Success and Failure in a Matter of Hours

So, I thought I would give Maria a break from writing the blog for this latest installment.  This decision was partially made because I am currently trapped in the guest bedroom with Hera and Marley with nothing else to do while Maria is running errands.

The good news is that we finally have basic cable.  The bad news is that we still don't have any furniture to enjoy some good old fashion TV watching.

Hardwoods aren't comfortable :(

We also found great pleasure in watching "Money Pit" with Tom Hanks.  Watch it all the way through as there were a few times that Maria did the crazy Tom Hanks laugh at the end!!

Sleep has been a privilege lately so we were really looking forward to sleeping past 8am on Saturday.  We almost made it.  We heard a knock on the door at exactly 8am, but we knew it was the guys coming to work on the house all day so I practically ran to the door to let them in.  It has been chaos (in a good way) ever since.  We have 7 different workers in the house right now and you would think we won the lottery we're so happy! 

We originally thought that we had to keep a load bearing post in the middle of the great room and we were not very happy about it because we wanted the room to be completely open.  What the hell do you do with a random post in the middle of the room?  I thought about having Maria dance around it, but that is all I came up with.  

We decided to ask Jim to get some pricing on replacing the post with a beam that would run the length of the great room and two decorative columns on either end to support the beam's weight.  We were extremely surprised and happy when he told us it was only going to cost an extra $400.  When you're as over budget as we are on this project an extra $400 is a drop in the bucket.  It's going to make the room look 100 times better and it will be great for resale value so it was worth it.  

The beams were delivered the day before and waiting for the guys when they got here on today.  They immediately went to work.





24 beams to create great room!





Taking down old support structure

They also started working on the white marble tile for the shower in our master bath.  So far, it looks great!  Maria is very happy with our choice to go with the white marble brick pattern which makes me happy.  The quality of work is much better than the tile in the guest bathroom too.  Rumor has it we will be able to take a shower in our master by Monday!  Holla!

So, everything seems like it is going great, right?  Well, not so fast.  I haven't mentioned the hardwoods.  We had them refinished.  What do you think?

Yeah, they look like shit!  This is just an example from one small area.  We had the hardwood guy come back to ask what happened and he told us it was just the way the wood took the stain.  Apparently, in his world this is what happens with darker stain.  Maria wasn't accepting that as an answer and had 3 other recommended companies come and look at the job and they all agreed that it looked terrible.  We hired the man with the best quote and best online reviews. 


The beam and posts should be up by the end of the weekend and the new hardwood guy should be here by the end of next week to redo the floors.  Luckily, the floors in the two upstairs bedrooms look good so we don't have to have them redone.  It took some smooth talking to convince Maria of this but I have a way with her ;-)


Finally, the guest bathroom is almost complete!  We now have a sink and some shelving to keep all of our toiletries and such organized so we no longer have to step over and around them like the obstacle course in 5th grade.  We also passed inspection on the first floor so we can now close in the floor and walls in that bathroom!  Life is slowly getting back to normal.  SLOWLY :-)

Modern sink in guest bathroom

Not perfect or the way Maria wants it to look but better than everything on the floor!

The kitchen cabinet installation was pushed back to accommodate the new beam and refinishing of the hardwood floors.  It initially was a major disappointment as we can't wait to see our cabinets but we also know we need the hardwoods done right.  Hopefully by our next post, the kitchen cabinets and appliances will be installed!



Living with the Squirrels

If I hear the Inspector is delayed another time, I might just pull my hair out.  All work has halted until the Inspector comes as we can't finish the kitchen or master bathroom until all of the plumbing and electrical has been inspected.  It's really a waiting game and with no patience or time at this point, we are the losing party. 

Our one bedroom and partially finished bathroom is no longer an "adventure" but has become a nuisance.  We are so lucky to have great friends like Josh and Teri who let us use their couch for the past 3 nights.  With the computer as our TV source, we had to get our football fix in and they helped greatly!


Also, having my office in our one bedroom with two animals is not so cozy.  The thought of my big desk with shelves and organization (as if I know what that word means anymore) is circling my head daily.  Luckily these two have been getting along.


Lazy kids



Office/Hera's Crate/Kitchen

We unfortunately also woke up to another surprise this morning.  I suppose the squirrels in our backyard, which I usually admire, have decided they would like a warm place to live and have made their way into our attic. 

Cute, right?  Not when they move in with you!

I suppose they really wanted luxury because I heard something in our living room and tip-toed out there to find one of the little guys in the middle of our kitchen (well what is supposed to be the kitchen).  He immediately ran back up the way he came in which (shocker) was through our unfinished kitchen space!



The squirrels way into our house





So amongst my many animals, both wanted and unwanted, I'm trying to find the positive side.  I do have a nice shower head in the guest bathroom and I like the tiling color we picked for the shower walls... 

Trying to enjoy the small victories

Now if we only had a vanity so we could stop brushing our teeth in the tub!

On an extremely positive note, Hera is improving daily and she is passing training with flying colors!  She is such a sweetheart and you can see she just wants to please us. 

Practicing Stay with Todd



Our lovely girl





Being good on our walk



I spoke with my Nona this week and she reminded me that "most all days of your life you will consider ordinary so find the small things that make you laugh during those times"  It's interesting how the most common ideas are sometimes so hard to follow but Todd and I are trying our best to take Nona's advice.