Overachiever hits road block.

Yes, yes, I know it has been a while. I haven't felt like writing. Here's what is going on over here of late.

I'm pregnant! 25 weeks on Monday and.. it's a boy. Chris and i looked at each other at the ultrasound and commented to each other about how everyone will say "how perfect!" One of each... Chris is tickled, I think. I was convinced I would have two girls.. which is why I'm having a boy, I suppose. After initial freak out, I *am* looking forward to having a boy. If it had been two girls, I bet I would always wonder what a boy would have been like. Plus, I don't have to worry about competition for my affection in that way.. they will be so different. Iris will always be "my girl". I'm glad of that, I love the stage she is at, I love talking to her. Oh.. the things she says.. priceless.

The other thing is that since we are expanding the family, our space will be getting even smaller. Our third bedroom, at roughly 7x9ft is scarcely more than a closet. Fine for a baby I suppose, but then there is no where for guests to stay, and when we live so far from families, a place for guests to sleep is really a necessity here. So, in March or so we signed a contract to have plans drawn for a home addition that was within our budget. We liked the plan a lot and were anxious to begin... So, while trying to get bids.. a contractor recommended that we got to zoning to have them check our plans over to see if we could build them. Mostly this was to see if they would allow us to keep our septic system while adding another bedroom/ office. From here we found out that we had to have our septic system tested to see if the area three ft below the drain field was free of defects/ contamination. So, we had the test done... We failed the test, with them finding bacterias at 9ft below, where our tank vent in 9.5 ft deep. So... we have been "condemned" by the county and have to have the septic system replaced. The bright side of that is that we have room to get a conventional gravity fed system which is substantially less money than a mound system. We are extremely lucky to be able to do this while living on the river. ( whew)

Of course, this now takes up $5000 of our budget. A budget which is not huge to start with. Then, the day after the news of the septic needing to be replaced I had an appointment at zoning again to talk about getting a variance for our house plans. The plans had the garage extending 11 feet ahead of the house. I found out that our house is roughly 25 ft from the right of way and the minimum set back is 30ft. The house, of course, is grandfathered in, but the zoning administrator assured me that there would be no way a variance would allow something to be built that close to the right of way, especially with the other factors of us needing to have the septic replaced anyway, thus giving us other home plan options.

In addition, on my way back to my car, I heard crunching metal, and saw a lady hitting my car in the parking lot. She had insurance, which I got.. and they are fixing the damage to my car. Still, a prefect end to a rather disappointing day.

Here we are, four months into planning with little more than a better understanding of how we should proceed to build an addition. No plans, no bids, no builder. Six and a half months pregnant and frustrated beyond belief. To top things off, the guy that drew the now useless plans has left the company, so I'm not even sure where that leaves us with the home design contract. Time will tell.

Stay tuned.. I'll certainly have something to say.