Endorsement

This afternoon while changing his diaper, James announced his endorsement for the President of the United States: "Obama!" I do not make these things up, people. Ava recognizes Matt Kelty from his signs, and told me yesterday that she was going to work for Tom Henry. Let's hope she's a prophet on that one!
Nothing new here. Weather is mid 50's and VERY windy today. We are still getting tomatoes out of the garden, and picked a few today on our way back into the house to put in quesadillas for the kids' dinner. It's too windy to be out for too long, and as we have painful memories of James' allergies last year at about this time I don't want to test it. Tomorrow should be sunny and 68*. I am thinking the park is in order!
Tonight PJ is presenting regarding the YMCA for the BZA (board of zoning appeals) in front of Council (I believe). Hoping to catch him on City TV. We tried to get a sitter to go out and hear our friend L's uncle play (he's a country musician, and from what I understand, quite good) but neither one of my sitters could do it, and the other alternate is in high school and it's a school night after all, so she was off. (If we would have gotten a sitter, I probably would have opted to go to the council meeting and hear PJ present, as I still have not had an opportunity to see it. That's entirely my fault, tho. In SB, we could have had Betsey come any time as he presented ALL THE TIME there. I'll be more diligent in my attempts here.) After that he has his first game on his soccer team, the '79 Lincolns (named for the car that the gentleman who put the team together drives). Unfortunately, there are so many teams that the rotations include games at 10:30, which is the time they have tonight. Yikes! Only 2 other games have this late start time, so it's not terrible. But what a long day for my poor man!

City Living Tour, Renaissance Pointe Style

This weekend and next weekend, Oct 27-28, the City of Fort Wayne is presenting a City Living Tour featuring Renaissance Pointe. This showcases John Street and the great models built there by Delagrange, Lancia, and Ideal Builders. On Friday evening, an event was held for local real estate agents to give them a heads up on what is going on down there. From what PJ reported, most comments (he only heard one negative) were super positive. And people were excited. Which is what we want. We want some contracts people!!!
The really cool thing I think for PJ at this job, is that unlike planning, he gets to see the results much sooner. For instance, in his past planning employment, there were projects that were so far down the pike that it might be several years before he would see one to fruition, much less feel like he was a part of it. With this project, he not only has been a part of it, but there are tangible results a year later! He said he feels really good to have gotten to this point; to the part where the builders can actually sell the homes. I do think he hopes (I totally do) that lots of people take their interest in the neighborhood and put pen to paper and build themselves a home. There are several incentives (including good down payment money and below market interest rates) to do so, and I think they have tried to make it available to people of several different income levels.
Which brings me to my next point. On one of the local blogs I read a statement about a person at the tour being upset about displacement. This let to the blogger researching more about displacement and gentrification. This is my personal opinion; I hope there is little to no displacement. I hope the families that live there will experience a better quality of life from having new homes and new neighbors. I hope that crime goes down . I hope that people rather than being afraid of the new development come out and meet the people that hope to be their neighbors. And I hope that people who do not want this new development are able to find a way to live with it. People in the past have been able to purchase homes in this neighborhood for an extremely small amount of money. But this amount may not have been small to them. Some of these people have homes that may have been in their family for years. It would stand to reason that as the new houses go up and the market finds more people to buy them (even us? more on that later...) the existing neighbors will have increased value of their homes. The only negative I can see on that is that their assessed tax value will increase, and therefore their property taxes will increase. (Hello, but our assessed value went up 27k from when we purchased??!!) But it is up to the council to take these issues to task and hopefully there will be a way for everyone to live together should they want to. It is also my hope that the development will create a need for more retail down there. I was saying to PJ as we discussed the possibility of building down there, that in our current neighborhood (Lakeside) we can walk to: the post office, the grocery store, the library, the coffee shop, several restaurants, 2 meat markets, a bakery, dentists, and a few liquor shops. At RP, there may be several restaurants and definitely the library, and a new Y in the works, but there is no close grocery or coffee shop. I hope that more retail and commercial comes down there and if it does I hope that is a benefit that current homeowners will enjoy as a result of the new development.
Okay it is apparent that I don't really know a lot about the facts, just stating my opinion. It was questioned by someone at the tour yesterday about the city's involvement. I overheard a gentleman state that the city wasn't really involved and I opened my big mouth and said it was. Really, other than PJ's involvement I don't know to what extent the city of Fort Wayne is involved with the project. However, I do know that they get federal entitlement funds and it is the city's discretion to decide what to do with them. One of these things is Renaissance Pointe. And PJ is working on the project along with others at the city, to improve this neighborhood and show people that a new home doesn't have to exist in the county. That sprawl is not the answer! And I say good for them.
And lastly I have to say again how proud I am of PJ. He has worked so hard (seemingly doubly so getting ready for the City Living Tour) and has worked with several people to get things done. And he came home Friday with a list of people to call and thank for making things happen. And that is one of the reasons I love him so.

