Black Belt Mama

Landscaping: Before and After (Or, I've Been Legitimately Skipping the Gym)

Although I've been telling everyone how doing our own landscaping has been killing me, I haven't put up much in the way of proof.

Until now. . .    

Keep in mind that much of this stuff is not yet blooming, so I'll be sure to add pictures as it does.

Before. . .

 

After:

 

Here's a close up of our one bed. This features a weeping blue atlas cedar and two varieties of blue-leaved hosta.

Here's another view of the weeping blue atlas cedar. It's such a cool plant but it's starting to lose some needles and I'm panicking a bit. It better make it.

 

Before: 

After:

That's a weeping snow fountain cherry tree and in the far corner is an Eastern Red Bud and three halcyon blue hosta. There is more to come in the back yard, including (potentially) a blue stone patio as well.

Before: 

 

After:

We created two beds here. One is in the raised rock wall area and includes a back row of blue mist caryopteris, heuchera, and liriope.

The front bed is anchored by a clump birch tree which is just starting to get some leaves, three more blue hosta, three lavender, two blue star juniper, a dwarf white shag pine, three siberian iris, and a blue boy holly around the corner.

Blue oat grass will be going in on either side of the sidewalk, beside the white shag pines (above bottom left, where the stepping stone is currently placed). Below, you can see the holly on the corner.

 

Before:

 

After:

This bed contains three more lavender, two blue star juniper, a dwarf white shag pine, two blue princess holly, a blue ice cypress (better seen below), heuchera and siberian iris (also seen below).

Before:

 

After:

We're only missing the stepping stones that will wind all the way to the back yard, which we should have within the next week or two.  Included in the rock garden are purple coneflowers, Nikko Blue Hydrangea, elijah blue fescue grasses, blue mist caryopteris, siberian iris, sedum autumn delight, liriope, heuchera bronze wave, and some evergreen blue trailing flowers. . .

. . . that will eventually spill over the rocks. These below, are the little blue grasses sticking out from the rock wall.

From the back of the house:

Seen here are three butterfly bushes (two blue, one pink), a Dragon Lady holly, a viburnum carlesi, some upright blue/purple phlox, elijah blue grass, and a blue star clematis that will climb up that trellis there against the house.

We have been busy indeed. In addition to the plants, we used almost 10 yards of mulch. Believe it or not, we're still not finished. Part two of the self landscaping job starts soon!

Do It Yourself Landscaping (With Injuries to Prove It)

When we got the landscaping estimate two weeks ago from the landscape design lady, we knew there was no way it was going to happen unless a landscaping god dropped plants and trees from the sky, and we did it ourselves.

Then we found where the landscaping gods live. Everyone in our neighborhood has been singing the praises of a nursery located about 25 minutes from our neighborhood. Owned by a mennonite family, they have the best stuff, at a fraction of the price, and they're all super helpful. As a comparison, the plants for the front and one side of our house were going to cost us over $3000, not including labor from the first lady.

From the landscaping gods? We were able to buy all 78 of the plants for around $1000. No, you aren't imagining things; it really does say 78 plants. That could explain why my body feels like it's been through a meat grinder today. The weekend started off with a bang, no, literally a bang.

On Saturday morning, I tried to maneuver around my disorganized laundry room and banged the inside of my ankle on the metal thing sticking out of the inside of the dryer door. It was one of those hitting your funny bone type of moments, but there was nothing funny feeling about it. I scraped some skin off my ankle and it just throbbed for a good five minutes; but there was work to be done, so that's the only time I allowed myself to feel it.

Mr. BBM and I worked for 8.5 hours with barely a break while Lil C ransacked the garage and sometimes sat contentedly on the front porch with her sunglasses on upside down, observing us grumpily. When all was said and done, we had finished the front, and planted two big trees (a birch clump and a weeping blue atlas cedar).

We were exhausted but went to our friends' house for dinner. It was only after washing off the layers of dirt, and arriving at their house, that I realized my ankle was still throbbing. I took a peek at it and noticed it was quite large, as in three times the size of my other one. I spent the rest of the night elevating it and medicating with appletini's.

