That last step is a doozy

In the past, re-entering the United States after weeks abroad has not went well for us. When we returned from the first Honduras trip, Paul was hospitalized with some malaria-ish condition (they couldn't get blood at the right time to confirm diagnosis), I was stung by a yellow jacket and had an allergic reaction which made me cough so hard I popped out a few ribs and was bed ridden for two weeks, and Paul was laid off from his job. When we returned from Peru two years ago, we found that we had been victims of identity theft (an HR employee at Paul's company -- he is now in federal prison) and our car was dead.

Not withstanding the fact that Spirit Airlines SUCKS, we managed to get back in one piece yesterday -- with ALL our luggage and ALL our delicate ceramics unbroken. We enjoyed a wonderful homecoming with the kids, who we picked up from school on the way back from the airport. Then we got home. And the shoe dropped.

The tile was laid in our bathroom while we were gone... we decided to hire someone on great recommendation rather than have Paul and I try to do this when we got back. We were sure his workman ship would live up to our expectations.

It didn't. We are very disappointed.

The bottom line is that substantial portions will need to be redone.

We're working on figuring out the next steps there. We're also working on 800 other things, including getting settled back into our still-disaster-construction-zone house, planning how to spend the weekend re-connecting with our kids, processing the 4000+ photographs taken on the trip, and trying to adjust back to our actual jobs. Thankfully, I planned to NOT start interviews for my study until week after next... it will take that long to get organized.

Details on the trip and pictures posted soon.

The Recap.

The last three weeks.

We had a week-long visit from:
Nana. Who brought presents, time, patience, and recipes. The day she left, Kate wandered around calling "Naaaaa-Naaaah, Where ARE youuuuuuu?" (Subtext: "Save me from these crazy people!")
Having a third adult in the house was a huge relief. It was also well-timed, because the day she left and returned us to a house of two adults, we downloaded a child.

He was thrilled to be spending almost a week away from home, his parents, and his particularly his sister. In Will's words: "Mommy, I needed a break from that crazy girl. She's too much for me." I dropped Will off with my Mom in Gulfport (our half-way meeting place) and he joined Granna and PapPap on a trip to visit my brother and sister-in-law. (My incredible sister-in-law, who by all accounts spent 5 hours a day on the floor re-reading the same books and cards so patiently to the-ever-curious-Will, has posted adorable photos from the trip.)

While Will was away from home for the longest time ever, Paul turned 38 on May 5th. This is remarkable only because I told at least 3 people that he was turning 36. I also wrote that I was 30 on a doctor's form a few months ago and only realized the mistake because "date of birth" and "today's date" were close enough together to make me do the math. I'm not forgetting little things, I'm actually forgetting years. It must mean that it's time for us to have some sort of life crisis.

Also on Cinco de Mayo, our friends Alex and Dawit were married. (The wedding date was chosen because it's Alex's birthday, too.) In between a day of picking up tiles, switching cars, dropping off kids, and buying paint, I took photos of the event and you can see them here.

Meanwhile, back at the station, the house continues.

Drywall took a long time. There were delivery problems. Supply problems. And daily layers of drywall dust... dirty, gritty, drywall dust... ALL OVER the bedrooms and hallway each evening to mop, dust, polish, and wash off. And, we're back to no washer and dryer. Still, the crew (comprised of a husband and wife) did a very good job.

Here's the site of the future cat-door to Scout's litter-box "room" under the washer and dryer.
Outside, Paul spent a good 20 hours on the roof over 2 days. It's done, although these pictures show it as still-in-progress.

