1 day to go!.... and a change of plans

Well, the good news is that there's actually a lot done. The steps leading upstairs are done. We have a toilet and a sink in the downstairs bathroom. There's heat (in the basement). The temporary exterior doors are hung - we even have house keys. Safety banisters and guards are in place. The plaster is, can I say done?, just about. Ceilings are being painted. And, this is important, everything is clean.

That said, there are a few important things that are not done. We don't have our permanent electricity; which means that while we can run some things off of extension cords running to the temporary pole outside, we don't have light switches or sockets or much power. Secondly, not all the plumbing is done. We don't have heat to the upstairs. And finally, the floors aren't painted. We'll be treading on sub-floor for a while, and apparently that needs to be painted to get a certificate of occupancy. So, while painted floors aren't high on my priority list, the building inspector thinks highly of them.

Since everything mentioned above needs to be done before we are allowed to live in the house, we have made alternate plans for a few days. We are still moving everything into the house tomorrow. We have a fleet of friends lined up ready to help, so we're going to use them. (By the way, Jack is at the house now painting as many floors as he can before we move everything in tomorrow. He plans to work until he drops.) But, our family will sleep in the house of a friend of a friend for a few days. It's uninhabited and furnished - just what we need. Jack thinks that by the end of next week, the issues for the building inspector will be resolved. Not only that, but there may be shelves in closets and in the pantry - a feature that would make the house infinitely more comfortable for me. So, that's the plan. I'm adjusting my mental state and my packing accordingly. Stay tuned...

The finished steps. Beautiful. They have cardboard on them now for protection.


My lovely (temporary) kitchen sink. The faucet even works. The painter asked me today if I'm excited to move in. Um..... I'm getting there.....


In contrast to my very primitive kitchen, Annie and Lauren got their long-awaited kitchen from Grandpa. Jim has been working on this beautiful kitchen for a while, but we think it is worth the wait. He still needs to hang the cupboard doors, but otherwise, it's ready to be played with tomorrow for moving day! The green color is supposed to be the kitchen cabinet color, but now I'm wondering how that is going to look in the room next to the gold living room. Stay tuned for that decision as well....


And now, I'm off to bed. Tomorrow is a busy day!