Saving Energy with Fluffy White Stuff

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One of the house projects that excited me most was improving the energy efficiency of our new house. Built in 1983, it only had 6-8 inches of insulation in the attic. That amount was probably the minimum required by building code back then since energy was so cheap and people didn’t think much about energy efficiency. To bring our house up to the recommended amount, we needed an extra foot or more of blown-in insulation, which would keep our home cooler in summer and warmer in winter. I was also interested in a radiant barrier, which is a special type of aluminum foil that’s attached to the underside of the roof to reflect heat and keep the attic cooler.

I got very similar bids from two different companies and gave the job to KMD Comfort Zone in Fort Worth. Their three-man crew arrived early Wednesday morning and immediately got to work. By lunchtime they were done. Our attic now looks like the inside of a Jiffy-Pop bag – shiny foil on the top, fluffy white insulation on the floor with all the ceiling joists buried. They also installed an attic tent, which is a zippered covering to prevent air from leaking through the pull-down stairs. I wish I’d taken before and after pictures. I might take an after picture when I have a chance. The crew worked really hard and did a great job. Unless your home is only a couple years old, it could probably use more insulation, and a radiant barrier would be helpful for the summertime if you live in a hot climate like Texas. I highly recommend giving KMD Comfort Zone a call.

I Need a Vacation from my Vacation

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Hello! My name is Andy Box, and I run this blog. =) Sorry it’s been so quiet lately. We’ve been out at the house almost every day for the last week working on various projects. I’ve been off work for nearly two weeks, and it’s been the busiest two-week “vacation” ever with closing, house projects, yearly cockpit observation flights, home group, Jenny’s birthday, a Stars game, and three CARES events. I switched back to normal schedule (sleeping at night, awake during the day), which felt kinda weird. It was difficult to resist the temptation to stay up late to work, research, watch movies, or do the other things I normally do on my nights off.

To help keep my blog semi-organized, I’ll save the specifics on the house for other posts.

The Word is Out

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Some of my loyal readers already know our big news through other means, but in case you haven’t heard, we just closed on a house yesterday. We had to keep it a secret until we told our apartment manager, which we kept postponing until a replacement CARES team was in place. It’s been killing us to keep this a secret because we’re really excited about the house. However, since it means stepping down from CARES and moving away from all the friends we’ve made, it’s definitely a bittersweet time for us. We’ve enjoyed serving as a CARES team, but we’re ready to move on and have more space and time for our growing family.

The house is in north Euless, a mile or so from the apartment we lived in right after our wedding. It’s two-story with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. The bedrooms are all upstairs. It has a big fenced yard for Brenden with room for a swingset. The downstairs layout is circular with lots of open space, so it’ll be nice for entertaining and for Holly’s running spells. If you want pictures, here’s a link to the listing, but I don’t know how much longer the listing agent will keep this webpage up.

We don’t plan to move until April 21 or so since we’ll still be running events for our residents through April. In the meantime, we are packing up and doing some work on the house. We’ll be plenty busy through the end of April, so please pray for our sanity!

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

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I didn’t know much about The Diving Bell and the Butterfly before I saw it other than a few mentions during the Oscars a couple years back. It’s a French drama with English subtitles, definitely a “me” movie.

It turned out to be a very moving film about a 40-ish man who has a stroke and becomes completely paralyzed except for his left eye and his mind. A therapist works out a system by which he can communicate with her by blinking. Eventually, through countless hours of tedious toil, he “dictates” a book about his experience and what he has learned. Great acting and direction bring to life the man’s gauntlet of emotions during his journey: confusion to bitterness to acceptance and determination. In some ways it reminded me of a book I read years ago called Johnny Got His Gun, a war movie about a veteran who is reduced to a limbless, bitter man with none of the 5 senses except touch. He communicates with his caregivers through Morse code.

Although not the right movie if you need a good laugh, this film really renewed my appreciation for the gift of life and all the little elements of life that most of us take for granted: the ability to walk, to talk, to hug and kiss a loved one, to enjoy a good meal. It’s easy to get so worked up with our own problems that we forget how good we have it. For example, I sometimes get discouraged that my knee won’t let me run as much as I would like. But I guarantee there are many people who would be thrilled just to be able to walk.

The Scoop on Chipotle

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I love me some Chipotle. I would probably eat there every week if Jenny would tolerate it. Supposedly Freebirds makes a mean burrito as well, an even bigger one, but I haven’t been there yet. I like Chipotle because they make good, inexpensive food and try to be environmentally responsible by using locally grown produce and less-tampered-with meat.

After polishing off a particularly huge burrito Thursday night (got a coupon in the mail for a free burrito – SWEET!), I decided to look up the nutritional content. It takes a little work since you have to add up each ingredient. My typical burrito adds up to about 900 calories. Yikes! Then I always get chips that I sort of split with Jenny. A full bag is 570 calories. During non-Lent I add a Coke. So we’re looking at potentially 1600-1700 calories in one meal, a meal that seems to be fairly healthy. After all, it does have grilled chicken and black beans! Hmm…maybe I should start skipping those chips. ‘Cause you know I’m not skipping the burrito.