Expansion/Context
Since our family is due to grow in June, we decided we should do what we could to grow our liveable space prior to the arrival of Lillian. Our options were limited, and we opted for finishing a part of our basement. We hired contractors to the framing, build a subfloor, and rough in the plumbing. With the help of my very handy brother-in-law Tom, I'm doing the rest. I'm surprised at how much of it I can do by myself. It's not that running electrical wire or installing insulation or drywall is all that hard, really, it's just that I never imagined myself doing it. It's really kind of fun. The smell of the sawdust, the power tools, the tool belt-it all makes me fell like a Big Man.
Linus is enjoying it, too. Jane's parents got him a Home Depot kid's toolkit for Christmas, and every night, he's down there with me. If I use my hammer, he uses his hammer. Same with the saw and screwdriver. And his kit came complete with kid goggles, which is actually quite useful, because they really do protect his eyes when he gets up close to watch me work. Whenever I see him down there with me, with a very serious look on his face and hammer in hand, it brings a huge smile to my face.
It will probably (hopefully) take me two months to complete the project. While I have been working, I've been listening to some new discs some friends have copied for me. I've got two Old 97's discs that loyal Pipeline reader Chris Z. gave to me, and now I have the Paul Westerberg Stereo and Mono discs, courtesty of loyal Pipeline reader Brian S. I will grow to know those albums (and soon, the new White Stripes album) while I labor away in my basement, preparing for our new arrival. I anticipate that hearing those albums down the road will probably always remind me of when I first got to know them, as Linus and I enjoyed our time together building the new room in the basement, in those last weeks before our lives were to change forever, yet again.
3:02:05 PM 
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