Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

I would love to report that our house is fully restored and better than ever. But alas, Santa is watching and I don't want to land on the naughty list at the last minute.

Instead, I report that we have problems with our floors. They are going to move us out to refinish our floors. Trees just don't make hardwoods like they used to? Two adults and two medium dogs are just really hard on oak? Hard to say...

We had the HVAC problem repaired. Luckily, no fire this time.

And the plumbing system. Let me just say that it is better left undescribed. And you do not want to see the picture. But I have just sent a get you a** to my house now email to the contractor.

Hope you enjoy our holiday card. Maybe next year the house will be finished and we can invite you over.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good plumbing system.

SOOOOOOOO CLOSE

I continue to be a bad blogger. The house is almost done. We are sooo close. I promise to post pictures once it is COMPLETELY done.

But a funny thing sooooo close thing happened today that is not related to the fire. We participated in the Bailey's Finders Keepers event in Fayetteville. This is a high tech scavenger hunt run by the local jewelry store (where I got my engagement ring). First, it is a total blast. This can come as a surprise to no one that I would love something like this. We were ready, worked as a team and got to explore downtown Fayetteville on our bikes (Paul will tell he was pleasantly surprised; I already knew). Well, we got to the end and felt good. And the more people talked, the better we felt. And then a guy that Paul knows from class told us that we did really well. And we were feeling better.

And did I mention that first prize was a $12,000 diamond ring? Nice, right?

And we were hanging out. And they announced 5th place, 4th place. At this point, Paul and I start having the crazy thought that we might have won. We're afraid to say it, but we're both thinking it. But also afraid to think it. I mean, we don't have that kind of luck. We have incredibly blessed lives that involve the kind of luck that involves flat tires, fire trucks, expensive vet bills for the dogs...

3rd place...not us.

2nd place...us! We think that we lost first place by less points that I have fingers on my hand. I'm so excited that we won second, but sad that we were sooooo close. The couple who won was cute and they have 3 little kids and she had a small ring. They totally deserved it and they were thrilled. And we won tickets to a Canes game, which is super fun and unexpected. But still........we were so close to a very pretty ring.

Maybe next time! Have I mentioned that I am already planning how to streamline our process? Type A much?

Important Stuff

At our house, we all have "stuff" and I have "important stuff." Those things that I consider critical. I have several boxes of "important stuff." I didn't know that I had so many important things until the fire. These are the things that I gathered up in five minutes we were allowed into the house after the fire. They stayed in my suitcase at the hotel. That made me worry about their security. When we moved into the condo, my important things were stored safely in the closet. Now that we are moving out, these things are again out in the open. So they have gone back into the suitcase and they will go with me to Greensboro, where they will again be safe.

So what, you may be asking, are these mysteriously important things? Precious jewels? Irreplacable documents? My huge, secret roll of emergency money in case I need to make a get away (like on the movies)? Nope. Silly things that remind me of my memories. Funny how that works, isn't it?

Moving Back In!

Now that we have passed our final inspections, we officially have a Certificate of Occupancy. So the power is back in our name, coming through a meter on the side of the house. No more temp pole in the front yard. Before you ask though, the temp bathroom is still out front. And anyone whose nose gets within 100 yards, knows it.

We have a lot of work to do before them. Oh, you ask...install washer/dryer, finish installing hood, finish installing lights, install new bathroom sink, install the rest of the kitchen countertops, template the bathroom countertop, re-paint, re-install the exterior lights that were improperly installed, finish trim around the windows, install closets, finish exterior paint, and so on and so forth.

Final Inspection

After a single misfire, we passed our final inspection today! So the house is ready, you are thinking? Not exactly. But we are in the final phase.

This weekend, they painted the exterior of our house. The final detail work isn't complete yet, but we are no longer the plum house with orange shutters.

They started sanding our floors this morning. So we are officially not allowed to enter the house for the next week.

But next week will be a rush to the finish. Closets, changing out a bathroom vanity, templating a bathroom countertop, installing chandeliers, delivering the last of the appliances...Now if we can just pick out a mattress.

Bad Blogger

It is official. I'm a bad blogger. Good thing I don't rely on the blog for income, huh? Bottom line on blogs. One, they are hard work. This isn't really a surprise to me. But I was out of clever, witty things to say. Two, no one wants to hear too much whining. And I have felt like whining and venting ALOT over the last month. Hopefully we are through the worst of it. So we move forward.

The house is starting to look like a house again. WE EVEN HAVE RUNNING WATER!!!! And as of today, for the first time since early afternoon on January 10, 2010, the north side of the house is not protected by a blue tarp and a prayer. We are currently slated to move in at the end of August. Yes, this is later than we thought. And later than we thought after that. But it is within spitting distance, so hopefully we won't need to move it out again.

But enough of my clever discussion, what does the house look like...

The stairs. Check out the reveal on the sides. Love that! This is the benefit to using an architect.

In reality, the lights are huge. Couldn't seem to capture it with the handy point-and-shoot camera. The countertops will continue down the sides of the island as soon as we clean inspection on the electric.

The is the den--composed of the former parlor and den. The wall used to be just the far side of the fireplace. Of course, that was when the fireplace was faux painted cream and baby poo color. The second picture is the fireplace in the dining room--which is covered with the same slate.

And finally, the new downstairs bathroom. The countertop should be white quartz, but the fabrication period is running long. I am thinking about having the vanity refinished white. We hadn't planned to do that before, but it seems like something we need to do.

Deadlines

I have neglected the blog of late. In short, I have been buried at work and busy busy at the house. The hard part about my job is that sometimes you have to things quickly and our deadlines almost never have any give to them. There is no calling the court to say that you need an extra two weeks, or shooting out an email that you're not going to make the motion hearing because (fill in the blank). You hie off to court and that's just that.

Apparently our contractor does not feel the same way about deadlines. Our house was first going to be done in early July. And then it was mid-July. And then when we got our schedule in May, it was going to be mid-August. And they were confident that the schedule was imminently doable. Guess who just doesn't think that he can make that schedule? Guess who needs another two weeks? They can probably be done by early September. seriously?