Squirrelly Notes

Crunch Time

Tomorrow's the day, or so we think. We will inspect the house, checking to see that all repairs and everything else is to our satisfaction, and then say "yay" or "nay". Walking around the house tonight, we have our doubts. There are still a lot of little things that need to be done, so I'm not so sure we'll be in there this weekend.  They've allowed two hours between the inspection and the signing of papers, that doesn't leave much last minute fix-it time does it? So we'll see. We are quite happy with the door color. At least we know that's been done!

One Less Punch List Item

Stopping by the house this afternoon I found at least one item on the list done. There were a couple guys there working inside also, one of which was the painter, and I think the other is a drywall technician. "Technician"? - Is that too much glory for drywall? Not for OUR drywall :) I asked what was happening inside and they said drywall touch-ups. Four days and counting......

Filled to the Brim

Ben came home for the evening and we'd decided to go out to dinner, but we first stopped by the house because Ben hadn't seen it since the carpet was installed. We couldn't get in of course because they are locking it now, but the doors into the pool cage were open. We were quite surprised to see how FULL it was! I thought maybe they just didn't catch it in time, but the other two new homes with pools, were filled to the top also, in fact one was slightly over-flowing.

Temperatures are supposed to be in the twenties here tonight  (yes, 20's) maybe we'll have our own ice skating rink tomorrow. Many neighbors were wrapping their trees and plants. I hope if it kills our plants that they croak before next Friday!!
Joe took the electric blanket off the bed a couple weeks ago, I may just put it back on tonight before I go to bed. Brrrrr

House Orientation Yesterday

We did our house "orientation" yesterday  and created the punch list for touching-up, cleaning-up, and finishing unfinished business. There were five pages of items, most of which are small things, yet some larger items still remain to be completed. All in all, we were pretty happy with the way it's all coming together. Shane, the gentleman who took us through had blue masking tape in hand, marking everything we discussed that needed attention, as well as writing it all down for our builder. Right now there are several walls here and there that are white with blue dots-  rather funny looking. Shane showed us how to operate the electronic oven, not that we'll remember, pointed out where shut-offs were, and walked us through setting the 5-zone sprinkler system. Woohoo! No more schlepping sprinklers around the yard! The pool was about a foot from being full, but the pool company still has some finishing things to do, as well as getting it properly nuked for our bacteria-free, flesh-eating consistency :) We plan to install a salt filter so that we don't have to do chlorine. Joe and I were talking this morning about our initial jump into the still unheated pool next Friday. That should merit a picture - don't you think?  I'm hoping to drive by a time or two this coming week and take a peek at all the worker bees doing their thing. I am SO dreading moving again, but looking very forward to painting like there's no tomorrow. I'll keep you posted, and  "Thanks for stopping by."

Kitchen Revealed

Today someone was inside cleaning when I got there. They had removed the plastic covering the counters and the paper on the floor. Now you can see the tile and counter tops together. Joe heard from Dominic today who said the plumbers would be in Friday, so the sink is still not in yet. There was no change to the pool.

Carpet Is In

Ok, this isn't much of a picture, but the carpet is in. In most rooms it was covered with plastic so this is the only place I could get a picture of it (without it looking like it was under ice like some of you are). They are now locking the place up so we haven't been able to get in - in the evenings. The kitchen sink is still not in, nor the master bath tub. But all in all, it's looking real good. The pool was cleaned out but not surfaced yet. There's not much new to tell - we do our "orientation" walk through this Friday, and if all goes well as planned, we will close the following Friday. Yay - My day off!

Ben is back at school though I don't think classes officially start until tomorrow. If I'm not mistaken, I think he was going to be starting crew today, so I kind of wonder if his shoulders will hurt tomorrow - we'll have to give him a buzz tonight. His girlfriend Ashley came back into town Friday and we all went out for an excellent Italian meal Sat night. I'm hoping when we're in the house he'll bring his friends home more often for a mini-vacation from school.

