall give you what you came here for.

On with the show...



So remember how I told you that we're ripping out that bi-fold door (the photo on the left) in The Kitchen and replacing it with a vented door (the photo on the right) in The Dining Room?

I thought it might be helpful if I took a few minutes to sketch a little floor plan for your reference.



Above is what it looked like when we bought the house. You can also see where that vent we're replacing is located.



And this is how we're whipping it into shape.

It leaves a nice solid wall for additional counter space in The Kitchen design.

Contractor Bobby (Doug's father) has already installed the vent in the door and he's working on the hardware now.



Luckily, he had a large collection of old plates and knobs for us to choose from. Isn't that nice?

This is not a contest to see how many times I can say "Wow."

Let's not forget the fireplace.

Below left is what that fireplace looked like yesterday, and on the right is today. I know how much you all LOVE that fireplace.



And here's a close up.



So what do you think?

See Part 4 here.

See Part 3 here.

See Part 2 here.

See Part 1 here.