New Job, new house—sort of, to both

Since I'm a writer, I have decided to get in more practice, so I've resolved to be more faithful about contributing to this blog. Besides, we're embarking on a big project, and it might be interesting to record its progress. Interesting mainly to me, since I'm not aware of anyone who actually reads this. otoh, I have a newsletter that tells about how to write a successful blog (by which I presume that means a blog that gets read—or makes money ha), so who knows what will happen? If I bother to read the newsletter. I start a new job Monday. Sort of new. I'm going back to the building I left when I took the early retirement package from MBNA. But it's Bank of America now, and I'll be a contractor instead of an Assistant Vice President. Lower status, about the same pay. Much shorter commute than my current job working for the state in the capital, Dover, 43 miles away. So, I'll be returning to the commute I memorized over the course of eight years. On to the project. We're planning to put an addition on the house. We'll have a sort of new house!

1. My dad passed away in Nov of 2006 at age 89, almost 90, of kidney failure and old age. He left me and three siblings a small but nice inheritance. They say you never know what a person is really like until you share an inheritance with them, so I must have pretty good siblings. Not a single dispute or moment of disharmony. Most of my share went to supporting my family while I job hunted for seven months this summer, but there's some left over. Even after sending the IRS a huge check due to a goof on the part of our (former) accountant. At least I have no debt except the mortgage on the house.
2. Val's mom died unexpectedly last winter—she wasn't a whole lot older than I am—and Val will most likely get half of the proceeds from the sale of Mom's house.
3. I qualified for a decent home equity line of credit.

Those things make it just possible to put a couple rooms onto the house. We plan to get each kid their own room, add a studio for Val's painting, and make room for the grandparents-in-law to move in. We'll divide the house into two living areas that can be opened to each other for large social events like pig roasts and painting workshops. Art and Myrtle live in half of Val's mom's house now, and they'll need a place to live. We're looking forward to having them join us.

• We believe in extended families.
• They like their great-grandchildren, and our kids like them.
• Both Mert and Val do the same kind of painting (see samples of Val's work on the photo site—link at the top of the blog).
• Art likes Delaware, and he's handy around the house.

A win-win all around. We've retained an architect, Blupath Design, who are big on green and creativity. We've met a couple times to discuss plans, and next week we'll see the 3D renderings. I'll post pictures of the project as I go along, I hope.