Merry Christmas, Part II

Merry Christmas from the construction zone!  We celebrated in our favorite way - by building and tearing down walls!  We've been putting our wood pile to good use, building a number of temporary walls so we could install the beams and, ultimately, take down the temporary and formerly permanent walls.  We've made a huge amount of progress and have two of the three beams installed so we're very close to having the first floor completely opened up.  We're installing Parallam beams and will leave them exposed to provide architectural interest.  We'll probably stain them a slightly darker color than they currently are but we'll wait until the new walls are up to make that decision.  Right now, it's just nice to see all the open space and say goodbye to the tiny old rooms.  We also owe a big thanks to my friend Jessica, who agreed to come visit us and help out despite the very long disclaimer email I sent in advance warning her about the state of our house and our "festive" plans for hard labor.  We're looking forward to more work, and more progress, over the next few days!