Well I’m sure ya’ll are just dying to know what’s been going on since we chatted last. Ya’ll were certainly quick to point out when the last update wasn’t there for you to read right away now, weren’t cha? (Yep-been to Savannah, GA & loved it!)
Aren’t ya‘ll all just living your new house building dreams and renovation projects vicariously thru us??
Believe me …that’s the ONLY way to do it.
We only had a couple of weeks in the beginning of the month of March, before we left on vacation since our last update. Things should have been status quo…but…
We worked our butts off to get Tom’s Master shower tiled (the 7’ wide shower)
before we left. Well, Mandy (mostly) & Tom tiled, I played with Eva…what a sweet deal I’ve got!
Had quite the scare the day before we left for our trip, our computer was acting up & I couldn’t access any of the info on it…called Gateway; they ran a test….Dx: hard drive died!!! Panic attack!!
Everything for the trip was on there, confirmation #’s, addresses, directions…etc., etc.
I’m freakin…decide to run the same diagnostic test only the more intense version….
Damn good thing…just a couple of fragmented discs which are now repaired (no Thanks to Gateway) & the computer is working fine. Learned my lesson though…I am backing up now. That was a panic attack I didn’t need.
Do you remember the whining & moaning (must have been Tom, I don’t do that) about the scissor lift that was here for 3 months & finally drove out the front door on the 29th of December? (Not that I keep track of those things) Well it’s little sister moved in the first week of March…. we had a problem with the wiring to the lights in the ceiling of the family room (this is the ceiling that is 23, 24 or 25 ft high depending on the e-mail & my frustration level). Didn’t know if the drywall crew nailed the wiring, something was pinched too tight in the installation of the light fixtures, or who knows what else? So…don’t we have to rent this damned BEEP, BEEP lift again???
“Actually, (says my husband) there is a condensed version (like Reader’s Digest?), still beeps but doesn’t require removing the front door.”
Must be my lucky day!
Took 3 guys & about 6 hours to determine & repair the problem, ( no they weren’t all Polish) but we have working lights. Not everywhere…don’t get excited…some are jerry-rigged to work but are not connected to a switch. My husband has decided we should rent this little one once a year now so I can wash windows easier. Isn’t he sweet? Always thinking of me.
OK , problem fixed….off on Vacation!!! Left for FL on the 15th of March in a flippin snowstorm…bordering on blizzard in our neck of the woods. I think the snow in the trunk of the car was deeper than the luggage! Tom was not a happy camper packing the car. Oh if only we had a garage …(Oh…we do! Just can’t use it to park a car in, in fact, we can’t use it to park a bike in!) 30 Minutes into the trip south the sun was shining!
Vacation was WONDERFUL….we so enjoyed spending time with family & friends.
Meeting our new great nephew was such a delight! (OK not so new.. he’ll be a year old on the 27th of this month) I am now “TaTa Marta” in Moroccan.
Not only are we “Great” Aunt & Uncle” (as our other nieces & nephews will attest too), but our newest nephew is great too & quite the charmer….he even conned Uncle Tom into picking him up, not once, but Twice!!! For those of you who don’t know…Uncle Tom held his first infant this year & not by choice, the baby was thrust at him due to a problem. So this is quite the accomplishment. Our niece’s husband is quite the artist and we talked to him about creating a piece of artwork for our family room. The only hold up is all the kitchen cupboards are still being stored in the family room; that & the fact that we’re still missing some walls.
OK-so we’re back from vacation, enjoyed all of it…we are refreshed, relaxed & ready to get going again!!!! I told you Tom said we’d come back & look at everything with fresh eyes.
I just don’t quite know whose eyes he’s using! I’m thinking a little more wine; mine will be bloodshot, so it won’t matter. . I hear about this plan in the car on the way home (captive audience?).
So…the vision thru the “fresh” eyes…which, by the way; has nothing to do with our house construction.
Remember my “little ice cream stand?” Well it appears that the couple we leased the
restaurant to doesn’t want the challenge just yet of running a stand. So they want to lease it out. Tom & his brother decided we should lease the stand & Martha can manage it.
WAIT A MINUTE…….We own the building….nothing in the contract says they can lease it out. Much less why would we sublease our own bldg??? I’m confused…
Wait it gets worse….I’m going to run the ice cream stand in a portion of that subleased building we own!!! I’m going to WHAT!!!! I’m thinking I don’t understand what the sun has done to my husband. (Alternative of what I might do to my husband is worse….).
We get home to phone calls from a woman who would like to lease the space, is experienced, just short of cash for start up…
(sound like most of the other deals? Hey, at this point I’ll give her the money!)
So let’s set up a meeting, see if she’s legit or a fruitcake. We’ll send Tom & his brother Jim (I have to watch baby Eva, poor me).