Sunday I woke up even more sore, despite the fact that I had iced it before going to sleep. I was moving at a snail's pace, but still working because we had no choice. By the close of yesterday, we had planted all but three hosta plants.

My ankle is still swollen and sore. My right knee has a big bruise on it from smacking the shovel against it every time I tried to get some digging leverage. My fingers feel horrible from grasping and shoving dirt around, and my back, we just won't even discuss.

Despite the injuries and the exhaustion, I have to say, that landscaping your entire yard by yourself (me and Mr. BBM) feels pretty good, especially when you can do it for a fraction of the price it would have cost you otherwise.

When it stops raining and we get the mulch down, I'll share some pictures so you can all tell me how fabulous it turned out.

Open House Part 1

I've been working non-stop to get this house in order, and I am finally ready to show you part of the house. Here goes:

The foyer. . . (That mirror is centered on an angled wall. It's hard to tell that it's angled from this picture.)

The dining room. . .

  

The living room. . .

  

The view from the back of the family room to the entrance. . .   

The family room (we're still working on hanging pictures and curtains) from upstairs. . . 

 

  

Can you tell that this is my favorite room?  

The back of the family room "hallway" and back staircase. . .   

The kitchen. . .   

  

Part of the back yard which is starting to get grass but would still be a great place for mud wrestling. . . 

  

Stay tuned for the bedrooms, master bathroom (my other favorite room), etc.      

  

   

Coming Soon

I am getting there with this house. Things are starting to find a place, and I'm gradually working on window treatments throughout the house. Our garage door openers will be installed next week. I can not wait for that! Once I have things together, I plan to do an online "open house" so you can see how it all looks.

So far, my favorite thing about the house is my jacuzzi. I've been in a few in hotels and beach houses, but I've never had my own. This jacuzzi, in particular, is pretty awesome. It has these perfectly placed two little jets right at your feet. I think I'd live in there if I could.

I've found that having big windows means big bills when buying window treatments. It's amazing how fast a couple hundred can go down the tubes when trying to cover up your windows!

Thanks to the nice weather we've been having, our grass is really starting to grow. Our yards looks like it has a nice haze of green over it right now and we're just praying that it gives us a good head start in the spring. Having this great yard, but not being able to go play in it right now is torture.

I've been lousy at posting lately, mostly because I've been falling asleep on the sofa around 9 p.m. each night. I'm exhausted from the move, and exhausted from planning and grading during the last month of the semester at the University where I teach. Exhaustion makes for minimal posting and lackluster content, I know.

Hopefully this will be a very productive weekend, full of picture hanging and getting these girls to sleep past 7 a.m for a change.

I also wanted to send out a belated "thank you" to Avitable, who sent me a really nice housewarming gift. Your wine bottle was the first to go in my wine rack, but it won't be there for long. ;-)

A Weekend to Remember

On Friday afternoon, we were "Boo-ed." Someone left a Halloween treat on our doorstep along with a sign for our door and a little poem. We had to anonymously leave a treat for someone else in the neighborhood. I knew this was a fun community but I had no idea just how much fun it would be.

On Friday night, for the very first time in their lives, my girls were able to trick-or-treat in a neighborhood crawling with Halloween spirit and kids. Parents set up lawn chairs and campfires with coolers of drinks nearby in their driveways as kids went door to door, always with a parent in view. Big I Sleeping Beauty and Lil C Belle, had a great time. So did the adults. It was a nice introduction to our neighborhood, but it was only the warm-up.

 

  

   

Flash back to January of 2008. After we had been working with our realtor for a little while, he asked us if we would be o.k. with telling people that we were working exclusively with him: the "will you go with me?" of real estate. I told him that we had no problem telling people we were working with him. However, I had a question for him first.

I told him about how our realtor many years ago, when we bought our first house, bought us a garage door opener as a house warming gift. I then told him how our second realtor bought us an orange coaster as a house warming gift. I asked him which realtor he more closely associated with, given that information.

