New TV

Oh, and as an update to the "Stuff" blog from a couple weeks ago...we got weak about the TV and bought a new one. Yes, I broke my own promise. Oh well. Of course, right after we did that, Philip's hours got slashed at work, so we're regretting it in a big way. But at least while he's not working he can be watching TV in hi-def, right?

Still Unfinished

Even though we've been living here for a couple months now, the list of problems or unfinished things just keeps growing longer daily. The other night, as I finally was able to get around to soaking in the jacuzzi tub, we found that the jets don't work. I still don't have the fireplace installed....it's been perpetually coming in any day since the week before Thanksgiving. The painting and sheetrock work was abyssmal, and my contractor keeps calling them to come fix the problems, which they are truly incapable of doing. And the list goes on and on. I've avoided calling and bugging the contractor between Christmas and New Year's, but I'm not going to be dealing with this on into the new year, so he's going to have to get on the ball and spend a few days finishing up. That is, if he wants the rest of his money.

The Need for New "Stuff"

Isn't it funny how you get a bigger place to store all the stuff that had outgrown the old house, but then you find you need more stuff for the new house? I have seen people who buy or build new houses and then go into much more debt buying all new furniture and decor. My contractor even told us a story of how one couple stiffed him out of the last $17k they owed him cause they got the money and spent it on furniture and decorating instead of paying him. Well, now I finally understand the urge.

Not that we haven't paid off our contractor, because we have...or at least most of it till he finishes the rest of the punch list items. But there's nothing like a new house to show you just how old and ratty that sofa is...you know...the one that seems like you just bought it yesterday, but when you start counting you realize it's over 10 years old. Or what about the console TV that you bought second hand back in 1986 (yes '86!) that won't really work with the satellite you have now? Let's not even talk about the totally cool granite countertops with no barstools or the 2.5 acre yard with the continually breaking push mower! When the grass finally does grow, it's gonna get interesting!

Anyway, I do now totally understand the need/want/desires/whatever. I know when people come over I will be continually apologizing for my lack of new stuff, but with the economy the way it is, I'm a little nervous about the house payment itself, much less the idea of going into debt further for "stuff." Now that I've been living here a month, I have a long list of things we need to buy: a new TV and stand, a desk and office chair for me, a bed and new dresser for our room, barstools, clocks, other wall decor, the patio and basement pads, towel and toilet paper holders, lawn tractor, just to name a few. But I am very happy to be here and very happy to have come in pretty much on budget. The other stuff can wait if needed. In fact, to be honest, I've had no time for shopping and when I have had time, I've not found the things I wanted.

A friend at work told me last week that now that I have the house I can take the rest of my life to decorate it, and she's right. That is, providing it doesn't take the rest of my life to push mow the yard.

House Update

I know, I know...where are the pictures and the updates? We have been so incredibly busy that I really haven't had time. In fact, the only reason I'm posting now is because it's a way to procrastinate on that real work I need to be doing.

Anyway, we got moved in and mostly unpacked. We still have quite a few boxes in the garage and in the office, but there are some things we just can't unpack yet. The books can't be unpacked until I get the book case out of the storage unit. And the office didn't have a desk because our old one is just too big. So while we certainly have everything livable, we are still working on making things neat. (That would be the reason for the lack of pictures--not posting pics of my messy house! LOL!)

I also want to get a picture or two of the outside posted. I got a couple planters on the porch and a few Christmas lights in the yard. It's not my usual Christmas overload, but there are a few. In fact, I just found the rest of our decorations in the back of the storage unit, so we might work on the tree this weekend. I also bought wreaths for the house, but I can't find the wreath hangers. Oh well, I've got a few more weeks.

We do have an open-house sort of party scheduled for late December, between Christmas and New Year's. I figured that if I didn't have it sorted out by Christmas, it wasn't getting done, so I may as well go ahead.

As far as living here is concerned. It is very quiet. No one has bothered us at all. We don't have our fireplace installed yet, and I'm looking forward to that cause it's a little drafty in here. I think it's the combination of hardwoods, tile, and vaulted ceiling. But I'm looking forward to the fireplace.

