Rain Delay

Just a quick update on the home construction.   We were all ready to set trusses on the roof; the basement and main floor walls were framed and the crane was on its way.  Then it started to rain.  And it rained and rained for 4 days straight.  Gregg and AJ spent many evening hours pumping water out of the basement.  The Framer worked when there were breaks from the showers.  What happens on a construction site when we get that much rain?  It becomes a terribly muddy mess.

But, thankfully, the sun came out.  It was too muddy to bring a crane in,  so our Framer is setting the trusses by hand.  It is a slow process.  WGO is a little impatient and stressed at this point because he doesn't know when to schedule the contractors for the next phase.  My mantra is,  "It is what it is.  It will get done when it gets done".  But I don't think that helps the builder too much with his scheduling dilemma.  It does, however, help me to put it in God's hands.  God is good.  I am blessed.

I think the pictures are all self-explanatory!

Casting a Shadow

It has been a few days since I've updated the progress of the home construction project.  The framing is continuing.  The house is taking shape.  The rooms are now distinguishable.  WGO and I go out to 10250 about every evening to see the progress, take pictures and dream of actually living there.  There have been a few "If I had it to do over"s.  But there are no "do overs" when building a house.  They say pictures are worth a thousand words.

Framing the Basement

The Family Room

The view from the "hobby room"

The First Floor Decking

WGO  Checking It Out

Framing the Master Suite

The View from the Front of the House

The Garage

TYVEK

The Fireplace Chimney 

The View from my Kitchen Window

The Sun Sets on Another Day

The Master Bedroom

The Back of the House

The Sunset from the Den Window

My Garage



We had a couple of visitors while we were on the job site.

DGO getting scraps from the dumpster for his chicken nesting boxes.
But that will be the subject of another blog.

My future daughter-in-law, Laura, stopped by with her mom for a home tour!

I Quilt with the "Bessie" of Them

I am blessed to only have a part time job.  Thursdays are my Fridays.  My New Year's resolution was to spend the 6th day of the week with my mother.  She turned 84 in January.   Once a month we go to the "salon" and get our hair cut and mom's nails done.  On other Fridays we run errands.  We almost always go out to eat lunch.  Mom doesn't drive anymore and  I find that she really likes to do a little shopping and errand running without my dad.  The other day she said, "You know what I really miss?"  "I miss grocery shopping."  Now most of us probably consider grocery shopping a necessary, but not all that enjoyable task.   Mom is now relying on Dad to do all the shopping...and let's just say he doesn't always come back with what mom requested.  

Lately, we have been quilting. My job is to lay out, pin, iron and keep the machine threaded.  Mom does all the sewing.   Mom has pieced together quilts for 10 of her 11 children (John, Mom would really like to make you a quilt, too.) With all the other miscellaneous quilts she has done, mom counted 31 quilts total.  And now she is  trying to make one for each of the 25 grandchildren.  Usually, mom gifts a grandchild with their quilt on the occasion of his/her wedding.  But  with mom getting older and her eyesight and health failing a bit we are going to try to get a quilt top pieced for each of the remaining grands even if marriage is no where in site.  Last Friday we counted up how many more quilts she needs to make.  Thirteen is the magic number; 9 for grandsons and 4 for granddaughters.  It is a formidable goal.  If she keeps the quilts simple with large squares and makes them full sized instead of queen, I have hope that  my mom could leave a quilt as a reminder of her love for each of the members in her family.

Mom has even inspired me to try to make a quilt on my own.  Last night I cut out the blocks for a baby's quilt.  I am excited to dust off my sewing machine and put the pieces together.  My plan is to hand-quilt the blankie so I figure I'd better get started now.  July will be here before I know it.

  

My mom, Bessie Nell

My mom hard at work on Darcy's quilt.

Building Update

I haven't posted pictures of the building project lately.  I thought I should bring you up to date on what is happening at 10250 E. 89th Circle S.   Concrete (not cement) has been poured for the basement, garage, and shop floors.  Walls have been framed in the basement.  WGO is working with Weststar to get a transformer.  We have purchased the water meter and paid our fees to Rural Water so should get water out there at some point.

Each Sunday we go out to the house and take the tour.  AJ and I think the rooms look really small.  WGO just laughs at us and contends that they are really big.  My friend Pam had their home built a few years back and she assures me that my perception of the size of the house/rooms will change several times over the course of the building project.  

