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After 3 1/2 anxious weeks, we are finally in our home. This post is a bit late - we got in the house on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The story of those November weeks is long and sort of unpleasant, although we had a great time living next to and then with our friends. I'll just say that to be in our home for Thanksgiving (which was by no means a guarantee....) was wonderful. The 48-hours between getting in the house and sitting down to a Thanksgiving dinner were crazy! Unpacking the kitchen (but where to put everything? There aren't any kitchen cabinets!), cleaning floors and bathrooms, finding sheets and towels and setting up bedrooms for the four guests we had for the holiday, grocery shopping, etc. But, on Thanksgiving day we sat in our living room, next to our fire, with our family. So so good. We broke in the house well. In our first five days of living here we celebrated Thanksgiving, Jack's 38th (!) birthday and decorated our Christmas tree. And our guests rooms were occupied, which is exactly how we like them! I'll post pictures later. I just wanted to give the update. We're home!

2 weeks later and still waiting

We've spent the last two weeks at the guest house of a family in town. It was a lovely place to stay - if we couldn't be in our own house. One of the many blessings was that I was away from the chaos of the new house. I didn't have to be around all of the work that plumbers, painters and electricians were still doing. Also, I was forced to rest after all of the work of moving and before all of the work that is still to come in unpacking and organizing the new house. The guest house was also next door to our good friends, which was not only a wonderful treat for the kids but also a blessing to me. Since Jack continues to work late at the house, I enjoyed spending my dinners and my evenings with friends. Our time in the guest house needed to end today so we have worked and prayed toward the goal of getting into the new house today. No dice. There's still not enough done to satisfy the town building inspectors. I was bitterly disappointed and emotionally drained. The patience I think I've been able to maintain over these past two weeks gave out. After spending all day cleaning the guest house, I couldn't imagine moving into another place and doing that all over again. Our friends with whom we have been sharing meals have graciously invited us to stay in their house. We're overwhelmed with gratitude. I'm desperately hoping and praying that we will finally be able to move in by the middle of next week. Now that I have internet service (we didn't have it at the guest house), I'll keep you all posted! I'll also try to send some more pictures.

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!

2 days to go

Jack and Jim are still at the house, so I can't give the official report of the day until they are home. Here's what I know: the porch is done (yay!), the refrigerator was delivered today, Jack will have our temporary exterior doors hung tonight (he's building the permanent ones... sometime), Jim should finish the steps tonight and I think some painting and shelf-building are happening.

The steps as of this morning


I love the living room wall color. In 48 hours all of those building supplies need to be replaced by furniture.


And while the mad rush goes on at the new house, my mother-in-law and I have been packing up everything here. The kids had fun making forts out of the empty boxes.


All available spaces are slowly being taken over by full boxes.

3 days to go

As expected, we're getting into the exhausting part of the week. The part when Jack and Jim are at the house from 7:30am until 10pm with short breaks for lunch and dinner. And there's still a long way to go. There's going to be a delay in getting our permanent electricity hooked up, which is discouraging. After considering our options, it looks like we can still move in. We just won't have access to everything for a few days. Keep going.... keep going.....

This is fun. Our mailbox is in. I even put the house numbers on it yesterday.


Our bedroom is tinted. After the plaster sit for a few days, it gets a final wax coat (I think) so the final product isn't so splotchy.


Jim has the steps ripped out now. He's hoping to finish the permanent steps on Thursday.


The porch is almost done


The tile in the shower is ready to be grouted, except for the niche. Jim is waiting for Jack to cut shelves for it. Another thing on Jack's really long list :)

4 days to go

Sorry, no pictures today. The day was so busy that I only had about 10 minutes at the house and I forgot my camera. There was some progress, but seeing more progress would have been more encouraging. Jim finished the tile in the bathroom, except for the niche. He's waiting for Jack to make shelves for the niche before the tile can be finished. The tinted plaster in our bedroom is done, which hopefully means that they can start cleaning up in the upstairs. Still need plaster in the pantry and living room and a few other random places. Jim started cutting the stairway. Some cleaning up. And there were some pieces that came together, but not other big things.

5 days to go...

Ok, this is going to be fun. We move in five days. The mountains that need to be moved in that time in order for our move to be possible are colossal. Each day of this week I hope to offer a photo countdown as we prepare for the big day. Enjoy! And you might as well laugh with us.

We have the tremendous blessing of having my mother- and father-in-law here with us this week. Jim will spend an exhausting week at the house with Jack. Nettie is preparing meals and helping me with the kids as I pack and run back and forth to the house. Pictured below is the one bathroom that will be ready on moving day. As of this morning there was nothing. No toilet, no sinks, no tile, no doors, no vanity, no countertops... you get the idea. Jim got a good jump on the shower tile today.


Among other things, Jack primed three bedrooms and our master closet.


This is our living room - the room I hope will be my sanctuary (in 5 days). The "finished" room. We are still messing with the tint in the plaster for the walls. It's going to be a roll of the dice - no more time for samples - but I think we've got it.


Part way through on tinting the plaster in our bedroom


Right now we have two toilets - both in the basement. The trick is to make sure you use the one that is hooked up to plumbing.


FIVE DAYS! Well, now it's four. See you tomorrow!