DW2DT 2013: Day 148, the END!

I know, I know, I've been pretty lazy with updating the blog lately, but we've had a lot to do!  Moving in is one big one, cleaning as we go is another.  Then, on top of that, we're trying really hard to get back to normal living.  Also, Nanny and Papa came to visit us for a few days and we just got back from Thanksgiving in PA!

In fairness to Tim, I think the last day he did real work here was about a week ago, call it Day 141.  However, TODAY was the first day since July that he wasn't going to be here while we were at work.  It was a little strange, as I've kinda gotten used to having someone here during the day - picking up my Zulilly and Amazon packages and taking them inside before Matt notices them, signing for furniture deliveries, letting in the furnace guy and so on. 

We've got curtains or blinds on all but three windows now and at least some furniture in all but 2 rooms - some is on order and some is in the basement.  We still have more cleaning to do, but most of my clothes and the kids clothes, linens and coats are all in their proper (and oh-so-spacious!) closets.  I still can't believe this is our house most days, but bottom line is -

We're done!!!

PS Dad, I finally found that HDMI Cable :)

DW2DT: Family Fun Goodness

It's only been a couple of weeks but already I don't know how we got by without a family room / toy room - or as the kids call it , he family fun room!

I suppose we should get some furniture and whatnot for in there but I love it already!

DW2DT: Final Details

We're back in the house, but we'll be working on final details for some time to come.  All of the base needs to be filled and final painted, as well as all of the white portions of the stairs.  Since they stairs kind of jump out at you when you walk in, my guess is we might get them done, but that's it for a while.  Anyway, Matt was working on the fill on the stairs and Norah was VERY interested in what he was doing, and wanted to help.  Rod was curious, mainly because she was there, but she was really into it.  I find it really interesting that Norah, my fancy girl, is the one who's interested in bugs and worms and the whole construction process, while Rod, my very boy-like boy by most accounts loves to fold laundry and empty the dishwasher.

DW2DT: Porch View

Day 135: Front Porch

DW2DT: News from Day 115

You may have heard there was some pretty big news here in Massachusetts on October 30.  The Red Sox won the World Series, IN Fenway Park, for the first time in nearly a century.  Oh yeah, and WE GOT OUR OCCUPANCY PERMIT!!!  Not a moment too soon either, as the temps were dipping into the 20's at night and the camper was sold, to be picked up on Friday.   We had been migrating into the house, first for showers, then for meals, over the previous week, and we had set up the beds the previous weekend, and we were more than ready for the big move.

Tim sent us an email just before lunch letting us know the permit was in hand, and I took off from work a bit early to come home and make the beds before I took the kids Home to the House for the first time.  Yipeee!  They were suitably excited about their new rooms and the prospect of living in the house again.  Norah, forever the drama queen, shed a few tears for the trailer before the night was out.

Since move in, we've been very busy cleaning and settling in, not to mention building a sidewalk out front and the minimal amount of fall clean up outside.  There is still much more to be done, by us and Tim, but living inside again feels great.  Not too much time for blogging, but all is well!

 

Happy Wife, Happy Life - Matt with the cleaning supplies

Yes, they have their own bathroom, but both thought it would be better to do their hair in ours

 

Norah cuddled up in her new bed

Roddie and Mitchell the Monkey checking out the ball bed

DW2DT: Day 108, the countdown is on!

Well, Matt is still in pain, but he went to work today.  It's Friday, so by that alone, things are looking up!  For good or for bad, there isn't too much we can do at the house this weekend.  The remaining painting is in the "tool room"/office, we can't do a final cleaning until the baseboards go in, and the minimal stuff we can move upstairs short term won't take long (if Matt can even do it).  We do need to clean out the camper, and Matt's friend Ron is coming out tomorrow with a load of something or other to temp out the walkway for the winter, but that's really about all we can do - a forced day off perhaps?

Current plan is to get our occupancy permit by this upcoming weekend.  Hopefully the nice man who bought the trailer won't show up before then!  Of course, if he does we'll figure it out, but here's hoping!  Tim and Russ will be working tomorrow afternoon, making more dust (see above re: final cleaning) and finishing the stairs and baseboards. 

