Now what?

So we're all moved and settled in our new home. It is amazing. And I am thankful every day for having had the opportunity to build our own home. Everything, down to the very last nook and knob turned out exactly how I had hoped.  It is so satisfying to be living inside something that started as a thought inside our over-ambitious heads! I am very lucky to have married such a fabulous carpenter!

I realized when we finished the house and I stopped updating this blog (and several people told me they missed the updates), that I actually missed posting updates.  So...I'm back.  Not that I'm very interesting or that our crazy life is anything more spectacular than anyone elses crazy life, but it's at least a place for people to see what we're up to and hear some of the thoughts that live in my scattered mind!

So when we first moved into the house and got settled, I looked around and said to myself "Now what?" Somehow I thought when the house was finished and we were no longer pre-occupied with installing floors, painting window trim, tracking invoices, dealing with the bank, and all the other details of building a house, that we would find ourselves with all this free time on our hands. I imagined lazy afternoons playing in the yard. I imagined weekends full of exploring the hiking trails down the road and getting our kayaks back in the water; afternoons strolling Main Street and trips to the Children's Museum and the Aquarium. I imagined frequent yoga classes and finding my inner zen-ness. I imagined getting to work on time, no, getting there early, and being amazingly productive now that my head was clear of all this house-building nonsense. I imagined delectible aromas coming from my new kitchen because, with so much time on my hands, I would become a gourmet cook and perfectly prepare all of the recipes I have ever clipped, becoming the envy of my neighbors for both my domestic skills and my career and the way I so gracefully and effortlessly balance home life and working full time. Um...SOOO not the case. Just because we finished the house doesn't mean I stepped into a fairy tale.  Life is still like trying to catch a speeding train.

This speeding train is due in part to the fact that we haven't settled into a routine yet. I thank the various flu viruses and other germs that have taken up temporary residence with us for this lack of routine. When we forwarded our mail I'm pretty sure we specified the names of the people to be residing there.  We did not list, for example...two week hacking cough cold/flu, nasty stomach bug, febrile siezure bastard, nor sinus cold turned ear infection turned ruptured membrane.  Yet, all of these characters have been unwelcomed guests in our house, and in our poor little Brody, since moving to the new house. 

The speeding train is also due in part to my new friend, insomnia. She is more of a stalker than a friend actually.  She thinks I should fear new fever-inducing viruses breaking into the house and that I should worry the night away that Brody will have another seizure.  So she keeps me up listening for any sign of distress coming from Brody's room.  Of course, after being up all night with her, it's impossible to get out of bed in the morning...thus making us all late and hindering the creation of that much needed routine. I hear that spring is just around the corner, although you never can tell in New England, and those germs will take a vacation and hopefully I can get some rest.

Despite the germs and the lack of sleep, life is very good.  We have been able to enjoy the sunshine (where did that go anyway?) on our front porch and play in the yard until dinner time.  I have had plenty of time to cook...although not the gourmet meals in my dreams.  Brody's has turned into a muffin junky and so I bake muffins every week to support his habit.  We did find the time to make a trip to the aquarium last weekend.  Ummm...was it always that small?  We also were able to make a trip to the hospital to meet the newest members of the McCarthy family - little Matthew and Meghan McCarthy - the cutest (and largest) newborn twins I have ever seen!

So life is good...and we are grateful for everything in it...and I promise there will be fewer words from me and more pictures in later posts!

CO!?!

We had the final inspection yesterday and, with the exception of two small items to address, it looks like we should have the approval for the certificate of occupancy today. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I take back every unkind thought I ever had about the city's inspection staff!

Ryan told me this as I was rushing out of work yesterday afternoon. I scared a poor guy in front of me when I screeched out an "Are you kidding me?!" He gave me a fearful look and scurried to his car. He was gone so quick I don't think he heard me apologize, which made me feel bad for a second until I refocused my thoughts on the fact that we will be able to start moving this weekend! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At that moment I thought...I need a paper bag because I was either going to throw up or hyperventilate. Thankfully, I managed to get myself under control and neither happened. I was so excited when I picked Brody up from school, he had no idea what was going on, but apparently the excitement was contagious. We blasted the "oh, oh, oh" song (I'm Yours by Jason Mraz in case anyone doesn't know that's Brody's favorite song) and danced all the way home! Needless to say...it was a great night!

Retraction...and a final sneak peak

I am able to "borrow" some internet access at lunchtime and post a few more pictures. After realizing that there is a link to this blog from Ryan's business website, I decided to edit some of the less sophisticated phrasing and well...threats in the last post. The edits in no way reflect a change of heart on my part...I'm still as fiesty as ever, but until we actually have the CO in hand, it might be best to stick with kind words!

So...here is the last set of construction photos to be posted to this blog. For those of you who have followed it...thanks for hanging in there with us. If you're disappointed that there will be no more pictures...well, you'll just have to come by and visit us on Snow Pond!

The finished Hearth Room.


The nearly finished kitchen. Just the toe kicks need to be installed under the cabinets and we'll be good to go!


The interior doors are all painted and hung and have their hardware installed.


Close up of the door hardware. Brody loves how easy the levers are to open. There might be a lot of door slamming in the first few weeks we're living here!

The Laundromat - I mean laundry room!

The family room is still in need of finish trim on the walls, but otherwise...it's done too!

Finished stairs looking up...

...finished stairs looking down-well you can see that they aren't quite finished at the bottom yet...

...but that's OK, cause Ryan's on the job and they will be done by the end of the day...or night.

Floors upstairs...looking from the hall into the master bedroom.

And in the hall looking into Brody's bathroom.


And from the master bedroom looking into the hall and stairway.