We're also missing our back patio. We actually came in just under budget, but we knew all along that the driveway might be an issue. We went ahead and poured the driveway, which was much costlier than we originally anticipated (since we pushed the house back further from the road than we originally planned), so that didn't really leave patio money. I don't anticipate it being much overall, but I can't really use the back doors without the patio. With no grass, we would just step out into mud. But we will get that done by spring at the latest--definitely in time for pretty weather again.

But all the negatives out of the way, I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! So far, everything has a place. I have room for once for all my crap. We did Thanksgiving here, and the kitchen is wonderful to entertain in. The raised bar is great for homework, eating, appetizers, etc. And it's really roomy. I'm even learning to use the convection oven and used the warming drawer over the holiday--very cool!

Well, this post is getting too long as it is. I have more comments about how a new house means a need for new stuff that I'm apparently reluctant to buy, but that'll have to be in a later posting.

We have moved in!

Yeah! We are finally here! That's the reason for the lack of postings lately. We've been so busy trying to get things finished up here and out of the apartment that I haven't had time. I also spent much of the week with no internet access at home.

Things are not totally finished here. The painters were still working through this whole week, so we moved most of our belongings into the garage for now. We moved the rest of our clothes and bed on Wednesday and spent our first night here then. But we still don't have much inside the house. The kids are bunking together in Braxton's bed because we don't have Anna's bed together yet. That's the plan for this weekend. But to be honest, I'm so tired that I just don't want to move. I also have some papers that I must get graded this weekend. So wish me luck.

I'll be posting some new pictures soon. I want to get things cleaned up a little more and take some then.

Final Inspection...

Well, we are calling for final inspection tomorrow, not one minute too soon of course. The major systems are all in. The trim painting and touch ups have not begun, and there are so many things still left to do, but we have plans to move in this weekend anyway.

I'm fine with roughing it for a week or so. As long as we get our stuff out of this apartment, I can handle taking several weeks to get things straightened out. I guess Thanksgiving is my real deadline. I'd like to have some semblance of order by the holidays.

There has been so much activity at the house in the last week that I really haven't had a chance to get many good pics without being in someone's way. I have also been out of town, so while I would normally have time to wander around and take pics on Sunday, I wasn't able to this week. I'm taking the day off tomorrow to work on getting some packing done and to wander around the house without the kids bugging and getting into things. So perhaps I'll be able to get some good pics then and get them posted soon!

Done in a Week?

Will we really be ready to move in next weekend? It's a little hard to believe when you consider these pics. The inside is coming along a little better than the outside, primarily because of rain today. The outside pic here was taken this morning (those are the septic drain lines). Supposedly those were all covered today before the rain set in, but I didn't go out there again because I figured it was a mud pit.

The kitchen and tile pics are from earlier in the week. The tile has been grouted, and the granite countertops were installed today! It killed me not to rush out there to see them.

There still seems to be too much to do for the time we have. Outside, the water lines have to be run from the road to the house. The footers have to be poured for the retaining wall and front porch. Then those have to be built. Then there is some final grading, and the concrete poured for driveway, sidewalk, and porch.

Inside, the electricians were out there today, so that may be nearing completion. They had a few more fixtures to install and lots of finishing up to do. The plumbing fixtures still have to be installed and the water lines run. The trim still wasn't finished by this morning, and a couple of the interior doors weren't installed yet. The painters still need to come back and paint those plus touch up all their work. The closet organizers still all need to be installed. And finally, the fireplace insert and mantle haven't even been begun. Talk about waiting till the last minute!

I think Brad is still hoping that the interior is mostly done by the end of the week so that we can get in there over the weekend and clean up some. I don't think that's gonna happen though. Even if it is pretty much finished, I won't really have time to be there much since I'm going out of town for three days.

I WILL be out there tomorrow morning, so I'll try to post again before the weekend to let you guys know the update. Stay tuned...