Oh it feels so good to hold a screw gun in my hand again!

The first order of business was cleaning up what the snow, ice and wind had left in it's wake. As you can see in the first picture above, my work shelter was crushed to smithereens. At least the tools all survived just fine - and my tiny house held up well.

Scott and I built the little porch roof and proceeded to hoist it up and attach it. We almost killed each other in the process - it's  harder than it looks! Not to mention my A.D.D. kicking in.

As Scott was precariously holding up the roof all by  himself while I was supposed to be getting something,  a plumped-up green humming bird flitted over and landed on the raspberry bushes just inches away from me. I exlaimed "wow... look at that!" and as Scott turned to look the roof began to tumble! He caught it just in the nick of time before it came crashing down on my head - whew! We laughed so hard we had to take a break before we could finish what we were doing. I am sooo fired!

But the porch roof is up with it's fancy porch pillars now. She's really looking like a little home.

I toyed around with the best way to secure the windows I had gotten for free awhile back - and I'm still working with that. You can see how it looks in the pictures above.

The insides remain a shambles - and really I'm going to have to wait until I get a few dry, and dare I say it... warm days to get the skylights sealed up.  Until then, I'll just keep working on the outside - which is plenty to keep me busy.

So the Pacific Northwest was hit with a major snow storm (in case you hadn't heard). What did I do? I headed the heck out of town! I flew to Colorado where people know how to deal with snow. My mom, my daughter and I all went tohang out with my brother and his family. It was a very nice time - filled with watching movies, eating tons of great food, shopping, ice fishing, sledding and walks in the cold, quiet snow.

Meanwhile all of Seattle basically shut down - and my tiny house sits, untouched.

I'm itching to get moving on it.

I need to remove some of the roofing and really work on making the skylights less leaky. That is an advantage to taking my time - I can see how each bit holds up before I get too far to fix things.

So it's fixing those leaks - then it's onto installing the windows. Once those are in I can put in the door and it will be fully enclosed. This will make it easy to work on the insides even if the weather continues to be nasty.

I have a date with Scott this Saturday to do what we can. Wish us luck!

Seems like my entire life has shifted - shifted the direction I've always wanted it to shift. It's an amazing feeling - this feeling of alignment.

Weather, time, money and the lack of help have kept me from much progress on my tiny house lately.

In the meantime, as the economy has plumited I've watched as my workplace began to dive as well. The subject matter we were promoting just isn't something that's gonna make it through this downfall. As hard as my boss has tried to keep things going - it's clear that there just isn't enough money to keep all of us there employed. So he let me know that as of January 1st I'd be laid off. I  had already gone part-time - so my money was already tight. I HAD to find a new job.

I landed my dream job. A desk job at Full Circle Farm, a company I've loved for years. A couple years back I sold veggies for them at th Edmonds Farmer's market on Saturdays in the summer - just as a hobbie really. It was the hardest, longest work I'd ever done - and at the end of the day I'd be exhausted but happier than I'd ever been. Working hard for something you really care about, believe in, is so much more satisfying than just getting by in a job because you need a job.

And now I find myself about to live in a self-sustaining, eco-friendly home. Living a concious lifestyle. Now even my job is aligned with my passions. I'm so happy and excited. It's the best christmas gift ever!