Thanksgiving!

We have reason to give thanks! Work continues on our home, and inspections continue. The new concrete is poured for the 3 ft. addition to the bedroom. We're looking forward to the target date of sometime in January for completion. We are thankful!

An experiment

I liked this article about how crazy our holidays have become. The writer suggests a Thanks-Giving exercise which I think is worth consideration:

http://livinginthemeantimes.typepad.com

A nice surprise!

We stopped by tonight to check out the progress on the house and found someone working there! On Saturday! Every little bit helps! The project is moving along, and I'm so grateful!

Well, how about that?

A call came this afternoon that the permits have been issued and work will resume tomorrow!

A little lull

Work has been stopped at the new house for a week now. I've identified that it's challenging for me during this time, because construction was progressing so RAPIDLY at the beginning. Each day, G and I would visit the house in the late afternoon and admire the progress. I think that, for both of us, that progress meant symbolically and literally that we might someday move on from our dilemma of the last 8 1/2 months. The lull is because Mark is waiting for the city to grant permits. It's a good thing - he wants to be sure, especially in light of the circumstances of our situation, that we don't get "crossways" with the city. I understand that our city is pretty political - so I don't know how slowly/quickly to expect this to resolve. In the meantime, we are continuing to take care of details and choices from our end. We're both busy practicing the "glass half full" mentality. In my mind's eye, I am finally able to visualize that the end results of the planning are going to be awesome and just right for us. That's a huge positive step for me. We'll return to our waiting and hope to hear from Mark soon.......

Another meeting - more decisions checked off!

We had another meeting with the contractor this afternoon. Yes, he has a name, - it's Mark. He graciously answered questions, showed us a window sample ( window in the bathroom where there wasn't one before) and so forth. Mark also made me smile, because he occasionally dropped little pieces of humor that reminded me of my Dad!!! How special is that??? Also, during the time, we made some more decisions. What size window, what kind of doors downstairs (the previous doors all had to be removed), what type of door on the new storage closet, and so forth. I'd forgotten how many, many decisions are involved with a process like this. I DID remember a bit - which is why I didn't want to build a house. Who would have ever thought that in the end we'd end up with an almost-building project. Unfair, but that's another story, and I don't want to dwell there. Anyway, more decisions checked off the list, and it feels GREAT! I think I will reward myself with a nap!

Things are happening!

The carpenter has been working for almost a week now. The plumber has been there too and done most of the plumbing. We were a bit disappointed that there won't be work for the next 2 days. The permits with the city aren't complete, so Mark feels he needs to hold off until they can be finished. Given our overall situation, he feels we need to be careful to "toe the line", so to speak, and stick to the rules. He hopes to be able to resume work next week. It's about time for G and me to get back to making a few more choices - we've had a nice little break and are rested up....back to work!

Sunday in the basement

I hear people talking about clearing out possessions from their homes of 40 years, 60 years, etc. We're trying to go through accumulations of 20 years in our home, and it's mind boggling. The task has brought to mind several thoughts I've read or heard, and a few I've figured out myself. If you haven't used it in ____ years, you probably don't need it. A given item may be important to my Mother/my husband,etc., but it's no longer important to me. The more stuff you have, the more stressed your life (I believe that one!). i'm realizing that when my Grandmother died years ago, others took the "prime" wonderful objects, and I was left with the discards (unfinished pieces of crochet, flawed ceramic items....). I'm no longer going to feel guilty if I get rid of those items - I can remember her other ways. The time is rewarding, thought provoking, tiring.....winter is a nice time to do it!

Very exciting!

The work did begin in our house today. It's amazing how much they got done in one day. We still feel so confident about our decision to hire Mark. It was amazing to see something positive, rather than something negative, going on in that house for the first time in 8 months.

Oh, and I forgot to say....

The bathroom cabinets were damaged in the flood. So new cabinets for the master bath and new tiny half bath were ordered yesterday too. Cabinets, cabinets, cabinets - and I'm thrilled!

The kitchen is planned and ordered!

The kitchen cabinets and flooring were damaged by water in the new house. Thus, we've been planning a new kitchen. What a lot of work and details. Tonight, we ordered the kitchen. It feels like a huge load off our plate. Hooray!

The Magic Day!

The magic day is Thursday! This Thursday, November 6. Construction will begin on our house. We like the contractor more each time we meet with him. Wish us luck!

Reconstruction may begin this week!

It appears that we will be able to begin reconstruction this week - perhaps as early as Tuesday! In a previous post, I mentioned that we were interviewing yet another contractor - one who was recommended by a new friend, Carol. At the time, I felt that it was a waste of time to interview someone else.....and yet we trusted Carol's opinion. Carol increased the size of her home by 1/3, (2 years ago), with Mark doing all the work. She has also used Mark in her office complex. So we interviewed Mark, who is also an architect. He suggested a few awesome changes that would make the house work better. His bid came back last week. We sat with him and asked final questions. It seems meant to be, and he would supervise all of the work. The work might be completed in as little as 8 weeks from the start of construction... or it could take up to 12 weeks. We hope to meet with him tomorrow and sign the contract. On November 12, it wil be 8 months since we closed on the house.