House of Bamboo

After what seemed like a month of mondays, we finished our packing and moved into the house on Friday, April 23rd. We hired a couple of guys — the SULTANS of SCHLEP — to help us with the move and they achieved the impossible — they got our big couch out the front door. It took an incredible amount of work to get it in the house, so we were concerned that we would have to leave the couch at the old house. But happily, the couch was extracted and it now sits squarely in the living room of the new house. Although we don’t have as much time to sit down and relax these days, we’re looking forward to summer afternoons when the last boxes are finally unpacked.

Here’s a short video clip of Max’s very first public performance. He was a very convincing sailor in a skit produced by Miss Marian, the dance teacher at his Chibi-chan Preschool. I have to admit, I was a little nervous before he started, because his practices at home were a little rough. Before he went on stage, I told him that the most important thing was to have fun. So, after he took his finger out of his nose, it looks like he had a good time. What do you think, is he ready for prime time? Click on the picture to see it! (Sorry the camera was moving around — I had a hard time keeping it still…)

On Sunday afternoon, our friends Danielle and John, or Tia-D and Ernie as Max calls them, took the boys to a party so we could go to Home Depot. It wasn’t exactly a date, but it was nice for Joy and I to be alone in a store without the boys playing with the power tools or climbing ladders. We bought all kinds of fun and exciting stuff, like a kitchen faucet, a dining room chandelier, a shower head, and even a new toilet seat! We also bought a new garage door and opener, which is funny, because a few days before that, I didn’t even know where you’d go to buy a garage door. It will be nice to have the new door, but honestly, I’d rather have spent the money on something more cool, like a front-loading washing machine or landscaping our backyard. I guess buying a house really changes your priorities…

Chet is building us an office space where the linen closet used to be.

The painters came in on April 12-15 to paint the interior of our house. The colors Joy picked out look great. They look very natural in the house, as if these colors are supposed to be there…

What a relief! The San Bruno Planning Department has approved our plans to add a full bathroom in the back cottage. They previously had given us verbal approval for the remodel, but on Wednesday, they unexpectedly told us that we could only install a half bathroom (no shower). But today, they came back and said it’’s OK to build the shower (which is great because we had basically already built it!). Getting that approval was the last big thing we needed to get accomplished, so we are finally feeling that our plans are coming together.

It’s hard to believe that we’ve only been working on the property for six days. We’re making progress everyday. I think we’re on target to move in to the main house on April 22nd. Joy’s brother, Chet, has been working hard on getting Kathie’s cottage ready and we’re hoping it will be ready by the middle of May.

In the photo, Chet, or as Max and Oliver call him, “Uncle Chuckie” is working on the bathroom in the cottage.

Here they are, the first photos of our new house. I took them on Tuesday morning, April 6. I’ll try to add more photos as we make progress through the work we’re doing.

Click on the photo to see more.

Here’s the link to see the old photos I’ve had on the web of Max and Oliver. The photos were taken from December 2001 to August 2002. I’ll try to do a better job of keeping this site up to date.