He thought for a few seconds and then told us that he wasn't going to buy us a gift. He said that instead, he would rent a moon bounce for our open house party that would bring all the kids in the neighborhood out, so that we would get to know everyone. I told him I would hold him to that. I had no idea how incredibly he would deliver.

Yesterday, my realtor hosted a hot air balloon "welcome to the neighborhood" event in the park behind my house. The Remax hot air balloon was there, offering tethered rides to anyone who wanted one, for hours. There was also a moon bounce for the kids. My mortgage guy paid for popcorn and cotton candy machines so the entire neighborhood could have some free snacks. We estimate that there were a couple hundred people that came and went throughout the afternoon.

I met many people from our neighborhood, and Big I was thrilled to discover that one of her friends from school lives just four houses down from us while another lives directly across the park

By far though, the coolest part of the day was helping to set up and take down the hot air balloon. I have never taken a ride in one before and I was able to do that too. It was truly a day to remember.

My realtor and I helped the balloon people blow up the balloon, first with a fan that blew cold air into it, then with the propane heaters that blasted flames into the balloon and made my realtor and I happy that we had gloves on.

At one point during the day, the pilot said he needed people to hang on the side of the balloon to keep it down so I jumped onto the side of the balloon, which got me some brave reviews from some of my new neighbors. 

During the day, some local 6th graders set up and sold bottles of water to help raise money to build water pumps in less fortunate countries. All around, it was an amazing introduction to our new community, a day that will not soon be forgotten.  

A huge thanks goes out to my awesome realtor and mortgage guy! Let's do it again. . . next week perhaps?  

  

Exhausted but Loving Life

We slept in the new house for the first time last night. I didn't sleep well at all. Getting used to a new house and its sounds and the sounds of the neighborhood takes some getting used to. Plus, I was just too excited to sleep. It was an all around great day.

The walk-through took two hours. We put sticky notes anywhere there was a problem and as we were leaving for settlement, a couple guys came in to take care of the issues. By the time we got back from settlement, the painter was finishing up his last touch-ups. The electrician comes tomorrow morning to take care of some minor issues, like the fact that they forgot to put all the light bulbs in the chandelier that's about 20 feet above our heads.

The girls feel like it's Christmas as they rediscover each new toy. Lil C is currently passed out on the family room floor which has yet to get any furniture; and Big I is on her third or fourth play date since we've moved. Our neighbor is over hanging out with her. This is exactly why we moved here. The kids are ecstatic.

Mr. BBM and I both feel like we have broken backs. We spent the entire day moving boxes, unpacking and trying to figure out how we could get a sofa in here before the weekend. Mr. BBM and my dad are working on that issue right now.

I had to teach this morning at 8 a.m. and was dragging. But returning home. . . home fills me with more energy. I am enjoying every second of unpacking and setting up in our new place.

Thanks for all of your well wishes. I promise pictures once we're set up here.

Tomorrow It Is

The truck is loaded with most of our boxes. Because of the way I packed, I'll probably have to wear pajamas to go teach on Tuesday morning. It won't even matter though, because tomorrow we move into our dream home.

Since it's the middle of the week, we don't have much in the way of help until the following weekend, so we're going to move what we can, enough so that we can start sleeping there tomorrow night. Words can't even describe how excited we are right now.

On Friday, Mr. BBM and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. We went to a wonderful french restaurant where I had lobster cakes and a dark chocolate souffle for the first time in my life. I think I was even more excited about the chocolate than I am about my new non-pink countertops. After dinner, Mr. BBM and I drove by the house, the one we've been building in our minds for a good 10 years now, the one that tomorrow becomes a reality.

At 9:30 p.m., the painter was still inside doing the touch-up work and the cleaning crew was there as well. We walked into the first floor and took a brief look around before sneaking out before we startled them. Everything has come together so nicely.

Today, the painters were busy finishing up the exterior painting and assuring us they would be finished on time. We do our final walk-through at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning and we settle at noon.

Do They Not Sense the Urgency???

I just got back from stopping by the house. There are four days to go until settlement. No one is working at the house. The carpet is finished in the two downstairs rooms, but it's not done on either of the staircases or in any of the bedrooms. They also need to seal up where the water line comes into the basement and do all the exterior painting (front door, side lights, side door, bilco door, window keystones, etc.), plus all the touch-up on the interior.