It's getting harder and harder to stay in the camper as the house nears completion - there is space, ample heat, lights and hot water mere feet away from where we're living!!  I've been showering in the house for a while, and cooking there all summer, but last night we even ate in there - Matt and I standing and the kids in their lawn chairs from the other morning!

The two last big items, the dining room/family room and the stairs are really highlights of the heart of our home and it's really great to see them coming together.  It will be even greater to move in, mind you...

 

View from the front door - peek out into the yard/camper

I can imagine yelling over this railing to downstairs a few times...

Roddie testing it out already!

DW2DT Day 108: It takes a Hood...

You've heard the expression that it takes a village to raise a child?  Well, I'm here to tell you that it takes a neighborhood to build a house. 

The past couple of days I feel like we just couldn't catch a break - I have been kinda sick, but with no chance to rest.  The washer I thought was fixed really wasn't, the neighbor we thought might buy our camper ultimately didn't.  Yesterday morning, though a series of unfortunate events we had no heat nor lights in the camper in the morning.  (Ever try to get kids up and dressed in the cold and dark?  I don't recommend it) Today, Roddie peed in his bed, Norah peed on the bathroom floor, they wouldn't give me a flu shot because of my cold, my truck won't drive and my dog ran away... you get the pricture.  Then, to add insult to injury, Matt threw his back out again over the weekend and was in such pain today that he missed work and went to the doctor.  This morning I was saying to a co-worker that I just wanted something, anything, to break our way!  This point of the project is hard enough without crap luck!

Decamped to the construction site for breakfast

That said, our luck did turn around this afternoon.  A couple from Moncton who found our listing on Craig's List came by and bought the camper!  Let me tell you, that was a HUGE relief!  They'll be back to pick it up next week, which gives us plenty of time to MOVE OUT OF THE CAMPER over the weekend.  Thankfully this jives with Tim's plans to finish off the stairs by Friday! 

 

Then, a neighbor called and asked if we wanted to come over for dinner.  Usually on a weeknight I pass (and as it turns out totally blew it on Norah's first ever night of homework...oops!)  but tonight it was just what the doctor ordered!  I left Matt and his back on the sofa and took the kids and a couple loads of laundry around the corner.  On my walk over I realized that the neighbors really have been a big part of this - Jen took the kids a bunch of Saturday afternoons, I've seen pretty much everyone's laundry rooms by now, Marsha has taken the kids and had us over several times and everyone has listened to the ongoing progress and helped us stay sane!  

 

Maybe our luck wasn't so bad after all!

Yeah, that's Roddie, pulling a wagon full of dirty laundry, detergent and a bottle of wine, with his fancy scarf on... what of it?

Yahoo!  The final phase to re-inhabiting our house is coming along!

DW2DT: Day 105?

Honestly, I've lost track of the exact day, although I can tell you for certain we're rounding the corner of week 15.  It was a busy day here on the compound, with Tim on site working on the stairs, Russ came by to prep for refinishing the floors downstairs and the neighbor Jim and his wife (whose name I NEVER remember) stopping by and seemingly interested in the camper, and Matt, Norah, Roddie and I working on the front walk. 
The front walk was a bit of a bone of contention between Matt and I... I've always felt the back walk, that we put in when Norah was a baby, was too narrow.  The architect in Matt is leery of a walk out of scale with the house.  We managed to come to a compromise and laid it out first thing this morning.  We ended up deciding to keep the flagstone that had been at both the front and back walks when we bought the house.  Honestly, I don't love it, but the pavers I prefer aren't readily available this time of year, and honestly, the price works for us right now.  Laying the stone involves diggin gup the grass, laying sand (that needed to be harvested from the backyard), then stone dust (that was delivered this morning) and then I suppose we'll lay stones tomorrow. 
The kids and I took off to run some errands around 11, including picking up the mattress for Roddie's BIG BOY bed, only to return to join the hard labor.  This had the added benefit (again) of ensuring an easy bedtime for the kids.  Both kids were great, again today.  They both really got into the spirit of helping, using their mini-shovels and wheel barrows to contribute. 
The day reminded me of a project we did shortly after my grandparents moved to Antigonish in their retirement.  I think we hauled and spread most or all of the gravel in their back driveway.  All I remember clearly is going with my dad to a semi abandoned gravel put, filling up the little trailer Papa had, and spreading the stuff back at the house.  I doubt we were all that helpful when it comes right down to it, but like our kids today, I do recall feeling proud and happy that I was a part of this important work.

