we're taking it to the next level here, people

my contractor assures me we want a level 5 finish on these walls, and dammit, if the baby's not going to pitch in, someone's got to get moving.

i call this phase: level 3.5, although they all pretty much look the same to me.

we're MOMENTS away from level 5. can you feel it? at the very least, can you smell it? or maybe it's just the pregnancy stench. hard to tell.

master bedroom. windows to the right, at the top, peek out onto the rooftop deck where i will in no time at all be sipping gin and eating li'l smokies. window at the end of the hall looks over the shed (remember how dubious i was about the shed, and damn if that didn't turn out nicely) and our neighbor nick. 

joren after dark

he gets crazy after 8 pm: late night mudding.

the baby's room. joren's next project: a scaffold-style crib.

it might not look fancy

probably because it isn't. but it's the coziest basement i will ever inhabit. with any luck, the only basement i will ever inhabit. this is the living room. it's where we do most of our living (aka watching battlestar galactica) when we're not hanging drywall. also, see the blue surgical drop cloth? you wouldn't know it to see it, but it blocks about .01% of the bathroom stink wafting from the other side of the wall.

we're kind of like mole people. you can mostly tell by my mole eyes. also, we're underground. below: kitchen/bathroom/laundry. i haven't experienced a toilet so close to a cooking facility since rural myanmar. also, hello, coconut! can you see coconut? open your eye holes. coconut!

boudoir. and the headboard? plywood storage!

a snow day in portland, oregon

the dusting that brings our lovely city to a screeching halt.

drywall fun

step right up and grab a knife. whoa. careful now. knives are SHARP! and pointy! not just for fun and throwing and juggling.

and i know it's a little blurry, but aren't these tulips gorgeous? also, the stitches. i'm happy to say joren did not execute this batch himself. although i hate to admit his self-ministered ones looked a little better. a little. the black thumbnail is unrelated.

more exterior

because the interior is still a bit "undeveloped", we'll focus on the "exterior" for a little longer. also, it's "sunny". we've had an unusually dry winter which makes for excellent "working on the exterior time" as well as "a super scaly beth".

look at the bottom of the photo below. see the window hole? if i were down there, i'd be waving. or maybe flipping you off. but probably doing a jig. that's our new apartment. it's fancy, but we try not to get too uppity in our basement digs.

put on your imagination caps for just a moment

it's hard to see, but besides all the resting and relaxing and cedar board staining, joren's plumbed and wired the entire house. i'd take pictures, but it looks like, well, a bunch of tubes and wires. fascinating!

we'll get an inspection on both soon and with any luck we'll begin the insulating. our home will be lined with hope and optimism and maybe a smidgen of regret and hints of despair. but mostly hope. also newspapers and straw.