I met with the builder today to pay for the house reno so far. The roof is done, the windows are in, the basic construction is done. Came in nearly $3000 under bid (!) and more was done than was bid. Luckily, there were no major, or even minor old house surprises.

Next step, starting next week thanks to the savings: plumbing, electrical, heat ducts, insulation and dry wall. Which means moving into the new bedroom could be quite soon.

I will send out an invitation to friends next weekend to come help with removing the chimney and hearth. I've decided to take it all the way down, which means eventually I'll need to replace the living room floor-can't imagine I can patch a great big hole right in the center of the room, and I'm not fond of the laminate flooring anyway. In the short term I'll patch it with some plywood and maybe an area rug and start figuring if it will change how I arrange the space.

I bought woodworking plans for a sewing machine cabinet. I mentioned them to my woodworking friend who salvaged a lot of the house pine and he offered to guide me through building it, using the house wood, which would be very cool.

This has been a terrific experience.