  Contact me at theyoungfamily (at) earthlink (dot) net |
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24 November 2005
Dog-troduction
 We took Willow to the house today. She sniffed everything quite thoroughly then marked outside!Here she sits where the fireplace will go:  Here she and I are in the dining room (the window that belongs there is still downstairs in the garage):  And here we are where the front door will be:  We discovered that the bottom half of the window tilts inward (the top half is immobile). This will be handy when we want to wash them. We discovered all the boards downstairs had been sprayed halfway up with something green. All we can think of is that it is some type of waterproofing just in case since it is on the lower level.  23 November 2005
House Call
Went past Trellis Oaks today; the tub/shower inserts are in. Stopped to talk to Elizabeth about the few problems we'd seen; she says the framers come in and put everything together (this is part one), and then the [name I forgot] come behind and fix the things that are wrong. They also put the plain old tub in. Elizabeth said she had a problem like this on the last development she worked in; it may be that they install a plain old tub, but then someone comes behind and installs the jets. (!!!!) That seems counterproductive to me (I can see Frank Gilbreth whirling in his grave), but Elizabeth says it will be the way we want when it's finished.Also, the plumbing pipes are in upstairs. 20 November 2005
Parts Is Parts
We went back to the house today because James saw some holes in the walls that bothered him. We took pictures of any holes and noted down anything that bothered us and left the floppy disk of photos and a list of corresponding notes at the sales office.Here is James in the kitchen, standing where the sink will eventually be. The stove will be in the corner, against the diagonal wall right behind his right shoulder.  The foreground where I am taking the photo is the dining room and the space in the back is the "great room" (no one has living rooms any longer). Here's the view of the back yard from the dining room windows:  This is the view from the great room looking straight at where the front door will be; you can see James' truck parked outside.  The house faces due west (I brought a compass). This means the kitchen will get the morning sun, which is cool. Our bedroom windows will face north and the living room windows south. On the way home we also tried out the Food Depot nearby as we needed supplies for James' breakfast burritos. It already has approval from James: they carry the Hood's Carb Smart chocolate milk. They also have a lot better produce section than the one here on Powder Springs Road. 19 November 2005
OH-MY-GOD
James said that today he learned the full meaning of the Brit expression "gobsmacked."When last we left the house (November 12, last Saturday), it looked like this:  Well, this is what it looked like as of 3:30 p.m. this afternoon:  We figured the framing would be partially or all up, but we weren't expecting the sides nor most of the windows, and the bathroom inserts ready to go in! I know this sounds funny, but it hit me square in the solar plexus, too. Up till now it's been a bit of a dream, and now it's taking flesh. Plus I'm...scared. I always figured when you became an adult you quit being scared, except about important things like family members or yourself being sick. My parents seemed so smart...not to say they were never ruffled or angry or didn't have problems, but they met events and decisions with such equanimity that when I was a kid I figured it was a gift that grownups were suddenly endowed with when they hit a certain age: you suddenly knew What To Do. I kinda looked forward to when it happened to me. Now I realize they were just muddling through just like I am. While at least I don't feel quite so inadequate, I also realize I'm never going to be lucky and "grown up," and automatically know What To Do. Darn. 12 November 2005
"Backwards?"
James was looking at the photo I posted of the foundation and pointed out something: look at the large space right in front, and the piping coming up to the rear of it.Yes, we're going to get the model that looks just like the house plans. So it will be "backwards" to what we've been looking at. Fiddled around with Paint Shop Pro a bit and came up with this approximation:  I don't have the colors exactly right, but it will be grey siding with red bricks. Look, Ma, Concrete!