 

Spreading out the stone dust - why use a rake?

Roddie seems happy to be part of the fun

Norah is also happy to be helping.

I was giving the kids tubbies by then, but this was the fruit of today's labour

Come on in!

Matt and the kids picking up and getting ready for the floor team tomorrow (yes Sunday!) morning.

DW2DT: Photo Montage

It's been about 2 weeks since I posted anything about the reno.  The last time I posted, I was tired... tired of living in transition.  Well, we're still living in transition, but it also looks like this will indeed by our final weekend in the camper.  I feel like we reached a point about a month ago where it looked like we were nearly done, and... well, we weren't!  Matt has been working his butt off and I've continued with the single parenting plus doing what I can after the kids went to bed.

 

Anyway, still too tired to say much, but here's a sneak peak at some of the house details.



 

Master Bath Lights

 

Kids Bath Lights

New Floors

Door Casing

Master Bath floor and vanity

Duckie Accessories for the Kids

Kids Bath Fixtures

Inside of the Front Door

Stair Treads ready for install

Baseboard and Stair Trim waiting in the living room

Front Mahogany - pre oil

Finished Door

Installed Treads!

Master Bath Fixtures

Balusters ready for install - dill pickle wall in the backgroud

Newell posts ready for install

DW2DT Day 88... I'm tired

I'm tired... of living in a camper
I'm tired... of not having a real shower
I'm tired... of cooking in the house and living in the yard
I'm tired... of wearing sandals because I can't find my shoes in the basement
I'm tired... of having only a few lights to use
I'm tired... of single parenting and working my tail off to get the house done

But really, all in all, it hasn't been that bad.  Don't get my wrong, once we're outta here and back into the house I have no intention of looking back, though I don't think I've ruined camping for us forever.  There have been days recently when something (Like, oh, say the electrical) in the camper isn't working right that it really got me down. 

Camper Layout, recorded for posterity

It will be interesting to see how the kids adjust when we move back into the house.  Not only have they shared a room their entire life, but they've been literally sleeping on top of each other for the past 3 months. They chat among themselves at bedtime, Norah "reads" to Roddie, and basically we're all together all the time. 

At this point, we're looking at another week or two before we get back into the house, and it almost doesn't seem real - which is funny, because that's how it felt when the whole thing started!  At this point, all the tile is in, minus the grout in the laundry room, the plumbing and electrical inspections are complete and we're sprinting towards the finish line.  Matt has been a painting machine, going in straight after work and into the night a lot.  I've been doing what I can around single parenting the two kids in the meantime.  The list of stuff left to do is getting shorter every day!


Our camper looks like this, but a lot more 'lived in'


 

DW2DT: Day 79 - And Then There was LIGHT!

When I got home tonight, check out what I saw:

 

Lights On!

It's been a while since there was progress to see upon arrival, so it was pretty exciting!  Given where things stood yesterday, I was pretty optimistic that it also meant there was a lot of light inside too!  I was not mistaken.  In fact, right now it's like daylight outside the camper window where I am sitting - lights by the back sliders, back door, and 2 flood lights up high on the house!  That's not to mention the plethora of rooms with lights that work inside also!

The kids were pretty excited also, Roddie was very proud to show me that he had his own light and his own light switch! 

Yipeee!

 

In other news, the tile isn't quite done yet...however, in the two areas of the 2nd floor baths where the vanities will go, the tile is complete, including grout - and ready to receive the vanities tomorrow, presumably. 



Kids bath, lights, tile... ACTION!

Further evidence that the vanities are going in soon - they've been unpacked in Norah's room and are ready to be moved!

As if all the lights weren't exciting enough, we pulled down the attic stairs to see if there were lights up there also, and lo and behold - there was the new furnace!  Hooray!  I'll be honest, I didn't look too closely at what was hooked up and what wasn't, but I did see a lot of ducts all over the place!