I am a Bad*&^

The other day Ava and I were out in front pulling some weeds from where the bushes used to be, you know, to not be the Flagship of Blight on our street, when the schoolbus arrived. It stops just west of our house on Curdes, and usually the squeaking breaks or the squawking children wake up the girl. But since on this day she was already awake, she was just keenly observing these middle schoolers getting off the bus and going towards their homes. There were a few stragglers that stayed behind to chat loudly, and when they went off (2 in one direction, 1 in the other) they parted with the kind words, "F*+%@ing NERD!!!" at the top of their lungs. My immediate and not thought out reaction came out loudly. "HEY!!!" I yelled across the street. "I have a kid over here, do you mind keeping it down?!". The yeller looked down, and said humbly, "My bad." Now, if our house gets egged, I'll be pretty certain of the culprits, and I'll be waiting for those f*&@$ing nerds when they get off the bus.

Blue Outfit the Second Generation

On a previous visit Tom and Debbie brought out some of PJ's clothes from his childhood. Quite a few of the outfits are ones that pretty much fit him now. There are a few marked 18 months that James will not be able to wear through the winter, much less the 12 month ones he could not wear through the summer (are we growing with each generation?) but I am anxious for him to wear them nonetheless. Here we have a great little blue number originating from Montgomery Ward. Keep watching for there is another little outfit I hope to put him in this fall (perhaps for the city living tour?) that will make you squeal with glee. Well, maybe not squeal, but certainly bring a smile to your face :-)

A few more model homes

Enough with the demo, how 'bout some building!

It occurred to me this morning when PJ called from the site that I had put up pictures of the demolition, but none of the beautiful new model homes that line John Street now! (note: PJ is at the jobsite checking in on some prisoners (!!!) who are doing some cleanup as part of their punishment/rehabilitation.) I remembered putting a bunch of pictures on the computer last week for him so here we go. They are really quite nice, and I think I have named them properly. You can find them at the renaissance pointe website (rpointe.org) in the builders floorplans page. Seriously!!! Things are really looking great down there. Which reminds me I need to get info on the new ymca and see how that is coming along. I cannot say in words how proud I am of PJ. It's also really nice that he is hearing from people that this project would not be where it is if it weren't for him. I'm sure it's nice for him to hear it from someone other than me :-) . But again, great job PJ. I wish you all could see how great it is. The city has made the commitment to make that neighborhood really viable. Two gentlemen were overheard talking near the models, saying that you simply cannot get that much house in the city (you have to be part of the spraaaaawwwlll) much less for the price at which they are being offered. Beautiful new homes in a beautiful existing neighborhood with several amenities and excellent distance to downtown with a future trail to downtown at a reasonable price? What else could you ask for?

Verklempt

So just now writing about those beautiful old houses and buildings I got myself a bit sad, but rather than walk away feeling that I will leave you with the feeling I got when leaving John Street this morning. On our way out of the site I saw ANOTHER house that had a sign up showing that the owners were taking advantage of the money the city is offering to make their houses nice. And I don't know if its due to the model homes or the demo of the really ratty houses further down, but I also noticed quite a few nice houses where people show pride of ownership and take care of their homes. I hope these people are happy the city is working hard to revitalize their neighborhood and I hope they feel that it is becoming a better place to live. PJ says I have to stay away from the models or I will want to move down there. He shared with me some of the media they will use to help sell the project, which was a video showing what it will look like as it is completed. It's really awesome. It will be hard to keep me away though, because the City Living Tour is in a couple of weeks and he will be down there working. Don't think we won't be down there too! A move to RP is unlikely, as we really love this area, even though the neighborhood isn't what I had dreamed it would be (we couldn't get the Jensens to move with us!)

