Welcome Home

It's been a busy few weeks. Heck, it's been a busy few months. August is here and we're very nearly completely moved in. I'm still decorating, of course. And most of the furniture for the man cave hasn't made its way over yet since John's hand is stitched up. He's out of commission when it comes to furniture for another month. However, we are living here full time and have even been entertaining guests.

The project for today really completed things. Apparently the postmaster had a word with my dad about the fact that we still didn't have our mailbox up. Oops. So, that's what we did this morning. Many thanks to John's dad for digging through all that gravel! We weren't overly sure what the regulations were, so we haven't cemented it into place just yet. Once we're sure this is where it's going to stay, we'll make it more permanent and I'll plant some lovely climbing flowers around the base. Suggestions for plants are welcome in the comments section.

Speaking of plants, I also intend to plant a river birch between the front door and the master bedroom windows, opposite the cedar tree. My hope is that, much like at my parents house, the tree will quickly shoot up and shade the front porch. Our house faces west and in the evenings the front door becomes burning-hot -- not something pleasant to come home to. I'm doubly excited because river birches are one of my favorite types of trees. Much better than pine trees. :-)

Quick Update

There isn't a lot to report and even fewer pictures. The rain has been pretty bad and it's pushed some things back. We do have siding, and as of today the inside has been trimmed out to join up all the pieces of the house. The trim guy even vacuumed the house for me. Isn't he sweet?

Monday night we were all excited about moving in Wednesday (today). We even had a picnic. We put down a blanket, stole some fake flowers from my mother, and ate take-out Chinese off our fine china while drinking WalMart wine from our wedding crystal... While watching Star Trek on the laptop perched atop a few boxes. The latter was merely to test the strength and stability of our new internet connection, I assure you. >.>

The new timeline dictates that we should have clean water and air conditioning by the end of the week. The problem is that we both work two jobs each on Fridays and 12 hour shifts on Saturdays. It looks like we'll be moving in at the beginning of next week. In the meantime, I'll be making small runs of things as I can, just to have that much less stuff when the big move happens.

Stay tuned!

The Cloudy Day Game Plan

It's been raining. Sometimes it feels like it's always raining. I'm sure the farmers disagree with me -- you can hear them down at the market grumbling amongst themselves about drought. But summertime in Alabama often feels like monsoon season, especially when you have weather-sensitive timelines falling apart.

This week, however, Mother Nature has decided to bestow a few "partly cloudy" days in a row on our little plot of land. Finally, we have a game plan.

Monday or Tuesday: Septic, Water & Foundation
Wednesday and Thursday: House Installation
Friday: Cable, Possibly Power

We're having issues with the power. I was told two weeks ago that when I had a delivery date I could call and 3-4 business days after my call they would have my pole, meter, and transformer installed. Today, after I'd paid them more than $300, they informed me that I needed to call back the day the house was delivered. From that point it would be 3 - 5 business days, "But probably next Wednesday."

I may have lost it a little at that point. I called the engineer I originally spoke to and did what Southern women do best: Raised hell as politely as I could. It's bad enough that every single electrician I call won't even give me a job estimate until everything is in place. We can't move in until the whole set up is inspected, and the inspector can't come out until the job is done. Hopefully my hissy fit will get us power on Friday. Of course, that's when the rain is supposed to start back. Cross your fingers for us!

A Bee to the Face!

Note to Self:  Don't wear floral deodorant while working with plants.

Additional Note to Self:  Bees can smell fear.

Today we (mostly) finished clearing out the lot that our new house will sit on. In all, seven trees had to come down and two root systems had to be dug up. I'm not sad about the pine trees. We are deadly enemies and I eradicate them with prejudice. The leyland cypress trees, on the other hand, did make me shed a few tears. These majestic beauties flanked what will now be our driveway, but they were just too close together for the truck to come in with all the pieces of our little home. There were also two sassafras trees lost to the massacre, so now our entire lot smells like a nauseating combination of Christmas trees and root beer.

While it's much easier to imagine everything in place with the various shrubberies gone, I must admit that it makes me feel a little exposed. I like my privacy (she said while speaking candidly to the world wide web), so the first thing to be done when it's installed is to plant new ones. NOT pine trees, though. I don't care if it is the state tree.

Once again I forgot my camera, but rest assured that once everything is in place you'll be flooded with pictures. Until then, I'm going to go find more ice for my cheek.

So It Begins

Last week we bought a house. It was not the house we originally tried to buy. In fact, it's over 100 square feet smaller. However, after careful consideration, we decided it was the best option out of our limited pool. Rather than let disappointment and dissatisfaction ruminate in my bones, though, I've decided to turn this into one of my infamous "projects."

The house itself is pre-manufactured with many of the style issues you might expect. There are battens wedged between vinyl wallboards. Trim is pretty much nonexistent. The ceilings are textured and the fixtures are fluorescent. Still, the layout is good, the colors are decent, and the place is well insulated. Also, it's brand new, which is a major plus.

We have a long list of things we want to do. Pull up all the carpet and lay wood flooring throughout -- with the exception of tile in the bathrooms and laundry area, of course. Rip out all the battens, fill, tape, mud, paint, and trim all the walls. Replace the light fixtures. Upgrade the appliances. Replace the kitchen window. De-popcorn the ceilings. Et cetera, et cetera. I'm sure you get the point.

Today we began site prep for installation. There are a number of small trees and bushes that have to come down. It's a lot more work than we thought it would be, and the weather isn't cooperating. Tomorrow we have to finish the job, including grinding the stumps down. Then a gentleman will come lay down a pad for the house to rest on, and by the end of the week installation will be complete.

There's just a few little catches. Aren't there always?

The county can't hook up water for another couple of weeks. And then because of unforeseen expenses, we probably won't be able to have a septic tank installed until the next pay period after that. Luckily, both of us get paid every two weeks. But, that means that we're paying a mortgage on property we can't live in.

Luckily, the land we're moving to is literally next door to where we're staying now. With a little luck, a few extension cords, and some elbow grease, I feel we can use the weeks ahead to make a good start on our renovations.

Follow John and I as we begin our adventure in home ownership, where there's no one to call when the dishwasher fills the kitchen with bubbles.