Hallooooo HEAT!



DW2DT Day 77: Paint-a-Palooza Round Up

I've killed a lot of brain cells on vacation over the years - all-inclusive beach resorts, pubs in various fun parts of Europe, high altitude and low altitude hikes, but I think this week may have topped them all on that front.  Matt started painting last weekend and literally just finished up an hour ago.  I joined the fun after dropping the kids off on Monday, and painted all day for 5 days, and generally held down the fort - single parenting stinks, for the record.

However, at the end of the day (well, week) we do have a lot of progress to report!  All of the walls and ceilings on the second floor are complete, and a good start on the trim.  On the first floor, we've made a jump on the trim and have primed the walls and finished the ceilings in the dining room, family room and living room.  One thing I must admit is that I failed to appreciate the added work of prepping walls, filling nail holes, sanding and caulking.  Alas, we're on top of all that also. 

While a project like this certainly can test one's marriage, it also really highlights individual strengths and weaknesses.  Matt, clearly, is the detail oriented half of our team, and I'm more of the "bull in the China shop" workhorse - or, as Roddie might say, "Me Primer Girl".   All in all, we are pooped, but satisfied.  

25 gallons of paint on the wall, 25 gallons of paint...

Matt's tracking sheet, not updated yet for today's work.  First column is walls, 2nd is ceilings and trim as you head to the right

Putting the kids to work also...

Dining Room into the family room, primed

Me being silly.  I primed this room AROUND this pile of Tim's stuff!

Tim was busy this week also.  He started the week finishing up the trim and moved on to tile.  Tile, like painting, takes a lot of prep work.  The floor needed a little leveling, a little measuring and a lot of figuring.  It was actually handy to be at home when the figuring was going on. 





Foyer Tile, Work in Progress

This upcoming week, we're expecting plumbers and electricians, so things should really start coming together.  It's looking like just a couple more weeks and we'll be back in the house.  I am getting more and more anxious to get into the house by the second!

As I mentioned, Matt has been working nights and weekends on the painting, and I've been holding down the fort.  There is a bonus to this division of labor, in that I got a change of pace come Saturday.  After Norah's dance lessons, the kids and I went on a hike at the local conservation area.  It was just what the doctor ordered.

Division of labor pays dividends...

DW2DT: Day 72 - Paint-a-Palooza!

In order to keep DW2DT on budget, Matt and I decided to do the interior painting ourselves.  I'll be honest, I was really starting to wonder if this was a good idea or not as our "Paintcation" week came closer.  However, at the 2 day mark, I'm happy to report that things are going well, and I think we'll reach our goal of getting all the walls and ceilings painted this week.  The doors and trim will likely have to follow, but that can be done one at a time, at any time. 

We've killed north of a dozen gallons of paint already.  The picture below was taken around mid day and has already grown by a few. 

Tower of Dead Soliders, a dozen strong

Matt is one big reason we're in such good shape.  He's been painting by shop light at night, on the weekend, any spare moment to get us ahead on this crazy project.  When Tim came in on Monday morning we were able "hand over" all three bathrooms and the laundry room, fully painted and ready for tile.  Turns out tile work doesn't start until Thursday, but that's ok, since Matt also finished the 2 story foyer tonight!  I must be honest, I've never seen Matt procrastinate so much about any work project as he did about the last coat on the foyer.  I see this as a testament not to Matt's work ethic, but rather how much it stinks to paint that space!  2 stories, a set of stairs, a sizable upstairs hallway, the foyer downstairs... all of this was painted 3 times - tinted primer and 2 top coats, and I have to say, it looks awesome!

Ladder configuration to reach all wacky places

Matt, high at work

We also managed to get Roddie's room done, all but a final topcoat, Norah's room primed (despite the 2, 6 foot vanities in the middle of the room), our room primed, and the dining room and family room prepped and primed. 

Next steps, in addition to our paint labor, include tile starting Thursday, wood floors next week.  Base trim arrives on Thursday so we'll probably pre-paint that.  The plumber and electrician are scheduled to return next week also, so I'm guessing  a lot of things will be coming together next week!