South East corner of Creighton and John Streets

The three houses going south onto John Street off Creighton were scheduled to come down Monday. They came down a little after that, so we missed it, but we were pleased to be able to see the Central Sports Building come down. I was also disappointed to not have had the camera with me the last time we were on John Street, because the three houses were getting ready to come down, with plastic sheeting over them going out quite a bit into the yard and big "WARNING! Asbestos Abatement!" signs over them. It actually was quite sad for me. All three, differing in size and style, were all quite beautiful. They had detail to them on the outside that was amazing. One could only imagine the woodwork that once existed on the inside, and all the moulding, the details in every room. The small beehive tiles in the bathrooms, perhaps. So I scorned PJ when he told me that all three were going to come down. But I also noted the sadness in his voice when he explained the cost involved with getting the house clean enough to demolish and the cost of the tear down (really quite a bit) versus the cost of cleaning it up enough to rehab then the cost of the rehab (unrealistic for a city project) . It was truly no comparison. So down they came, much like many others that had fallen prey to time and neglect in that neighborhood. I happened to catch a part of the porch still standing and got a shot, then looked back through photos I copied for PJ and found one of the existing house. The photo of the house when it existed really does not do it justice. It's by no measure the most beautiful home in the neighborhood, much less Fort Wayne, but it had quite a life, and stood proudly till the end.

Demolition

On this blustery autumn day, the kids and I stayed in comfy jams for quite awhile, eating pancakes, playing with cars, and then we got a call from PJ stating that he was coming home to change clothes. He was out at the job site supervising a building coming down and the wind was going right through him. So we rustled up his Carhart gear, and sent him on his way. Not long after the kids and I were in comfy sweatsuits and out the door with the camera because we could not miss the building coming down!!! Especially after we missed the three houses south of Creighton on John street coming down. I took quite a few of the Central Sports building getting attacked by the bulldozer, and also of the debris from the houses being scooped up and carted off. This shows the Central Sports building, before and during. I am leaving it to PJ to get an after shot.
also to note that the demo crew was able to save a piece of concrete that was on the roof of the building put there by the man who built the building and is giving it to the man's niece per her request. I thought that was pretty cool. The concrete piece was knocked somehow into the building when everything else came crashing out onto the sidewalk, and was left intact. Divine intervention?

Rock and Roll

This morning we were having a little upstairs playtime in our jams and the boy toddled over to the rocking chair and climbed up. He was having a great time rocking, and when I went to get the camera not only did he stay put but he hammed it up for me as well. He is Ava's brother, after all!

We love books in this house

In an unfortunate circumstance, we left James' favorite book behind in Phoenix. It's loss was felt, believe me. I tried to console with the companion book (My World) that I had to no avail. So over the weekend while we waited for the favorite to arrive via post (dear Debbie rushed it out in the mail!) I decided to see if Runaway Bunny would help. It seemed to help a bit but today the Beloved Book arrived, and at goodnight time, when asked which one he wanted first, he hucked Runaway Bunny across the room and giggled all the way through Goodnight Moon. My boy has his favorite. I think Runaway Bunny's feelings were hurt, but I have a feeling he'll soon make it back into rotation.

The Farmers Wife

Me: "Ava, put this scarf on and let's see how cute you look."
Ava: " Okay Mom. Let ME go look."
Pause.....
Ava: "I look like a farmers wife!"
Honey, there are worse things to be...