Another bird's eye view of the family room.

And finally, a challenging little detail in the front entry. We found these great slabs of slate at the remnant sale at the stone company and bought them even though we didn't know exactly what we would do with them. We wanted a different type of flooring in the entryway and loved the idea of a slab of stone. The challenging thing was figuring out how to cut it. But after laying porcelain, ceramic, slate, and limestone tiles in six rooms in the house, Ryan had the confidence to attempt it. It came out beautiful. The picture obviously does not do it justice. It's dusty and has become an area for tool storage, but someday, it will be stunning!

OK, that's all the pictures you get. If you want to see how the story ends, you'll have to come for a visit!

Are we there yet?

I realize it has been a while since I posted an update and photos. I apologize and give the following as a measly excuse...we've been a little busy! AND...we canceled our internet while we could get out of our contract without early termination fees (SIDE NOTE: We are now AT&T customers since Verizon doesn't have service at the new house). So internet access on my phone is the only way I can update the blog...sorry, no pictures for a little while!

So things are moving along. Quick recap to get you up to speed: All of the floors are done. All of the window and door trim is done and painted. The doors have all been painted and installed with their hardware. The baseboard has been painted and installed. The basement stairs and stairs to Jan's apartment are done and Ryan is working on the main house stairs today. Over the weekend we insulated nearly all of the basement ceiling - an itchy job, but someone's got to do it. I think Ryan and I are going back out to the house tonight to try to finish the basement.

So basically, we're done and we should have the CO inspection on Thursday morning. Of course we anticipate failing because the inspector has serious attention to detail. So we're preparing for the worst and hoping that we don't have any major setbacks. We're anxious to get our belongings out of storage. It will be like Christmas all over again!

Just in case the CO is issued, my mom and I started cleaning the upstairs of the main house over the weekend. I don't know who decided to put so many windows in this house, I was dizzy from the windex fumes!

So that's where we're at. Keep your fingers crossed for us on getting the CO.

FLOORS!!

Yep, that's right we're working on flooring! We finished Jan's apartment and the upstairs in the main house. Ryan and Clint are working on the first floor this week. Ryan and I also installed most of the doors over the weekend (don't have any pictures of the doors yet though). It's really starting to feel like a house! In addition to flooring pictures...here are a few of the recent snow...it was a white holiday season!


Ry, hard at work in Jan's bedroom.


Floors in the master.



Floors in Brody's room.



Floors in the 3rd bedroom.


Winter Wonderland!

All the Trimmings...

...we trimmed the tree AND trimmed the windows last week. We had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends and Ryan got a nice break from the house. Here are some of the latest pictures of the progress. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!


The fireplace all spiffed up!



We finally grouted the slate floor in the mudroom. This was the most challenging tile floor in the house, but was definitely worth it!



Window trim and cabinet hardware in the kitchen!


More window trim

And, just in case you didn't get enough of the kitchen...here's another shot!

From the kitchen looking into the hearth room. I feel justified in calling it the hearth room now that the fireplace is installed. Notice the trim on the windows!

And more trim.

Ryan even installed a couple of interior doors in the mudroom.

And it wouldn't be a blog post if I didn't sneak in a picture of my tub...with the trimmed windows!

And still more window trim.

The Devil is in the Details

So I'm finally understanding the meaning of this phrase as we go through the list of final items that need to be completed on the house. Wow...there are a lot of details! At this point, we have all of the tile and stone flooring done, and only the mudroom left to grout. The fireplace facade is done...yes, Ryan and I discovered our inner masons and went to town! The finish electrical and finish plumbing is actually really finished now...I think! And we have working lights, working heat, and working plumbing! We sent the porta-potty packing! I'm sure there are other things that we've checked off the list that I just can't think of right now...so here are some photos of recent accomplishments!

Brody (in an outfit he picked out himself - yes, even the pink sunglasses) helped Ryan lay the slate floor tiles in the mudroom.


And then acted more like his mother and took a break!


I think they did a pretty good job! The floor is finished now, just don't have a picture yet. As long as I can grout it well, I think it will be my favorite floor in the house.


The plumbers came back and installed all of the fixtures...this is Bro's bathroom. Apparently he told his class yesterday that he has his very own bathroom at the new house with his very own big, big tub. I'm hoping he isn't confusing my big, big tub for his...I love him to pieces, but I will fight him for it!!

Ryan, with his plumber hat on, installed all the toilets.

Master bathroom sink & faucet.

Master bath view from the bedroom.

My big, big tub!

Kitchen sink and faucet. It's an interesting little faucet. It came with the sink and is very nice, but it's not very intuitive to use. Pretty to look at though.

Kitchen sink and faucet from a different view - I love this sink.

Kitchen from a distance...the only thing missing now is the island...and window trim...and the toe kick on the cabinets. OK so a few things are missing!

OK...so here is the fireplace. Ryan worked his tail off on this and it came out amazing. I actually did help with this and so I like to say that we did it together even though it is really Ryan who deserves most of the credit. It was so hard and so fun - like a giant puzzle to put together.

This is pre-stone with only the scratch coat on.

Setting the first piece - no going back now!

Seriously slow going...

Setting the keystone and trim stones!

Halfway!!

And after I fast forward through a lot of cursing...Ryan sets the last piece! This was just before midnight on Tuesday night. There was no sleeping until it was done!

Close up of the puzzle!

View from the kitchen.

A very happy Ryan pointing to the last piece in place. Whew! This came out even better than I pictured it. I can't wait to sit in front of the fire in the (hopefully) near future and admire this major accomplishment. It took a few days and had a pretty big learning curve, but I'm so happy now that we did it ourselves.