We got to Trellis Oaks today to find that someone has finally moved that darn work truck that always seemed to be parked in front of the lot.They finished the forms some time last week, and Gwen said she saw them pouring the cement yesterday when she left. Voilà; a foundation! And this appears to be our framing and floor trusses and roof joists:  I continue to accumulate little things that we need or want: I got some fall themed kitchen towels and hot pads at K-mart for a nominal sum. (I went looking in K-mart for curtains. I had trouble finding them because they were two tiny aisles up front; I remember when K-mart had a big long aisle with all sorts of curtains; sad. Of course I also couldn't find it because I was looking for "curtains" and it was labeled "window treatments." {eyes roll} What are you treating them for, excess starch?) At Bed Bath & Beyond I found more magnetic vent covers. We use these in the winter to save heat in rooms we don't use and also in our bedroom, which we like to keep cool. I also was wandering about their storage area and found a folding table that can be adjusted to four different heights for a very reasonable price. I've been looking for a craft table that I can use without worrying about getting paint or stain on it. Right now I do crafts on the coffee table, covered over with waxed paper. I had another coupon, so I bought the table—it was around $15. 05 November 2005
Ikea Dreams
We took an unexpected trip to Ikea today; it wasn't in the day plan. We were just already in Buckhead and it was dinner time, so we went for dinner, with the rest of the place thrown in. As always, we had Swedish meatballs, but since it's approaching the holidays they also have a roast turkey dinner.They're already decorated for Christmas, as all the stores are, even down to dressing their room displays with the odd Christmas tree dressed in different Swedish-style ornaments. Some of these are vivid spheres, but the most charming trees are those decorated in the old Swedish tradition with red-painted wooden hearts, straw ornaments that look like snowflakes, little hearts of scrap fabric, straw snowflake garlands, etc. You can also get a Julbok, the traditional Swedish Christmas goat, in natural color "straw" or red. We don't need much new furniture besides some extra bookcases. Ikea has bookcases, as I've mentioned before, are eight inches taller than the standard discount store/office supply store bookcase, plus they come with an extension shelf to make them taller. The model is called "Billy": here's the basic unit. You can get them with glass doors and even buy extra shelves. You can even get them with a shelf insert to put CDs in. We'd like to invest in a couple of these Benno CD towers. They're also 80 inches tall and at Ikea they have displays where they are alternated with the Billy bookcases to make a varied media wall. We seem to have fallen in love most with a style called Leksvik, which is done in a brown "antique stain." What we want most is a new bed and here is the Leksvik version. Love the nice clean lines. The headboard is hollow and has two "pockets" in it for books, bedtime stuff, etc., with a lid that goes over it. (It's hard to describe unless you see it.) If we want storage underneath someday, they have matching underbed storage boxes. It also comes with a matching "bedside cabinet," but I already have a nighttable. I am madly in love with their china cabinet, but there's no photo of it alone on the website. Here's a picture of it sold in combination with a small dresser. Need somewhere to display Mom's china; it's too pretty to be kept in boxes anymore. It's been packed away for 58 years now. We saw this wall-mounted hat and coat rack today and would like to have it for the hallway downstairs. We'd also like one of these Expedit bookcases for a room divider. Only question: the 4x4 or the 5x5? The 5x5 seems rather large to me, but the room does have a partially vaulted ceiling. It might not be too much overkill. We need to divide the dining room off from the living room so Willow will stay back there and not try to sleep on the furniture. The baby gate will only reach so far! :-) The master bathroom in the house was going to have one of those unattractive "slabs'o'glass" over the vanity. We told them not to put them in. We liked the Andennes mirror better. They also have other, beveled mirrors if the Andennes doesn't work out. Meanwhile James is interested in this Nyled rack system for the kitchen, and this plain old bit of Gorm shelving looks perfect to hold bug spray and other things in the garage. Oh, and we thought this Skrissel product might come in handy in the bathroom. :-) A Perfect Form
...but unfinished.We got to Trellis Oaks today to see that they had started putting the forms in:  We had to make sure they did one more thing in the house: make sure the upstairs thermostat wasn't in the master bedroom. The Dubois seems to be the only house this is done with. We keep our bedroom very cold; in the winter we even have the vent closed. If the thermostat was in our room the heat would be running constantly and make the rest of the upstairs suffocatingly hot. I notice the folks next door had a set of French doors put on the side of the house. Wonder how much extra that cost! |