We went on a whirlwind trip back to Phx

When Gramps passed away it was not a big surprise. He had cancer, two different kinds, that he had been living with for a while, and had been doing pretty well until quite recently. So we were preparing ourselves for the inevitability of the situation, and in doing so, decided if when it happened if PJ would go by himself or if we would go as a family. Financially speaking, PJ going it alone was the way to go, but really that was not a choice. We are a family, and so we travelled back to Phoenix as such. We left Fort Wayne and drove to Indianapolis 2 Fridays ago, and got on a plane. Considering there was a 2 hour delay in addition to the 2 hour drive and being there and hour early and the 3 1/2 hour plane ride, our kids were CHAMPIONS!!! There was no screaming or running amok or melting down. Everyone did great- even PJ (sorry honey but unless you are sleeping you aren't always the best passenger). We arrived in Phx, and like last time, the first order of business was Jack in the Box. Mmmmm. Two mystery meat tacos and a Jumbo Jack for PJ, and just the tacos and fries for me and the kids. (We call them mystery meat but really I believe they are soy.) Then we drove by our old house on the way to Debs. It looked the same. Good. I had forgotten about the new copper porch light and house numbers we had put up. It really looked nice. But we heard the poor trees calling out to us: "Water... water please... anything, just a drop..." so I am contemplating sending an anonymous postcard requesting they give the trees a little drink. After all we did pay a purposefully homeless arborist a reasonable amount of money to prune them to health and perfection!
We spent the afternoon with Tom and Deb catching up and with the kids sleeping. They took a very well deserved nap. Actually, the first thing Ava did was make herself at home with the little desk Deb keeps for the kids and then we put them down. Then PJ passed out on the couch!
Everyone (almost) came for dinner that night and it was really nice to see everyone. Casey's little one came too and it was nice to see the kids all play together. Saturday we continued to catch up and take care of some things that needed to get done, and prepare for the guests coming to the house after the service the next day.
The service was really beautiful. One of the songs they played was "How great Thou Art" and after PJ and I remarking to each other how that song always reminds us of Gram, we recognized the voice of the singer as none other than our old friend Joe Feeney from the Lawrence Welk Show! Ava would have been so pleased. At the gravesite there were 3 Navy men there who played Taps (stunningly good) and presented the flag to Debbie. It was tearjerking. Seriously. Beautiful. Afterwards we all swarmed back to the house for food and drink and to celebrate Wally and comfort one another. It was so nice to see all the family- Gramps' brothers and their families came up from Tucson, and some of them I had either not met or not seen in several years. It was awesome for me that everyone got to see the kids. They were so great.
That night we met Brendan and went out for some hijinks. We didn't stay out too late as the day had been long (kids getting up at 4:30 a.m.!!!) and hard. But Brendan is always a must see. Also B props to you- the house really looks good. It looked better than I think it may ever have since I have known you. You're doing great!!!
Monday was a recovery day. The boys played golf at the Biltmore (very posh) and Deb and I took the kids and went to visit Becca at her new townhouse! I did not keep a close enough eye on the boy and he knocked over a bottle of nail polish, where it broke on the tile floor. But, the tile was a super fast and easy clean up! Not as much as his shoes which required a bit of remover. Seriously I was super glad she did not have carpet! After that there were hawks eyes on him at all times, and it was fun to see Becs new place. It's super cute and just the right size for the three of them. The kids had fun playing, and after golf Tom and PJ came by and we all hung out and took pictures till it was time to go home and feed the chickens.
That afternoon we decided it would be fun to go out for Mexican food. When Bec arrived we decided it was between the original Garcia's on 35th Ave or Tee Pee down the street, we decided Tee Pee since we wouldn't have to deal with traffic. I suggested walking (!!!) and after the initial surprise of the notion wore off it was decided that it would be a good idea and aid in digesting. Deb rode down in Becs car with her since she had the baby, and we had some awesome yummy mexican food. I haven't found the best mexican food here yet, so Tee Pee was a special treat. We enjoyed a stunning sunset and a bright red Camelback Mountain on our walk back home, and it was the perfect ending to the trip. We left bright and early the next morning, and with no delay found ourselves back in Indiana after a 3 hour trip with the kids being awesome again.

Wallace James Kautenburger June 5, 1922-September 25, 2007

As many of you are aware, PJ and his family lost a very dear family member. Gramps passed away on September 25th. Gramps was an amazing person, and his loss was felt by many. Please keep Gramps' family and friends in your prayers as we mourn his loss and celebrate his life.