HEY, BOB!

Growing up, Bob Vila was like my handy, plaid-clad uncle. (See also: Norm Abram.) My dad, a carpentry guru in his own right, is the woodshop teacher at the local high school and was a hardcore DIYer before DIYing was a thing. Sidled up next to him on the best TV-watching chair in the house, I watched Bob tackle many a home improvement project with confidence, authority and great facial hair. Maybe that's why I've kept my sanity over the past few years. Bob Vila taught me that our massive renovation project can be broken up into lots of smaller, completely doable projects, each of which can be tidily covered in a 30 minute episode of This Old House.

About a year ago, one of Bob's minions contacted me and asked if I'd like to be a blogger on Bob Vila Nation, Bob's official blogging community. They call it, "a community of bloggers who live and die to DIY," which is kind of terrifying but also somewhat flattering. I was noncommittal though, seeing as how A) it's an unpaid gig and B) I have felt ridiculous every time I've thought about putting myself out there as an authority on or role model for anything renovation, domestic or DIY-related. It was an open-ended offer though, so I kept it in the back of my mind.

Recently I realized that our project is kind of unique -- hardly anyone takes on this type of massive, floorplan-altering renovation themselves -- and that Bob Vila Nation might be a good place to convince people it's a bad idea share our story with a new group of readers who are into that kind of thing.

Yesterday I submitted my lead paint post to their editors, and today it's up on the homepage of the site (top left corner). Apparently this is easier than I thought? No big deal, in fact.

So if you've come to visit Cabin Fervor via Bob Vila Nation, welcome! Wipe your feet and stay awhile.

As for this blog, nothing will change. (I never want to sell out and be forced to write about something that doesn't interest me or that doesn't directly relate to our house or experience.) The only thing that's different is that sometimes the most relevant renovation posts will be handed over to Bob's people. (Hopefully Bob himself never reads this blog because he'd probably burst into tears and send me a demoralizing email saying, "Didn't you learn anything from all those hours you spent watching my show?")

Anyway. Just wanted to make you aware of this new development, now that Bob Vila and I are internet buddies -- a dream come true, maybe, if I had known about the internet back in 1988.


Update: For some reason the link to the post from the Bob Vila Nation site isn't working. I have no idea why, as the site doesn't belong to me. It's the same content as the original post here though, FYI.

Update 2: Closing comments on this too. Freaking spam is killing me.