Sunday, January 10, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Holiday Happenings
So sorry we've been so behind on blogging the past while! It's been a wild ride!! Here's a quick catch-up and we'll try to get back and post pictures soon.
We spent Thanksgiving with our daughter and her hubby. They made a nice little dinner and we just hung out....mostly waiting on the baby. Sweet daughter wanted so badly for the baby to come that weekend, but no dice. We went back down the next Sunday and she and I had pedicures; I thought surely that would help but, again, no. Her last day working was Friday, December 4, and I think she was getting really worried about "sitting around and still being pregnant." So, we were thrilled when she called on Saturday morning, 12/5, and said "Wake up! It's baby day!" My daughter is so adorable!!!
Anyway, J was on call that day and supposed to be in clinic, but I talked him into getting someone to cover and going with me to the hospital. We took the pups so that we could stay overnight and not worry about them. At 4:59 pm on December 5, 2009, we were blessed to become grandparents to our little angel, Lucy Katherine. She weighed in at 5 lb. 14 oz. and was (and is) absolutely perfect! What a wonderful Christmas gift!
I had planned to take a week off work when the baby came to go stay with them and help out. Since she was born on Saturday, and they would be in the hospital until Sunday, I came back home with J and the pups on Sunday afternoon. We did some week-end chores and checked on a few things at the house. Then, on Monday morning, I drove back down to our daughter's house and stayed with them until Friday. It was such a special time for me to be able to watch my daughter learn to be a mommy and to get to know my darling granddaughter. I wouldn't have traded those days for anything!
However, there was a TON of stuff going on with the house at that point too. J met with a landscape contractor while I was gone; I was able to put in my 2 cents worth by phone, which worked. Our general contractor called several times about other details, but overall everything went fine.
We brought J's parents here for the holidays; they got in on the Sunday before Christmas and stayed until the Saturday after New Years. It was wonderful having them here and watching them get to know Lucy too! All four of us (J and I and his parents) stayed in a hotel in Durham from Christmas Eve until the Sunday after Christmas, which gave us plenty of time to visit and spoil that darling baby. Otherwise, they stayed with J's brother because no one (including us) really wants to stay in the "ghetto apt."
I also threw myself a birthday party at a great restaurant about an hour from here. We invited our old Cherry Grove friends, J's parents and his brother and sister-in-law, and of course our daughter and SIL and LUCY!! It was the first birthday party Lucy ever went to, and she was soooo good. We had a great time and I really enjoyed having everyone together there.
Our daughter-in-law is due the end of February. I know they are getting excited too, and we can't wait for our SECOND grandchild to be born. It's hard to think of ourselves as grandparents, though. Weird! I'll be flying up for the weekend in 2 weeks for the baby shower. That should be lots of fun, and I've already promised that we will go shopping AFTER the shower for any essentials that are still missing. I haven't really had the opportunity to shop for this baby as much as I did for Lucy, but I'll make up for it in 2 weeks! Yay! Baby stuff :)
The house is coming along great! All of the rough-in work is finished and they got all of the insulation finished this week. It doesn't echo anymore and it's not exactly freezing in there now (not exactly toasty, but not freezing). Drywall should be coming next week! I can't believe we're that far along, but I'm happy! The guys are getting the siding up on the outside; I love the look of the board and batten siding we're using. It is perfect for the look we want.
So - if everything goes according to plan, we'll be able to move in in mid-May. That means 4 more months (and a little) in the "ghetto apt." I can't wait! First, I hate apt. living; I haven't had a full night's sleep since we moved here because some idiot is ALWAYS making noise and waking the dogs up! Second, the house is going to be BEAUTIFUL! And so spacious, but comfortable. I think it's going to be perfect for our needs. We met with a designer yesterday who's going to help a little with furniture placement and with fabrics, colors, etc. She was really reasonable and we can pay her by the hour just for what we need. She was surprised at all of the thought and consideration we have put into the house but, as we told her, we've had over 2 years to think and research what we want.
Anyway, hopefully we'll get pictures up soon. There's a lot to see now. I'll also try to do better about blogging now that the holidays are over. Looking forward to seeing Lucy next weekend and our son and his wife the following one. And soon, Sneetch will put in his/her appearance! Can't wait!!!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Moving Forward
I apologize for not posting recently. Things have been moving along smoothly but crazy workdays and trying to get things organized for the house has intervened.
The house is currently under roof and "in the dry". All of the framing has been completed and we are both impressed what a good job the framers have done. We have a huge attic storage area that is accessible from the 2nd floor as well as a large bonus room that we can actually use for "fun stuff" instead of storage.
