Can this be a Mommy blog AND a house blog?

And maybe every once in a while, a Good Recipe, a My Journey on Weight Watchers and/or a Whatever Else Comes to Mind Blog?

I'm so addicted to house blogs. I'm thrilled that Aaron and Jeannie of House in Progress started HouseBlogs. It means I can get my fix all in one place. Well..that and I do still check out what's happening at Drue's place on Brickman House. And and also over at Enon Hall. I'm in awe of folks like Teague and Mindy of Fixer-Upper or Ryan and Lisa of Raise the Ranch who, as far as I can tell, have no business renovating like they do. They appear to be your average, normal people who have no more construction background than I do. And yet they plunder ahead and work on their homes as though they know exactly what they're doing - even when they don't. I love it. It gives me hope.

My home is completely devoid of character. I mean I like it. The neighborhood is great (there's a pool and a playground - neither of which is all that great all the time because we live in Pittsburgh). There's tons and tons of space for the kids to play. But...let's face it. It was built in 1966. Does that explain it all? Your basic, average, suburban development house built in the late 60s. We were fortunate in that the prior homeowners replaced the roof, the air conditioning, the driveway and the furnace! Yeah! What they didn't replace was miles and miles and miles and miles of wallpaper. And high gloss shiny white paint...everywhere there isn't wallpaper. Including the ceiling. The mind boggles at all the shininess. But there is no character to the house. None. Nowhere. I've checked. It's devoid of character. Which I knew when we bought it but still ... sometimes I miss my old house built in 1948 with big, wide moldings around the windows. 6" baseboards with the electrical outlets actually in the baseboards. Crown molding in all the rooms. Plaster walls (well, I don't really miss those that much. It was always a bitch to hang anything). The cobblestone street in front of the house....sigh.

And now...my daughter's wailing has reminded me that I am a Mommy. With very little time to renovate. And so maybe it's good that I live in my characterless suburban house from the 60s. I can inject a little more character into it slowly but surely. And I can catch snippets of house renovators on House Blogs...