The job is going well. I went Saturday to a dental seminar (hands on) with my boss and got to know him a little better as well as learn a few new things. I took the opportunity to ask if they could cut my work load down a little until I get more oriented and get my speed up. Today he gave me a little less to do and it worked out much better.

Yesterday we drove down to Holmes Beach, about an hour south of here, and met with a techy guy that Joe knows. He is from Germany, and he and his partner were staying at the beach for a week before the big conference in Orlando next week. We had a good chat, a short walk on the beach and Joe played bartender and offered up three different kinds of tropical drinks. They were very nice people and I was wishing they lived here so we could get together with them more often. I guess we'll just have to start making some trips to Germany!

Plants, Paint, Decking

Ok, it WAS too dark, now it's too light....what's a mother to do? Just add it to my "to do" list! Anyway, it still looks better than it did before. It wasn't even dry yet so I hope it darkens some. The plants are in and I think Dominic said the grass would be there tomorrow (but I'm not sure). Joe hates the tree in the foreground to the right here - he thinks it looks dead because the leaves are dark green on top and brownish underneath. I think it's interesting....hmm

This is the part that didn't show in the other picture. I'll have to find out what kind of tree that is on the left. The leaves resemble Oak but weren't clustered like oak.  We were quite happy to see a couple different  palms in the yard. There are some other little plants in the front that may get swapped out at a later date for better aesthetics :) But for a now, it's just fine with me.

The acrylic texturing was added to the pool decking today also.
Inside, the tub in the main bath had been replaced because it was the wrong color. The door handles are on the doors and the final coat of inside paint will happen tomorrow. Dominic said our appliances would be installed Wednesday.

House Exterior is Painted, but....

Ben and I DON"T like the trim color, but it comes as no surprise. Joe hasn't seen it yet, as he's on his way to an appointment. When choosing the colors months ago, we were very limited on choices. The body color of the house is beige (though it looks peachy here) and the only two choices for the trim were a very dark - almost black, or this "walnut" brown. I should've known - I HATE walnuts! But we felt at the time that the dark choice was too dark. Imagine, if you will now, a "roasted pepper" colored door with this....this....poopy brown color YUCK! (It's even poopier than I'd feared) I think there's one more item to add my paint list. Maybe it'll look better when the landscaping goes in, but I'm not holding my breath! I'm thinking now that the dark brown may have actually looked kind of nice. Hind sight- 20/20.

The main part of the kitchen counter was also installed today. The finish carpenter in the background said they'd be back tomorrow to put on the bar counter, which was leaning up against a wall. It's hard to even see the counter top here as it's covered with plastic, but it's a light tan speckled color Corian with rounded edges.

House Moving Right Along

We're coming down the home stretch with exterior paint, garage doors in, and tile started inside. The painter was getting ready to stop for the day and talked to us for a bit. He said he'll be doing the second coat Monday - which he will roll on, rather than spray.  Julianne, who had been our original builder, had told us that this guy is very good. He explained that he, unlike the other painters like to roll on the second coat because it does a much better job of covering, and any touch-ups would blend in better.

Much to our surprise, the tilers were putting in more tile than we had expected. In the model home, walking in from the front door, the tile ended where the kitchen counter begins. So needless to say we were quite happy to see it wrap around the bar counter - far easier to clean those spills from tile than carpet!

Early Morning Trip to the House

Under the cover of partial darkness I went to the house this morning to see what had been done yesterday. We had driven by last night but workers were still there, so we didn't stop. I was there just after 7:00 this morning and took this picture of the framed pool decking extension. This is the added area that was finally approved not long ago - it measures 16x22. The pool company owner had called Joe yesterday and asked if it was alright if they moved the pool equipment so that it would be outside the pool cage - woohoo!  It was originally placed behind the house but that would mean with the extension, it would end up inside the cage. We had not asked for it to be moved thinking we should leave well-enough alone, so we were very happy to get that phone call.

The garage doors had been delivered but not installed yet, and the interior doors are now up.