The chili came out really good!  I started it kind of late - around 2.  It simmered on the stove for three hours!  But it was good, and everyone really liked it.  Trevor said it was very good for my first chili, but he would recommend adding in celery when I am sauteing the onions.  I thought it was a good suggestion - it will add it something fresh, and a nice crunch.  There’s a lot left over, so when we got home, I packaged some up in tupperware for my dad and Larry for lunch tomorrow.  I guess it will freeze nicely, and we can use it for a nachos topping, or as a filling for burritos.

We were at Liz’s house watching the game (Liz is a member of Beers For Good, and helped organize Brew Year’s Eve).  She somehow got on to the topic of energy, and solar power, and she mentioned that she had a solar powered water heater!  It’s been in the house for a long time, and still works.  We all went into the room and saw how it hooked up.  It was pretty neat, and I told Trevor that I would want one of those in my mini house.  We started talking with Liz about my mini house, and I pulled up the plans that I liked from the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company.  The three of us looked at the plans, and found that it actually lists specifics about the width and height, and how large each room is and everything.  Liz got out her tape measurer, and we decided to see just how big my mini house would be.

We were able to measure it out perfectly in her house so we could all visualize where the house would be.  Liz pulled out 18 feet (the length of the house) and stood down at a weird end, (where there is a piano and a wall in the way), so I had her move down to the other end so we could get an area that was open.  She had a wood stove in her basement (we were in the basement which is finished), which was the exact point of our measuring.  The 18 feet went out to the end of the stove, and then it cut across to the wall perfectly the other 13 feet (or so).  It was big enough for a full sized couch, and I was able to see what it would look like to cut into the room with the bathroom and kitchen.  We were also talking about what it would look like if the loft didn’t extend the whole floor, but was cut open, so you could see up into the loft.

Kind of like this, but on a smaller scale:

I would also want the one wall (right near where that hanging light is), to be a lot of windows, especially up top, to get some light into the upstairs loft.  I could also do a skylight over that open area.  Then, it could look down over the living room area.  Also, with a banister like the one in the picture, it could be removeable, so that I could hoist furniture upstairs.  We started talking about the loft because I was asking how I would get a bed and desk upstairs.  Trevor said that I would have to build the house with the furniture already up there.  I mentioned that I wouldn’t even need a bed (he was talking about me having a big bed that I’d have to put together, with a head board and everything), and I said I would just get a mattress and boxspring and set it on the floor.  He didn’t like that idea, and said “Yeah, or you could just live in a trailer.”  He thinks that not having a bed makes it even more white trash-ish, I guess.

We all decided that once it gets nicer out, we’ll go out in our side yard and measure out exactly the size of the plans I’m looking at.  Then we will get a real feel for what will fit where (will a double bed really fit where they have it pictured?).  Liz also said I should take a look at her shed, because it’s about the size I’m looking at.

Or, I could just buy this house from Home Depot for $10,000.  It’s 240 sq ft, but probably no loft.