Thank You, Uncle Butch!

We walked on our future living room floor today. The outside areas and the garage are covered with black plastic, but the smooth part of the foundation is uncovered.


My Uncle Butch came over today to help us out with some much needed wall repair. I can't beleive the way our smashed up corners and walls have been transformed to new! The walls look fabulous because he is a professional. THANK YOU, Uncle Butch!

Uncle Butch had another wise suggestion- he said that we should move first and then sell this house. The thought of trying to pare down, keep this house clean and live with six people has been overwhelming. We looked at the calendar and every weekend from now until January has at least one major event planned. So, Brad is now busy examining our finances to see if it is possible for us to live with two mortgages for a little while.

Our trusses have not been delivered yet. If they could wait until Tuesday or Wednesday that would be ideal. Wilma, and now Alpha, should hopefully be out of the way by then.

Also, I think I am going to take the job offered to me by the school in which I am an intern. The principal said that she would be very flexibile. Really, it is an offer too good to pass up.




Here are two views of the back yard. Does this look big enough for a pool? We want no grass, just a pool.

FOUNDATION!

Brad stopped by the lot on the way to the office near the airport today and he happened upon them pouring our foundation! Most of the work was done, but he got some pictures of them finishing up the last bit of the garage.

Here they are using a board to level out the garage.


This machine smooths out the concrete.

The back porch at last! I can't wait to go and stand on it.

They might have delivered the trusses and wood for the framing right after the foundation was finished, but we kind of hope that they will wait until after Wilma gets out of here. For the next two weeks we need dry weather!

Other news

The last few days have been eventful for me. Today I got a job offer for a position at the school in which I am working. I'm going to think about it very carefully this weekend.

I also received my graduation announcements in the mail. Although graduation isn't for almost two months, it is great to have something tangible. The most valuable lesson that I've learned by returning to college is that every goal starts with some small step. I remember the first steps feeling almost overwhelming. Once I got a few of them behind me, the rest seemed easy. Registering for classes, buying books, and attending classes with teenagers turned out to be mostly fun. Oh, and I never thought that I'd make it through Spanish I and II, but of course I did.

This is the first of many times that I will thank my family and friends for encouraging me, supporting me and believing in me. Most importantly, thanks to Brad for being patient and generous enough to give me this time.

Boiling Water

If you've been regularly checking on the progress of this house, it must seem like watching a pot of water boil. We've been simmering without a lot of action for a long time. Today, we've just started getting all of those little bubbles shooting to the top right before the rolling boil starts to happen. The steam is getting thicker because we are just on the verge of something big!






Look, we have rebar and plastic! The foundation is supposed to be poured either tomorrow or the next day.


Here you are standing at the corner of the garage looking toward the living room on the left. The stairs will rise between the dent and the garage wall.













This is the back porch. See how it runs the entire length of the house? The bay window is in the kitchen. If you can see the horizontal boards, those are where the back sliding glass door and the pool door are going.









This is the front porch. It will have a sidewalk that runs from the driveway. Those get cement much later.



The whole crew made the treck to the dirt- can I call it that anymore? They knew we'd be going out to dinner afterwards so they agreed to pose for one picture.

Birthday Luck

Charlie's birthday, Friday, October 14th, is also our official start date. Charlie got a nice dinner out with just Mom and Dad at Olive Garden and then a trip to ToysRUs to spend his birthday money.



The house got some pipes. The grey pipes furthest to the right mark the spot of our future kitchen island.


Most of these pipes are the downstairs bathroom.

This is the view from the front to the back. Don't the trees in the back look nice? See all the space above the dirt? That will soon be filled with house. That's what we're hoping for anyway.

Oh, did I tell you about the meeting with the builder? We reviewed the plans to make sure that all the outlets and light fixtures and such are in the right places. The plans show that the top of the stairs has bannister instead of a 1/2 wall. They were quick to say that the plans were not completely accurate, but I hope the banister stays.

Pipes!

Although we have only been able to see them in the dark, we have trenches filled with pipes. The sun is going down sooner, and we are having a hard time getting to the lot with enough daylight to get a good look at things.

Friday we finally get to have the sit down meeting with the builder to go over all of the plans. I'd be more excited if I wasn't so tired.

Charlie's birthday countdown: 2 MORE DAYS!!!

Trenches

Today we went to Keystone to celebrate my grandmother's 85th birthday. All of Ollie's kids were there! Happy 85th, to the birthday QUEEN!

Happy Hockey Day!

The long awaited night has arrived! The official Hockey season begins tonight, and both the Islanders and the Avalanche are playing and being broadcast on DirectTV. Brad is a happy man. He's managed to stay awake all night. Usually he falls asleep while watching a game.

We didn't get any pipes because of Tammy. Not much to do about the weather. Luckily we don't have trusses sitting out and getting warped and soaked right now like some other houses we've seen.

Happy Hockey Day!

Plumbing

We got a call from our sales agent. We are supposed to get plumbing tomorrow. The rain could delay the pipes, but maybe not.

Did you do your homework in school? Fewer than 1/2 of my students turn in their homework on time. What is that all about?

Form pictures

It doesn't look like much, but from this humble beginning our new home will grow. We're just a few weeks from getting framed.

Next week we should get pipes and then a foundation. We're very excited to be on our way!