THE EPIC CENTER

 

I think I’ll start this year with an update on the property we bought last spring and where we’re at.  We’ve spent A LOT of time at the house over the last year.  It’s been eventful and chaotic and full of not-so-fun surprises.  I mean, what did you expect from a house that is nearly 350 years old?  We jumped in with our hearts and not our heads.  We knew there would be issues.  We were right.  

We’ve remedied most of the basics, including fixing a main sewage drain that was cracked and leaking into the basement, installed a new heating system (there was no heat until late December), and at least began to do some landscaping maintenance with grass, plantings, and tree trimmings.  We have removed almost all critters from the house and the barn.  There still remains at least one small squirrel or chipmunk in the barn.  He’s a sneaky fellow, evading our best laid traps and taunting us with his audible scurrying.  He’s really tempting our patience, but he is small and we are big and we will prevail. 😊

In addition to chasing critters, we’ve been moving along with the architect plans for the build out.  It’s a wishful, beautiful plan – we preferred to start with the best possible case, and then scale back as needed.  We fully expect it will be needed.  We also met casually with the town for a preliminary review of the plans – obtaining input from conservation, the building department, the water department, and zoning.  They were excited about the project but there are some concerns of course that we’ll need to address.  We are working on that now.  We hope to submit final plans for formal approval in the next couple of weeks. 

Despite the many bumps and challenges, the journey so far has been quite uplifting.  Overwhelming at times for sure, but still uplifting.  It is an amazing feeling to have faith in an idea that started more than 10 years ago and to finally take a chance.  To have a vision of what this place can be someday.  What it will be someday.  To picture all of the programming, all of the activities, and all of the opportunities that will be available for so many kiddos.  Most of all, to be part of creating something that is so much bigger than just us and our boy.  It is an absolute privilege and a joy.   

We are excited to move onto the next phase of the project.  As soon as our social media accounts are final we’ll share the pages – we hope you will follow along.  We’ve got an exciting year ahead.