Now that it's done, I'm thinking we may finally be able to remove the ever-present can of Goo Gone from our shower?
We discovered that Kate can work the garden hose. WATCH OUT.
Note that Will's head is soaking wet. Coincidence with that last picture? I think not.
Kate also discovered an obsessive love of ice. Workers (read: Daddy) must carefully guard their precious cups ice water, lest it be plundered by the Sweet Pea with the dirty hands.
Also: Kate loves Crabby Jack. Oysters. Shrimp. And duck. (Domilise's for Roast Beef, though, of course.)
Kate turned 2 and got presents. Including ELMO UNDERWEAR from Gwen & Co. Here she is, putting on Every Single Pair.
And dancing.
My Fellowship Year officially began with our Orientation Retreat. At first it was going to be an overnight event, but it was shortened to a Really Long Day in Baton Rouge. Who knew the LSU campus was so darn pretty??? The group is inspiring and interesting; I left the day feeling an unexpected excitement for the coming year. We did a variety of team-building exercises, including ropes. I surprised myself by having fun, and realizing that my recently-developed fear of heights is more extreme than I thought. I was Very Impressed with the folks that climbed the 60 foot pole, stood up, and jumped for the trapeze. Here's Jonathan, the only one to touch the bar, in one of my favorite pictures from the day:
This one of Kemi is probably my favorite:
Meanwhile, back at the station, drywall finished. Tile started.
Tomorrow, the base of the washer/dryer platform will be grouted and trimmed... so we're hoping to have these back by Wednesday?Paul ALMOST finished the plumbing today while I wrangled kids and house. The tub plumbing is hooked up and tested perfectly. The ONE LEAK in his intricate shower plumbing? It wasn't from a failed joint... it was a failed PIPE.
The darn elbow had a crack and hole. When Paul went to Lowe's to get another elbow, he came home with the wrong kind. When he went back to trade, they were closed. As was Home Depot. Plumbing to Paul is like Cryptonite to Superman. Utterly defeated and forced to wait until the morning... because, after all, tomorrow is another day.

The Plan.

The pros who have been in have lavished praise on our planning and design. When asked about our plans, we sort of smirk and point to this, which until today was hanging from a stud by the kids' bedroom door:
Behold, The Plan. Click for large view.

That's it. We don't even have it in file form... just this rendering I did with free software from the 'net. It was the best thing we came up with after years of thinking about what we would do, and months of sketches and moving scale cut-outs of tubs and sinks on graph paper over coffee. We have done everything based on this sketch.

The existing house is to the left -- the bottom door leads to our bedroom from the bathroom and the top left door leads to the kids' room. The top right room is the porch/family room. The bottom room is what we are calling the study, although we designed it with the proper window type and closet to be called a 4th bedroom if necessary.

*** I should add that because of the small square footage of our house and addition (total under 2500 square feet) and one-story build, we only required a site survey/foundation plan and basic drawings. We joke that this is the "shot-gun double exemption" because most renovation plans require approved architectural plans. (Although if you've seen the ugly monster being built at the corner of Laurel and Arabella, one wonders how or who approves these designs in our historic neighborhoods.)

Dusty Dusty Drywall

Look! A ceiling in the study!
Will plays with the air filter... it is boldly attempting to mitigate some of the white dust filling our bedrooms through the cracked doors.
But what is this? A ROOM???

(The study, below... looking in to the large closet in the back.)
Looking toward the laundry room. Walls! Walls! Hooray for walls!
Storage nook for mini-fridge and shelves in the porch/family room.
Looking from the porch/family room through the laundry room to the door leading to the kids' bedroom...

Foaming at the walls

Coordination and handling supply, delivery, and storage are our current nightmares.
- Still must finish plumbing and electrical before drywall.
- Found drywaller (phew!)
- Ordered drywall and supplies this morning
- Need to rent scaffolding
- Drywall delivered Tuesday, will take about a week
- What about having a light in the back yard from the house? Yikes!?
- Hopefully, can have bathroom drywall done a little bit earlier to start laying down the board to start tile work
- Tile design/layout finished and calculated
- Tile ordered; a few decoratives remain... hope Derby's have 'em in stock
- Need to decide on flooring for porch/study... laminate? unfinished wood? ???
- Paint selected for new rooms, but considering most of the house hasn't been painted from when we moved in, we're not holding our breath. But since we have to paint the drywall, we figured it made sense to try for the gold
- Vanity/cabinets arriving soon
- Floor tiles arriving soon
- Plumbing fixtures, sinks, faucets arriving soon
- Where are we going to put all this?
- Need to select commode
- Need to cut out hole in tub deck for the tub... then finish the plumbing
- Rest of the hardie siding? That can wait until June.

