Well, the demolition continues... the house will soon shed all of it's public space interior walls, and that began today with the demo of some of the kitchen and the walls of the family room...  in addition, there now is no door to close off the kitchen from the front hallway, and the door from the kitchen to the garage goes tomorrow.  The actual kitchen counters and cabinetry go on Monday... 

 

Since my mind works like a project plan, the contractor will be giving me a revised copy with some key dates such as the date for the roof and some other major milestones.  The fridge will be moved to the garage and James will become the sole resident in the next week or so... it will be a bit chilly but he will have a heater for the room where he will be staying, and he will have a good electric blanket to keep him toasty. 

 

I on the other hand, will be going to stay over at the Casa De Mama, around the corner - close enough to keep an eye on things but more comfortable than sleeping in the construction zone...  8-)

 

Stay tuned for the next sets of pics!!

So it begins... A renovation has been planned for several months to change my fairly cramped living room and family room/kitchen into a Great Room.  This is a simplistic description of what will be 3.5 months of construction (hopefully).  Earlier this month, we learned that the start date for the work was today, November 17, 2008.  the contractor estimates he should be completed by the last week of February, 2009. 

 

I am the renter of a home owned by my mom, so I have some input into the surfaces chosen and the finshes we use.  But this is still a rental home, so I am not asking for luxury, just functionality.  My current kitchen is TINY, and oddly situated.  I have one work surface, the size of the top of a dishwasher.  All other counter surface is used by the cooktop, sink or is in a really inaccessible corner...  you cannot open the dishwasher and the refridgerator door at the same time... and so much more than I could ever list here.   The new kitchen will have lots of work surface and an island with seating... yay!!

 

We are moving the kitchen from the front part of the room that is currently the family room/kitchen to the back wall, looking out over the backyard.  That means removing the existing fireplace and chimney.  We are also extending the living room out to what is currently a back porch.  That means jackhammers are currently destroying the 18" thick cement back porch... I don't know how long that part will go on but I assume most of today at least...

 

Later will come the interior work, but for now they are just hammering away at the exterior... stay tuned...

WOW - Just WOW!  President Elect Barak Obama... that sounds nice!  For a very long time, I have wondered if there was ever going to be a major political candidate who represented my family in more than just politics... As of tonight, we now have that!  Barack Obama has just been named President Elect, and John McCain has conceded.   

 

When I became pregnant with my first son, who would have a white mother and a black father, my parents asked me if I knew what I was getting myself into.  I told them I did, because I accepted that loving my ex-husband and child meant that I would possibly be subjected to racism, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.  We chose to live in California, and to never travel into areas that were more pronounced in their racism (such as Arkansas where my ex-husband's family is based) because he never wanted to subject us to that side of life.  We had two more children before divorcing, leaving their white mother to raise three multiracial children.

 

Over the years, my children have experienced a small amount of racism, but it HAS surfaced on occasion.  It has come from other children who parrot what they hear at home, from looks trying to figure out where my kids parents were or if I was the babysitter, and from other adults who looked at my children as if they should be lucky to be raised in a white middleclass neighborhood, because then they wouldn't be "ghetto".  I hate that term... "ghetto".  It has so many connotations that are just so very negative, all rolled up in one word.

 

From the very beginning, it was clear that my children would be viewed as being "black" or "african-american", even though they were more than 50% white.  Their hair, skin tone and facial features made it easy to "identify" them as non-white.  What wasn't seen was that they were raised in a very diverse, multiethnic family, comprised of black, white, asian, native american and hispanic family members.  All of these pieces of the family contributed to their very well rounded personalities, plus it emphasized all that is good about each group.  They learned to love corned beef (not just for St. Patrick's Day!) as well as gumbo and BBQ.  Holidays were shared between their father's house and my family, which meant that they spent time with all the parts of the family.  All the celebrations ... all the love ... all the best of everyone. 

 

That is what I hope that the United States learns from having a President who has been raised in a multiracial community.  Barack Obama will bring a diverse perspective to the White House... he brings his white mother and grandparents, his african father and his father's family, his asian stepfather as well as Michelle's african-american family to the table.  His upbringing has shaped him, and will make him a better man to address issues dealing with all the parts of the United States. 

 

Happy is an understatement... I am ECSTATIC!!