Sore Knees!

This is an upate from Lura- the first time I've attempted this. We'll see how this goes. I was tired of waiting around for Mark to update the site because we have some good stuff to show you. (Mark's only been working his you-know-what off to make money to pay for this place!) My Dad has been a saint for the last 4 of the 5 days helping me lay tile in three rooms. What a chore, but well worth the result! He did an AMAZING job and now all that's left is grout and sealing. There is a great picture from Saturday (when Mom and Mark were there, too) of all of us with our tile cutting stains on our shirts. What a NASTY job. Just a reminder that we do clean up well- see previous post. We also painted our master bedroom- guess what color? Those of you who visited us in Decatur will know the answer. All the rest of you know us well enough to figure it out on your own... Go Tigers! Oh- I almost forgot- the site has been graded (finally!) and we have a functioning toilet! What a blessing that is. Now we're just waiting on permanent power and A/C. Would be handy for this 99 degree weather we're having. One last comment- our superintendant told me the slate "looks slamming!" Got to love that! Oh- and one more- a couple shots of our new door hardware (love it!) and kitchen sink, which has been in the apartment for about a year now (just brings to mind, "everything, including the...)

Counter-Culture

A wise man named Costner once said, "If you build it, they will come." Once you prepare a space for something, of course, the natural next step is to actually put it there. We painted the walls to receive the cabinets and the cabinets came. Along with them, they brought counters, and drawers and doors. We had a little snafu with the end of the peninsula and we had to make a last minute design change. But that is what architects are supposed to be good at, problem-solving on the fly. Of course, one could argue that architects wouldn't make those mistakes in the first place, but this whole thing is afterall a learning experience. We also learned a bit about stair design. They put the railings and pickets up and we had to adjust things a bit. We won't tell you what we did differently, but you can judge for yourself if it works. Don't tell us if you don't think it did.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, while workers were busily installing our cabinets and doors and stairs, Lura and I were in Dallas, Texas at the annual Mary Kay Seminar. What a great time! Yes, that is me talking. It was motivating and inspirational and we will be going again next year. Lura is growing two businesses at once and I am doing whatever I can to keep up and help out! Check her out at www.marykay.com/lgodfrey and check out these photos below (a couple of us in Dallas).

Full Color Birthday

Today was a very busy day. We are preparing to go to Dallas to a huge Mary Kay conference, but before we leave, we wanted to get over to the house today to paint a little. Yes, we are painting some, in fact most, of the interior of our house to save some dough. We also want to beat the cabinet installers who are coming Tuesday, while we are gone. So the 3 rooms with cabinets (2 bathrooms and the kitchen) got the first inside colors. Also today was Lura's Birthday, but she was quoted as saying "this house is the best birthday present I could get". Well, that and Harry Potter 7. We got that today too. Enjoy the pics. Next update, likely Thursday with cabinets and a fully built stair!

Stairway to Heaven (Part 2)

You know, after a while, you just run out of clever titles for blog articles. So here is a follow up the post detailing when the stairs were first built. First there was just wood, but now, there are treads and risers and bamboo and paint and all kinds of stuff. Also new to the blog, interior doors and white washed walls (as in primed and ready for paint)!

We have given our apartment notice now (a very satisfying experience in and of itself) and have set a move-in date of Labor Day weekend. Move in Saturday and Sunday and then go to see Clemson take on FSU. What better weekend plans could there be? Okay, enough type, here's some new pics.

Here's Mud in Your Eye

Normally someone would cringe if you told them that you saw someone throwing mud at your walls. But in this case, it's okay. It's only drywall mud, and with a lot of space comes a lot of mud. It went pretty quickly though. They have now finished sanding and mudding and taping and are almost ready for the priming before the paint. Also they have basically finished the exterior painting now too so the exterior, minus the grading, the landscaping and, oh yeah, the garage doors, it looks like a finished house. Well, there's also those Pella stickers in the windows! They needed to finish our drywall before installing the openers for the garage doors so we have been stuck with plywood to this point. This should be very soon though. Next week, they are supposed to build our stairs, complete with bamboo treads, 1x4 pickets and black painted risers and railing. To get a preview, I did a computer model of this so we could check out the paint colors. Soon we should have some actual pictures to compare. Also this week, they will be setting our doors and trim. Cool, cool, cool.

Interesting side note. Just to prove that it's not always the builder's fault when things are late. Yesterday, Ryan our super, was trying to get over to the house to grade with a bobcat and the truck he uses to haul it broke down. No biggie. We'll grade another day.

Until next time!

Amazing What a Little Paint and Drywall Can Do!

Do you know what a ginko tree is? There is an interesting thing about a ginko tree. They have really pretty yellow fan-shaped leaves, but in the fall, they build up and then all the leaves change colors at the same time. Then they all fall off after only a couple days.

Well, that's about what the house has been like. No, nothing has fallen off, but after all this buildup and waiting and such, all the work which was done before is now covered up with drywall, and it only took them two days to drywall the whole house! Also, the painting (exterior that is) is going extremely quickly too.

The thing about everything going so quickly is that you find yourself suddenly pressured into asking questions and asking them quick. Questions which you sometimes don't have time to think about if they were good questions or not - like "Did those rooms have electrical outlets before they were covered in drywall?"

Soon, though, we will be able to have cool stuff like stair treads and doors and sinks and lights and all those little things that keep a house from being 4 walls and a floor and a roof. So here it is, in all it's glory. I offer you PAINT and DRYWALL!