Rationale

Since outlining the scope of the project in more detail, I feel like I have to remind myself why I am doing this. The end result seems obvious. We want a little cabin in the woods to spend our weekends and summer vacations with friends and family. But in our part of the world, cabins in the woods are a dime a dozen. If we had saved a little longer, and looked a little harder, we probably could have found one. But we never set out to buy someone else's cabin. What we really set out to find was a project. We have set what seems like an impossible goal and it will be great fun to see if we can accomplish it. We are also doing this with our kids in mind. We have two very modern children who are growing up in an increasingly virtual world. They love the computer, video games, television and desperately want cell phones. I want them to grow up knowing how to make something with their own two hands. I am also hoping they will learn that with hard work and ingenuity, they can accomplish anything they can dream up. If throughout the course of this project, they absorb these lessons, I will feel a huge sense of accomplishment. Some people use sports or religion, but in our family, we've chosen to use construction as the vehicle to teach our boys how to be strong, capable men. So in that sense, this is really much more than a cabin. Now I just need to remind myself of that this weekend while I'm standing out in the rain and snow waiting for the excavation contractor to show up!