The architect dropped off five copies of a bid packet just before Jeff left for San Jose a couple of Sundays ago. The plans would grow our living space by two fifths, by 1,000 square feet: another bedroom upstairs, a laundry room for me downstairs, larger kitchen and larger family room with a back staircase. I have always wanted to live in a house with a back staircase, so neat.

Last week I had two general contractors over to the house to review the plans. The architect recommended another two which I need to meet with. It's a big enough project that I am not having any trouble finding interested contractors. Both told me the same ballpark pricing, $100 - $150 / sq. foot. Sure, of course. But our home needs a lot of repair work too, so it will probably run more than that.

We are committed to this project, Jeff and I. Yes, it's expensive. Yes, we refinanced to fund this. But we like our home's location, the house just needs some work. I mean, sure we could do alot of other things with the money. But we think that this is the right thing to do for our family.