day 80

I'm in a little bit of disbelief that we're on day 80.  11.5 weeks.  2.5 months.  In some ways, it seems like forever.  Afterall, we've really been working on this project for 8 months or so.  In other ways, another 80 days does not seem like enough time to get everything done.  But, I'm totally ready to be done.  Ready to move in.  Ready to decorate.  Ready to throw a housewarming party.  Ready to be out of this drafty condo.  The only part I'm not ready for is the packing up and moving again.  Any volunteers for that task?

It's cold in Wisconsin this week.  Not "Los Angeles cold" (see clip below - it's worth a laugh, especially if you hail from a state that actually gets snow or ice), but truly cold.  I think my car said -6 yesterday morning and we were up to 16 this morning.  Anyway, the cold means two things.  1) We're lining the walls of E's current room with blankets (see above).  I have never seen/lived in/experienced such a drafty place.  Especially one that's only 23 years old.  The wind and cold air is gushing through the electrical outlets and seeping in where the floor and walls meet.  It's crazy.  2) There hasn't been any progress on the exterior of the house.



I absolutely do not blame the siding guy for not coming out this week.  My fingers turned red when I ran out to the house for a short five minutes today at lunch.  While I was not surprised to see no work going on outside, I was completely surprised to see that the insulation was done inside.  Well, stage one is done.  The walls are insulated and plastic is hung.  I assume they'll be ready to do the ceiling insulation once the drywall is up.

[kitchen corner]

[dining area ceiling]

[master bedroom corner]

[living room]

[bedroom 2]

Nothing too pretty to look at, but we are beyond excited to see progress again.  I tried to peek through the plastic on the window to see when the inspection had been done and it looked like it had just been signed off on this morning.  The crew must have been on stand-by to come complete the insulation as soon as the inspection was signed off on.  I believe, at this point, they need to start warming up the inside and will then begin drywall.  The furnace is installed and hooked up to a thermostat already so I think everything just has to be fired up.  I'm not looking forward to paying two heating bills in this weather.

In other news, it was crazy windy on Saturday (day 76) and we lost some shingles.  It hasn't been hot enough for everything to properly adhere to the tar paper, so the 40 to 60 mph winds were able to do a bit of damage to the roof.  Not exactly what you want to see when you walk up, but the Construction Manager is aware and assures us everything will be fixed.

And, we received news late last week that the tile we'd selected for our fireplace is no longer available. I'm a huge second-guesser of decisions and was actually quite confident in my fireplace tile decision.  So, the thought of having to select something else wasn't very appealing.  Luckily, the Designer seems to understand by taste pretty well at this point and I was immediately on board with his recommendation.

[tumbled Torreon by Daltile]

Next up?  Ordering cabinets.  Finding a kitchen sink faucet.  Picking a paint color for the master bath and main bath.  Picking a paint color for the kitchen.  Maybe picking up a different post light (still not in love with the one we bought).  Picking out a lamp post.  And???  Anything I'm missing?