We have met with the cabinet makers who have marked out areas where the cabinets, window seats and desk will be placed. We have picked out our front door and met with the HVAC subcontractor who assures us the house will be toasty warm in the winter and cool throughout during the summer. We will need a significant amount of dirt to go around the house and some fill in the garage so that we will not need railings off the porches.
It is an exciting time. Next will be to meet with the plumbing and electrical subcontractors to work out the plumbing and electrical details.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Foundation Follies
So, in the previous post, I told you all about the footings being dug. Of course, on Wednesday, when the inspector came, he made them dig them deeper. Then, after they dug and poured the footings, they realized that the architect actually didn't draw the house square! The right side is drawn 4 inches deeper than the left! Are you kidding me??? Anyway, the "footing guys" and our contractor were able to fix it without any major upheaval! Whew!!
Then we had rain, rain, and more rain. Finally on Friday it was dry enough for the masons to start laying block. Between Friday and yesterday, they got most of the foundation laid. The back of the house is a little higher off the ground than I had wanted; apparently, we have more of a grade than we realized. Unfortunately, we have to work with what we have. If we were to bring in a bunch of dirt to try to level it up, not only would it be super expensive, but it could damage the roots of our beautiful trees that we are working to hard to preserve. So - our back porch may not be ground level, but it will be wonderful anyway.
Last weekend was the shower for our daughter's baby, Girl Tad. J had to be out of town, so I drove to Durham and took my girl for pedicures before the shower. They got a ton of great stuff - blankets, outfits, swing, ExerSaucer, toys! It was a lot of fun!
Here are pictures of the foundation in progress:
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Footings and Footies
We have footings! At least, they were dug today. Hopefully, tomorrow's inspection will go well and we will get them poured. Rain off and on the past week or so caused a bit of delay, but it's all good. J & I were both excited to be able to visualize the layout of the first floor after the digging was finished today. If the weather cooperates, things should start to move along now.
It's interesting how time passes during construction. There is the exciting, "can't wait" part when you first get a plan, a contractor, a loan, etc. Then there is sometimes a little lull before you actually see something happening. The foundation tends to go pretty quickly, as does the framing, then things feel like they really slow down. At least, that's been our experience in the past. Things seem to happen in spurts. And this is one MAJOR IMPORTANT spurt! I mean, the foundation is what holds the whole thing up! One of the guys today said that they usually dig and pour footings the same day, but that the digging was just so tough today because of all the rain we've had that they were happy to just get them dug. I'm good with that! As much as I'd like to say, "Hurry, hurry," I am really happy to see people taking their time and doing things right the first time.
So -footings are dug and hopefully poured tomorrow. Next step - laying block. We've also already met with the cabinet maker. He's also going to have a major role since the house has so many built-ins and the kitchen is so important to us. Can't wait to see what he comes up with! He already gave us some great ideas just in our first meeting.
And then there are the footies! Babies are growing, mommies and daddies are doing great, and Nana and Papa J are soooooo very happy! Girl Tad's shower is this weekend (no, she still doesn't have a name, but when she gets one I'm sure it will be perfect, so just be patient!!!). We also saw our son and DIL this weekend when they were in the Triangle for his class reunion. It was great to see both of them; I hate that they're so far away. It's gonna be even worse when Sneetch gets here, but we'll just have to deal. Thank goodness for Skype!
It's interesting how time passes during construction. There is the exciting, "can't wait" part when you first get a plan, a contractor, a loan, etc. Then there is sometimes a little lull before you actually see something happening. The foundation tends to go pretty quickly, as does the framing, then things feel like they really slow down. At least, that's been our experience in the past. Things seem to happen in spurts. And this is one MAJOR IMPORTANT spurt! I mean, the foundation is what holds the whole thing up! One of the guys today said that they usually dig and pour footings the same day, but that the digging was just so tough today because of all the rain we've had that they were happy to just get them dug. I'm good with that! As much as I'd like to say, "Hurry, hurry," I am really happy to see people taking their time and doing things right the first time.
So -footings are dug and hopefully poured tomorrow. Next step - laying block. We've also already met with the cabinet maker. He's also going to have a major role since the house has so many built-ins and the kitchen is so important to us. Can't wait to see what he comes up with! He already gave us some great ideas just in our first meeting.
And then there are the footies! Babies are growing, mommies and daddies are doing great, and Nana and Papa J are soooooo very happy! Girl Tad's shower is this weekend (no, she still doesn't have a name, but when she gets one I'm sure it will be perfect, so just be patient!!!). We also saw our son and DIL this weekend when they were in the Triangle for his class reunion. It was great to see both of them; I hate that they're so far away. It's gonna be even worse when Sneetch gets here, but we'll just have to deal. Thank goodness for Skype!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
It's Really Happening!