WGO and I are still discussing budget.  I'm working hard at holding his feet to the fire to stay close to the amount we agreed we would borrow without being the "fun-hater".    I am willing to give up amenities and WGO is willing to take on more debt.  It has been an ongoing struggle in our marriage.  Hopefully we can find  a compromise.

Finishing concrete--that corner in the shade was problematic.

More concrete finished.

Materials for framing have arrived.

Dirt work--backfill--is completed.

Looks like wall skeletons!

Progress.

I think the thing that has surprised me the most about this whole project is the calm I feel.   For the most part I am comfortable letting WGO make most of the decisions and do most of the worrying.  My attitude, "It is what it is.  It will get done when it gets done."  This lack of anxiety that I feel, although very contrary to my nature, is a great blessing from God.

Until next time, God bless.

My First Gender Revealing Party

In my first post I may have mentioned that both of my daughter's are expecting.  Did I tell you how excited I am to have babies in the family again?

Last month Megan had a sonogram and the gender of the baby was determined.  Instead of just posting it on facebook, or in her blog, or telling me over the phone she made it into an event-- a gender revealing party.  The celebration was held on February 25th in their home outside of Topeka.  WGO and I went up the night before, enjoyed delicious fish and shrimp tacos and the evening watching television (well, some of us watched tv while others slept.)  I asked Chad, as Megan slept, what the plan was for the gender revealing party.  He said the only thing he knew about it was that cupcakes would be served.

Saturday morning after the decorations were complete and in place, Megan and Kayla and I went shopping in Topeka.  Did you know that Topeka has a Gap Outlet?  I found a pair of jeans on their sale rack for $10.00!!  Then we went to Target and the girls bought maternity clothes.  Shopping for maternity clothes somehow made the fact that they are both expecting even more real.  We had to hurry back to Meg's for the party.

The rest of the guest's arrived.   Those who thought the baby was a girl wore pink.  Those who thought the baby was a boy wore blue.  We had to sign the official sheet under pink or blue and get our picture taken with the appropriate "team".    I decided to wear pink mostly because I thought everyone else would choose blue and wanted someone to represent the possibility of a girl baby.  But the Beisel grandparents both came in pink and Jeanette (Megan's good friend) also chose the pink team.  After a delicious lunch of BBQ chicken sandwiches, it was time to find out the gender of the wee one.  We were all asked to take a cupcake, peel off the paper and bite into it simultaneously.  Inside the cupcake was blue frosting.  The Beisel baby is a boy!   The young couple had not chosen a name and would not even reveal some of their choices--much to the disappointment of both Grandmas!

 Megan decorated with mementos from her and Chad's childhoods and the sonogram pictures.

The expecting couple!

The baby is  a boy!

I am so blessed to have such a beautiful daughter.  She is so creative and competent. It is a joy to learn new things from her like new recipes, craft ideas, and decorating tips.   I have to say having a daughter who is a counselor is quite handy when I'm feeling perplexed by a problem, frustrated with a situation or when I, well, need counseling.  Her husband is a wonderful guy.   Her home is beautiful.  I am even warming up to her dogs who I affectionately refer to as the Bumpus Hounds.

Choices

WGO set up a appointment for us to meet with the designer consultant at Star Lumber. Unfortunately, He was not able to make the appointment. Fortunately, my daughter Megan was in town and changed her plans for the afternoon to accompany me. We met with Cindy at 2:30... And by 6 o'clock we had chosen hard wood floor, carpet, hall bathroom tile and accent tile, basement bathroom tile and accent tile, powder room tile and accent tile, vinyl, backsplash and countertop for the mud room and vinyl for the hobby room. WGO showed up, surprised that we were still at it. With his help we picked out the backsplash to the kitchen complete with an accent behind the cooktop to match the granite we had already agreed on. I don't know what surprised me more the fact that I was able to make all those decisions or that WGO didn't make any changes. I knew there were going to be a lot of decisions involved in building a house. I hadn't thought, however, about how many choices there would be for each decision. Have you ever thought about all the choices we have in our society. Do we really need an entire aisle in the grocery store just for cereal? When I can't decide what to wear is it because I I have too few clothes or too many? So many different restaurants, so many kinds of chewing gum, so many choices. And that brings us back to building a house. Today we spent 2 hours at a plumbing fixture showroom. (I didn't even know one existed.) With the help of Erica we were able to choose bathtubs, toilets, showers, sinks, and faucets. We walked in and were overwhelmed but we walked out triumphant.