We've decided to hold off on building the log cabin on our property in Stokes county. The general contractor's estimate for costs came in at more than DOUBLE what we'd expected. And this is after he nickeled and dimed everything that could be nickeled and dimed, from cheaper kitchen appliances to having Blair and I stain the logs ourselves. DOUBLE. We just can't do it.

Or, we could, put we're not willing to stick ourselves into that deep a financial hole. It's a disappointment. We've owned the land, 38.5 acres, for years and years now, and have dreamed of having a little get-away cabin. (With no kids you might ask us, "Get away from what?" I tell you yet again that owning cats is very stressful...) But the price of everything has sky-rocketed in the past year and also--to put the blame where it belongs--we didn't do a very good job of doing our homework and getting a complete estimate before we started this madcap process.

I'm terribly disappointed for Blair. As always, he is Mr. Stoic. We've decided we'll save money for the next few years and re-evaluate what to do. Maybe put a stick frame there, which is considerably cheaper than log.

At the same time that it's a disappointment, oh my God, we have money again! Sweet Starbucks-mocha-buying money! We have been VERY well-behaved this year, cutting down on eating out and unnecessary expenses. We certainly won't go hog wild but let's just say I'm feeling a whole less guilty about what I spent to look good at my reunion. ;)

Meanwhile, I have to applaud our cabin designer and log home builder. The designer threw herself into overdrive trying to figure out ways to reduce the footprint so we could still afford it, and the log home builder actually offered to give us back some of the money we'd already paid him to use for temporary financing. He was under no obligation to do that. How incredibly sweet and generous is that? There are good people in the world. He also offered to try to hold onto our logs (already cut) for us and store them, but we told him to try and sell or rework them. He let us out of our contract with him based on money paid to date and not based on what was still owed. Nice, nice man.

As with everything, it was a learning experience. We'll be smarter and better prepared next time. And I feel confident there will be a next time. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to do some challenging trail runs, I know the perfect piece of undeveloped property we can go to...