The Office

No, not the cult like slow moving sit com, but the place where stuff get’s done.    6-7 am and 9-10 pm.  We finally got the pictures up to make it feel like the piles are gone.

All I need now is a scarface poster

We could not have done it without You

Whew, what a journey.  Since we have started this process, we have doubled the number of Kids we have and the number of homes we own.  Our first home that we built was a nightmare process.  Although we did overlap with Hurricane Floyd’s flooding, we still took 18+ months to complete the project.  That home was everything we wanted when we did not have kids and were 25 years old.  Our issues were the management of the process.  Weeks, sometimes months would pass with no progress.  we spent more time on the job site than the contractor.  When we moved in to Westview, we said we would never build another house.  Of course that all changed when Doctor Haslip said:  “Whoops, there’s another!”

This project was completely different.  Everything ran on a tight schedule.  We’d get a call on Friday afternoons with the accomplishments from the previous week and the expectations for the week to come.  If a decision had to be made, we were told who to speak with and when Len needed to know.  When we got there, they new the budget, had most often been to the house to see what our style was, and had some proposals and suggestions for us.  It was a well oiled machine.  Never a conflict and a great process.

And what a great product.  Smooth Process and Under our expected budget.  It’s everything we want, now.  Thanks for building our home Len, where we will have breakfast in the morning, say prayers at night, be a family and raise our children.  Thanks for the great job!

Handrails on the Back Porch

We had erected some temporary rails to qualify for the final inspection but they put our permanent rails up Last Thursday.  We just wanted simple and plain so that folks would notice the landscaping not the fancy rails.  Believe it or not, that was easier said than done.  But we got what we wanted.

It was kinda cool to see how they installed them.  They drilled these core sample things out of the porch bricks to anchor the rails and cemented them in.

Landscaping Update

The landscaping process has drug on longer than it should have.  They finally got some sod down last Wednesday.  It turned out well and if Suzy is happy, I’m happy.  I’m not sure if its Russell’s ability to shoot the breeze or the scope of the project that caused the delays, but it has turned out Great.

When we left last Friday, they were putting the final touches on the yard.  Putting some pine straw out in some beds.

Askew’s landscaping is going to take care of the maintenance and care of the sod for the first three months to make sure it takes root OK and that I don’t kill it.  The one last thing to do is remove the pebble walkway from the side of the house.  Some opinions are that it looks OK, but the boys spend every second winging the rocks into the yard which causes a maintenance nightmare that I am simply not going to tolerate.  My motto all through this project is that I don’t want to do any maintenance on the outside if I can avoid it.  It’s widely understood that I am not handy and relatively lazy so I don’t want to have to rake up those rocks every day.  Don’t sell yourself short, you’re a tremendous slouch.

Long overdue update

Well, we finally moved in on July 17th. That was the first night we spent in the house. All in all, it really went smoothly. The Packers came around 8:30 on Thursday the 16th and we started packing things up. We contracted with Advanced moving and storage to help us pack and move. With the kids, we really did not get as much packed ahead of time as we had hoped. Advanced did not spec the scope of all our stuff properly, but the packers/ movers stuck with it. They packed boxes until about 6:30 Thursday. On Friday, they showed up around 7:45 and started loading the truck. They did not leave until 2 a.m. Saturday morning. We spent the first night in the house Friday night. Its home now.

We had some stuff in storage that we had cleaned out prior to putting the house on the market. They picked it up Monday morning and dropped it off around lunch time.

We are unpacked for the most part. There are a few boxes in most rooms, but we are working through them. We are going to be there a long time so no rush. The kids did really well through the transition. The boys have slept later – Their room is darker or they are darker. Could be either one. We were really concerned that the girls would have a hard time having their own room instead of sharing, but they’ve also done well. Ava is sleeping later, maybe because her sister is not waking her up now. That makes everyone a little happier. The only room we have left to tackle is the office. I’m just scared to face that challenge.

Certificate of Occupancy is Issued

Just got the call, we are cleared for take off.  Movers come in the morning.

Pet tree

When Suzy and I were building our current home, she was picking out trees at the Tree Farm and came across this little Coral Bark Japanese Maple.  It was about a foot tall, twisted, leaning and in bad shape.  I think the guy sold it to her for ten bucks (probably laughed as he counted the loot).  We took that tree home and staked it up, pulled it up, “feed it clean water and treated it with care”.

It has turned out to be one of our favorites.  We like it so much we decided to take it with us!  The Tree moving Spade came this morning and dug it up to put it outside the window of the office at our new house.

Landscaping is taking Shape

I have nothing to do with it, but the landscaping is taking place quite nicely at the house.  Its hot and dusty so I don’t envy those guys for doing what they do.  But I am certainly pleased with the way things are turning out.

I friend of mine I grew up with had an in the ground trampoline  – everyone always wanted to go to her house to jump on it.  I always hoped that I could provide the house that all the neighborhood kids wanted to go to play.  Maybe I can hold on to them a little longer….

We move in five days, gota go pack.

A 70 inch flat screen!!!!

I did get my wish of getting a 70 inch flat screen in the play room.  Too bad its a chalk board!