Long version-shortened-she’s got her act together, has family backing, she’ll work out the lease with the couple currently leasing the restaurant & they’ll continue paying us our lease payment. Bottom line-I’ll continue being a general laborer in our new home-YIPPEE!
Now there is the second idea in the car with this whole captive audience thing….
(background: we bought a house in FL that needs rehab, …very good friends of ours are living next door & doing the rehab work).
Remember the infamous kitchen cupboards???? The ones that were nothing like what we had originally planned???? Well we now have the flooring, ceramic tile back splash, paint colors & counter top selected; based on the design & color of those cabinets.
So what could possibly be the problem now you ask??? My husband, because he loves me & knows how unhappy I was, decided that those cupboards should go to Florida & be installed in the rehab house.
At this point, I’m really not sure if the man is trying to push me over the edge or if he just can’t win. Those cabinets have been decided on & we have planned the kitchen design around them. Does he really think we should start from scratch again???
Needless to say, the cabinets will not have a new home in sunny Florida.
So, I’m sure you would like to know how the actual house itself is coming…well we’re still living in the same 3 rooms and as of the 30th of April it will be 7 months. I’m thinking that my original completion date of Oct 1, 2006 is not looking so good.
(That’s the one my hubby chuckled at & thought was way too much time)
So…some updates…you know I’m no longer washing dishes in the vanity sink in the bathroom, I have a kitchen sink in the pantry…I am however still washing dishes. I seem to recall telling you in Nov, that when I graduated from vanity to pantry sink to dishwasher it would only be a couple of months. There is no dishwasher in the pantry (except me of course), nor are there any plans to put one in. What was the man thinking?!? So I have been thrust back to the dark ages & am washing dishes 3x a day. I can live in a house under construction for months…men running in & out with power tools most days, the noise, the dust, the lack of privacy….but washing dishes by hand?!? PULEEZE!
In March I told you the metal stairs came down on the 26th of Feb. & it was only going to be for a couple of weeks. We were so excited the new oak stairs were going to be installed….the installation began on the 10th of April! Then a little lag time….excuse…parts aren’t here. Started back up on the 19th, on the 20th, their lunch break was an hour & the 3 guys were fishing off the deck (ha-didn’t catch anything though)!
On the 21st Tom noticed the wrought iron balusters we ordered weren’t the right ones. Stairs are now delayed at least 3-4 more days. They show back up on the 26th , it’ll be another 3 days. The stairs will be beautiful, since they are custom built, but between the sawing, drilling, sanding, for days, you lose the focus.
The hot tub ….well it’s still sitting on the side deck. No we aren’t using it yet, but thanks for asking. It’s not in it’s proper resting place nor is it hooked up yet. But it sure looks inviting.
The master bath is moving along, the tiles have been grouted & sealed in the shower.
The beautiful bay window in the tub area has been installed, no tub & the view is the neighbor’s junk car
…..but the window IS in. My tub area has been dry walled & the painting has begun.
The ceiling has been framed in for the 2nd guest room & the plastic laid over the framing to blow in the insulation. Will happen in the next week or two. Nasty stuff…dust everywhere, at least we can have the windows open now...not like in the winter.
Ran into a little spring snag….the eaves of the house are not covered yet, just stuffed with insulation, well the starlings are pulling out the insulation & trying to build nests in the areas they have cleaned out. All the rest of the birds are picking up the insulation flying around the deck & using it to build their nests elsewhere. There will be an awful lot of pink nests in the neighborhood at this rate. Poor Tom had to cut chicken wire & staple it up to cover the eaves. I kissed his boo-boos, he’s all better.
Well, I think we’ll wrap this up for this month; we’ll certainly keep you posted on the ongoing saga. We’re glad to be home & looking forward to the next vacation. I’m thinking when the last phase of drywall happens-it would be a good time to get outta Dodge!
EEGADS! Remind me not to go this long again before the next update!
Tom “Mr. Fresh Eyes” & Martha “the Captive”
Let's see...then there was the bird that got into the house on the 30th (I have to take pictures, no one would believe this stuff...), no matter what we did, he had no interest in leaving. Apparently all he wanted to do was keep flying into windows. Tom kept hoping he'd knock himself out. (I assume it was a "him" since he didn't ask for directions.) I was more concerned about bird droppings landing in areas I couldn't reach to clean. The bird kept landing on the ceiling fans (we have 3), so I asked Tom to turn the fans on low so the bird would not re-land on them. Then I had these horror visions of bird plops on the fan blades & Tom was going to turn the fans on, we were going to have a faux finish of fresh bird poop plops (say that 3x after a wine or two) splattered around the 23 ft high walls. 45 Minutes later, he finally flew out an open upper window! Missed out on the faux finish; damn! 
