Wow, I just looked back at my last post and realized how long ago it was. I have been seriously neglecting this blog! Not sure why, there were plenty of things I could have posted about: The open house we had for the neighbors to show them our plans (and the super friendly folks we met). . . The time I tried to build a fire in the fireplace and smoked up the whole house. . . And then, somehow believing my force of will could make that chimney draw, doing it again the very next day. . . The new neighbors next door who, to my delight, decided to take down the gigantic, ugly cedar tree just on the other side of the fence (yay, no more crap falling into the pool and onto the patio!)

The big news that finally brought me back for a post? Last week we appeared before the planning commission for the hearing on our permit and design review applications, and our proposal was unanimously approved! My nervousness about neighbors objecting to a modern home with a two-story plan, or about the planning commissioners being too conservative for a design that’s edgier than most houses in the neighborhood, was totally unfounded. The neighbors were all super supportive, and the commissioners all raved about Lev’s design. (I think the commissioners are closet modernists who have been eagerly waiting for someone to build something other than cutesy board-and-batten cottages or over-wrought faux barns.)

So now we move on to the hard part — finding someone we trust to build this house! Oh, and finding someone to lend me enough money to do it.