Down to the Wire

Some pre-insulation photos... I took these this morning while Paul quickly tried to finish up a few more electrical details on the exterior walls. It took a few hours for the team to spray foam through the walls. We'll have them come and do under the house eventually. The smell in the house is strong... I can't imagine what it would be like if we hadn't used the "green" product. Ick.

We rejoice our future: a closet big enough for a clothes hanger.

One of the reasons I cleared the kids out of the house for the weekend was the messiness of sawing through a huge section of lathe right into our bedroom. Our bedroom closet is the largest in the house in terms of width, but not deep enough to hang a standard clothing hanger. With the difficulty of the room in terms of size and wall use, we came up with the plan to have the closet open from the bathroom side. So, I emptied the closet last week (our clothes now hang in the front room on a rack Paul fashioned out of leftover wood) and Paul sawed into the closet from the back. Here is the closet with framing, with the back just started to be sawed out:
This next picture shows the finished opening from the bathroom. Notice the IMPRESSIVE header holding the load! The sunlight makes it hard to see the beams, but it is pretty cool. We gain a few more inches this way and made the opening much wider, giving just a little more storage. The plywood is temporary -- just to keep the debris level down in the rest of the house until it's drywalled. (Hopefully, end of this week, start of next week??) If anyone knows a good drywaller... we'd love the number! We started with three good potentials and are now down to one who hasn't returned our phone calls in several days.

Almost ready to insulate

Plumbing for master bath sink (wall mount). The black pipe to the left is the vent for the sink, tub, and shower. The shower plumbing will be in the same wall.
Looking up over the tub. Paul framed this out so that there would be room for the venting for the A/C and heater.


We added storage above the washer and dryer and over the doorway into the bathroom from the laundry room.
Some detail on Paul's roofing/framing in the new section.
More detail in roofing/framing. AND, the mechanisms to hang the panel door going into the study from the porch/family room. We're going to hang the door that currently separates our bedroom and bathroom here as a panel door ... and are on the hunt for old french doors. Saw one that we loved at The Bank... but it's match was gone.
We have Air Conditioning!!! The new A/C is to the left (duh) and is for the back of the house. Paul did a great job building the platform. The crew that installed the compressor said that it was, bare none, the absolute best hook-up they had ever seen. This is the trend now that we are subbing out projects... everyone who comes to give an estimate about falls over at the quality of the work, are dumbfounded when Paul explains it was all him, and then offer him a job.
More details of the platform and hook-ups.
Finishing framing above the storage area in the laundry room.
Paul was really proud of this job -- it just came together perfectly.
See the air vents? Paul is embarrassed that all the studs don't line up and would want me to say that.

Some insulation protecting the gas line. See the box to the bottom left? That is where the swinging door will go -- leading from our bathroom to under the washer/dryer. This is where Scout will have his own private litter box "room" (accessible from laundry room). Complete with an outlet for a nightlight. We're not kidding.
Detail of drop ceiling above master bath.
Porch/study venting.
Blocking edges to prep for drywall hang.

Bathroom vanity cabinets ordered 2 1/2 weeks ago (3 week lead time).
Laundry cabinets ordered 1 1/2 weeks ago (2 week lead time).
Porcelain floor tiles ordered for bathroom and laundry (~7 day lead time).
Plumbing fixtures ordered 1 week ago (3-4 week lead time).
Insulation for extra walls (in renovation/new spaces only) blown in on Tuesday. This was pushed back from last Thursday since we weren't ready.
Paul is working on pulling electric and Cat-5 wires and installing recessed light boxes and switches. Lots of walking around trying to figure out where we want switches and plugs.
Paul sawed out the back wall so that our closet opens within the bathroom. We're drywalling over the existing closet opening. Big mess... our clothes hang on a makeshift rack in the front room area and the house has lathe dust from the work.
Hopefully, drywall at the end of the week?