The homestead budget spirals out of control.

We've decided the renovation project started 6 years ago isn't enough. So, this summer & fall of 2001 holes will be dug, concrete will be poured and tempers and money will both be lost in the yard off our kitchen wall. A little something along the lines of a basement, first and second floors will grow from the space between the glenn facing the patio doors and kitchen wall, then slightly wrap around the backdoor wall.

The new space will feature a hardwood floor dining room adjacent to the existing patio door and flow into the kitchen. Other first floor rooms will include a TV room (going to get kooky with surround sound and a custom deco entertainment stand), a half bath, a mudroom/tiny breakfast nook and the "twins' room" (don't know who the twins are; maybe they're yours). The second floor will simply be the master bed & bath rooms, featuring a scissor truss, vaulted ceiling and a reading "perch" with a view.

Lastly, the basement will rock, as basements should. Missy's office will consume 25% of the basement and include an oversized egress window to stave off "basement hysteria." The mechanical room will host all of the house's incoming and outgoing utilities, including "home run" networking. The remaining basement will be divvied-up into a full bath, stairwell and something realators call a "bonus room." We can't wait to see what the bonus is! Missy hopes it's another cat, and I hope it's pound cake.