Wow! This house really is going to happen. The construction loan has been approved; J and I signed the papers on Wednesday. The "extra" trees have been removed, and the stakes are out letting us know exactly where the house will sit on the lot. The contractor is ready to dig the crawlspace, but it looks like rain is going to delay that until next week.
J and I spent almost 2 hours with the salesman at the appliance store Wednesday evening. It really wasn't as hard as you would think, because we've already been thinking about this for so long. We've done our research and had a good idea of what we wanted. Just waiting to see how far off we are in price from the original "guesstimate." Not that it will matter - the kitchen is the biggie to me and we'll shave somewhere else to get the appliances I want.
I've decided the biggest difference so far with building this house is the lack of time. When we built both of our previous homes, J and I had much more flexible schedules. With the Cherry Grove house, we were both working evenings, and I was working part-time. With the Fairway Farms house, I was working part-time nights and going to school part-time. Now I'm working Monday to Friday days. I'm supposed to have a lunch hour, but as busy as we've been, that's hit or miss. Add to that the fact that an hour really isn't much time to do anything, particularly including driving time, and it's pretty much going to be evening and weekend availability for us. I may be able to take a weekday off here and there, but I'm also saving my limited vacation time for visiting my new grandbabies and for moving in when the new house is ready.
On the grandparenting note, daughter's baby shower is October 10. That only gives me 3 weeks to finish everything I want to do for her for that! (Can't tell - she sometimes reads this blog!!! Just know it's going to be wonderful!) I'm going to work on the curtains for the nursery on Sunday, which will be fun. DIL is doing well - baby Sneetch is 16 weeks along, which is hard to believe. Where does the time go?
Short post today. Work has been insane this week. I'm going to try to get in early today and get caught up. We're going to the Furniture Mart tomorrow to check into office and bedroom furniture. We'll let you know how that goes.
J and I spent almost 2 hours with the salesman at the appliance store Wednesday evening. It really wasn't as hard as you would think, because we've already been thinking about this for so long. We've done our research and had a good idea of what we wanted. Just waiting to see how far off we are in price from the original "guesstimate." Not that it will matter - the kitchen is the biggie to me and we'll shave somewhere else to get the appliances I want.
I've decided the biggest difference so far with building this house is the lack of time. When we built both of our previous homes, J and I had much more flexible schedules. With the Cherry Grove house, we were both working evenings, and I was working part-time. With the Fairway Farms house, I was working part-time nights and going to school part-time. Now I'm working Monday to Friday days. I'm supposed to have a lunch hour, but as busy as we've been, that's hit or miss. Add to that the fact that an hour really isn't much time to do anything, particularly including driving time, and it's pretty much going to be evening and weekend availability for us. I may be able to take a weekday off here and there, but I'm also saving my limited vacation time for visiting my new grandbabies and for moving in when the new house is ready.
On the grandparenting note, daughter's baby shower is October 10. That only gives me 3 weeks to finish everything I want to do for her for that! (Can't tell - she sometimes reads this blog!!! Just know it's going to be wonderful!) I'm going to work on the curtains for the nursery on Sunday, which will be fun. DIL is doing well - baby Sneetch is 16 weeks along, which is hard to believe. Where does the time go?
Short post today. Work has been insane this week. I'm going to try to get in early today and get caught up. We're going to the Furniture Mart tomorrow to check into office and bedroom furniture. We'll let you know how that goes.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Clearing the Land
Exciting things are finally starting to happen. We had a good idea that some of the trees that had either died or would stand in the middle of the house were going to be removed this week, but were also pleasantly surprised by the sign that announces the new house. Almost all the work for getting the lot ready is done with the exception of one large tree that an arborist (tree person) is going to help remove so that when it comes down, it will not hurt the remaining trees. I am happy to have such an individual on board so that trees remaining will continue to live and thrive. We were told that one of the trees is over 100 years old!!
We also received the first draft of the layout for the downstairs. It incorporates the ideas that we discussed with our contractor and also added a couple ideas of his to make the house "flow better". We added 12 inches of width to the right side of the house to be able to have a large functioning island in the middle portion of the kitchen. The master closet now is also larger and much more functional. I can't wait until the framing begins to better visualize what the house will ultimately look like.
I have included some pictures from the cleared lot below. Next week we are going to the appliance store to get a better idea of what we want so we can lay out the kitchen better.
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