Late Again...

Wow...I've been really bad at getting updates up at the beginning of the week haven't I? Sorry.

This weekend Laura and I went up to Higgins Lake for a retreat with the women of the church. It was a very fun and enlightening experience. I really enjoyed the weekend. With that being said, I did not get out to the house until Sunday afternoon.

Dad worked on soffit all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday. It rained quite a bit Sunday morning so Dad didn't get out to the house until early Sunday afternoon. I put some more electrical switch covers on in the bedrooms Steve worked in.

I picked out my cabinet color. The sample door that came in was no where near the color it was in the brochure. So we asked for some stain samples and have found a color that will work well in the house. So the cabinet guys can get to work sizing and ordering doors for me. I can also pick out a stain for trim and my interior doors. There are a lot of doors to stain!

Sorry for the late update, I'll try to be better next week.

I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween! Be good and be safe!

Better Late Than Never

I've had quite the busy week...so I haven't been able to update my blog until now. For you faithful Monday readers, I'm sorry.

This weekend was Grandpa's last weekend to work with us...*sniff sniff* He headed back to Alabama on Monday morning. His trip was going to be a long and winding one...with a couple stops in Ohio to visit my cousin and Skip and Cindy. Then it was off to Indianapolis to visit another cousin. Then he had two full days by himself on the road. I think he should be home tomorrow. We enjoyed a nice dinner with Grandpa on Saturday night. It's getting harder and harder to say goodbye to him in the fall when he heads back south. I know he loves it down there and he has so many friends down there, but we miss him so much up here! I told him we weren't going to be able to finish the house with out him. He told me not to worry, that he would fix all of Dad's screwups when he came back next spring! What a guy! :) I enjoyed working with him so much over the last two summers!


We started putting up soffit this weekend. We have the soffit up along the front and the north side of the garage. So far it seems to be going pretty well. Dad said it would go up much faster if I didn't need those outlets for those "stupid Christmas lights" in the soffit! But I'm not a grinch, and I love Christmas lights...so I will keep the outlets there.

I also made my decision on the stone. Thank you for all the input from everyone. I have chosen to go with the Bucks County. I went out to see a friend's house that had a different version of the same color stone. I took some siding with me and I think the color is going to be fantastic! I'm excited to see that on the house. We do have to find a stone mason first.

My interior doors were delivered yesterday. They are now waiting for us to find a color to stain them. That should be a fun task! Or not... But it's one step closer to finishing the inside.

This weekend I will be gone for a church retreat. I should be back to help Dad on Sunday afternoon. I am looking forward to a fun weekend with Laura and the ladies of the church. Hopefully it will be a nice break for Laura from her taxing school work.

One More Concrete Pour Left!!!! Yay!!!!

What a fantastic weekend we had for our last big concrete pour! It was cool on Saturday morning which made it nice weather to work in. We poured the sidewalk up to the front porch and then the small pad off the back of the garage and an even smaller pad for my air conditioner to sit on. They all turned out pretty nice. I even put my initials in the back slab by the garage. It seems that the truck drivers for R&R Concrete like to get their hands dirty. Every driver we have had has been more than willing to jump out of the truck to help move the concrete around, screed it off, float it...I think they just like to play in it. :) This driver was no different. When he grabbed the 2x4 and started helping Dad screed he said, "Do you want me to do this or do you want your wife to help you?" Uh...WIFE???? Do I really look like a 50 year old man's wife???? Dad took that comment to mean I looked very "mature". I took it that Dad must look like a dirty old man with a smokin' hot young wife! I'm sure you all agree with my assessment, right?

While Dad worked on finishing the concrete I worked inside putting a second coat of paint on my exterior doors to the garage. The ended up turning out very well! They are painted to match the siding. On the front porch this should allow more attention to be drawn to my front door as opposed to the door to the garage on the front porch.

Sunday I was stepping through the weeds in my septic field to get a picture of the house when I noticed THIS laying in the grass!

As many of you know...snakes are not my favorite thing...so I jumped and was ready to run when I took a second look at it and realized it was the belt that broke off the compactor on Friday night! I felt kind of silly, but relieved that I haven't seen a real snake at my house yet. :)

We also met with the cabinet guy this week. We've finalized all the plans, we are just waiting for updated drawings to kick them off. We are also waiting on our sample door to come in to make sure it is indeed what I want.

Alright...here is where I need some input from you fine people out there! I am trying to pick a stone to go on the front of the house. I have three options that I've narrowed it down to. All three have their pros and cons. So let me know what you think. Here are your options.

A. Desert Blend...This is a brown, but I'm afraid it might be too orangish brown.

B. Bucks County...This is a very good match, but I'm afraid it will look bad if there are too many of those light colors, like the bottom brick.

C. Earthen Blend...The browns in this match my siding color exactly...there are some nice contrasts with the gray and burgundy. My concern is that it won't stand out on the house if it matches the siding too close.

Driveway

Good morning!

We had a good weekend out at the house. It started EARLY EARLY on Saturday morning. Dad and Rick were out the door to enjoy breakfast at the Boulevard at 6:00! I opted to stay in bed for a while longer and meet them out at the house. We started pouring concrete around 7:30 and worked through mid afternoon. As usual, Rick was a huge help and I appreciate his willingness to come work with us.

I did some painting on Saturday while Dad was finishing the concrete. I helped a bit with the concrete, but mostly left Dad to do his thing. I repainted a wall that needed some work. I put a second coat of paint on some cedar boards for outside. I also painted the door jambs in the garage. I also headed to Home Depot for some electrical supplies and stone samples. I have to pick out a stone in the next week or so.

After we finished for the day we made a trip to Menards. What was going to be a quick trip for a few switches ended up being a longer trip with a much larger bill! Isn't that always what happens when we go into Menards? I found all of my outdoor lights and got them for 50% off! Can't beat that! I ended up with a utility sink for the basement and a bunch of switch plate covers.

Sunday was another nice day and I took the opportunity to take the doors off the garage and put a first coat of paint on them. I think once they are second coated they will look a lot nicer, but anything is better than the white door with the brown siding. I also installed quite a few covers on our electrical devices...just to make the house a bit safer. :) Dad cut the concrete in the driveway and laid out the elevations and forms for the sidewalk. Once the sidewalk is poured we can get some black dirt down and plant some grass!

I didn't get a picture of the completed driveway. I will try to get one today and put it up.

The furnace installation was finished on Friday. Steve wired up a bunch of lights throughout the house for me last week too. So we're looking good to work in the evenings after dark. My sample cabinet door should be here this week. I can then use that to pick out a stain for the interior doors and trim.

It should be a busy week with a lot of decisions to make, but that's better than not having progress right?

Happy Monday!