Also, remember the pee in the basement fiasco. Well, we roughed in for a bathroom in the basement and we have a rough-in for a kicker pump along with the toilet and bathtub rough-in. We feel fairly certain that someone decided to use the kicker pump hole as a pee pot. When I walked down in the basement today, there is definitely an "off" smell. We already made the builder rep aware of the situation and we told him we want it cleaned up (bleached and shop-vacuumed out). We could completely understand if they went in the sump pump hole. At least that drains into the ground. With no plans to put the actual kicker pump in anytime soon, well, let's just say that pee is going to percolate. No thanks.

The appraiser is supposed to be able to walk through a completed house tomorrow afternoon, and with all of that stuff left to do and operation pee smell elimination, no one is there. No one.

I need to do some deep breathing.

Here are the latest pictures:

The kitchen sink and faucet. . .

The kitchen, completely finished (minus the refrigerator that comes after settlement).

The first room of finished carpet. Also, the girls. Big I with her "I can't wait to move in" face and Lil C with her "getting my picture taken is painful" face.

The dining room. . .

And the exterior, minus the painted blue door and sidelights, etc.

   

Six Days to Go (Not a Post About My Knee)

I wrote this depressing post about how my physical therapist thinks my knee needs more time and that I need to take more of a break from karate. It's full of depressing and discouraging junk.

This is so much better. . .

The countertops are finished. The faucet and lights are going in today. It took the electrician all day yesterday just to unwrap all the lights and get them ready for hanging.

Today they are finishing the exterior stone and stucco.

They've finished grading the yard.  And they should be putting our stove and microwave in today too. The recessed lighting is going in. The jacuzzi tile went in today and is now finished. The bathroom and fireplace grout is now done.

The master bath lights are up and looking fabulous.

The carpet guys were also there putting the padding down and installing the tack strips. Six days to go.

I'm not talking about my knee today. Don't try to make me.    

Unexpected Surprise

We were told that the counter tops were going in on Tuesday or Wednesday. Today, when we arrived at the house, the counter top guys were there delivering two of the smaller pieces.

The rest are going in on MONDAY! The lights are also going in on Monday! AND the appliances are being delivered on Monday too. It is safe to say that there will be a lot of pictures posted on Monday. I can not WAIT!

Here is a picture of the hall bath with the mirrors installed. . .

And here is the powder room. . . 

Today Mr. BBM and I spent hours standing in one aisle in Lowe's. When all was said and done, we left with $2.70 worth of paper blinds. We are both just so tired of making decisions. Considering that, it's nice to see that the decisions we've made thus far are turning out just fine.

Getting Picked on is Universal

I went to the house yesterday to drop off all my bathroom mirrors. There were three guys there installing my hardwood floors when I arrived. Because it was in the morning, I was thinking that they wouldn't have much of it done. They told me it was a two day job, so I didn't bother to take a look before getting to the business of carrying my mirrors inside.

As I walked the first mirror in and went up the back staircase, it blocked my view of the dining room and foyer. After dropping off the first mirror, I headed back down and was greeted with this view.

"Woo hoo!" I yelled, "That looks awesome!"  They guys smiled at me and kept working. Whenever I've been around them, they are always talking in Italian. I so wish I could speak that language. You just know they're discussing your butt or the large zit on your forehead (or in my case the mosquito bites, I swear).

I had five mirrors to bring in and I had to bring them one at a time. They are seriously heavy. As I was bringing in the 4th mirror, I heard one of the guys saying with his Italian accent, "Woo hoo, that looks awesome." He kept repeating it at regular intervals and the other two guys were laughing each time. They clearly thought I had left.

I quietly continued taking my mirrors to the bathrooms and when I turned the corner, I almost ran right into one of the guys. With a bewildered look on his face, he started speaking Italian to the other guys. I can pretty much bet he was saying, "Oh crap, she's still here! Shut-up!"

I smirked at him and said, "You know, you may be speaking Italian, but being picked on is a universal language. I totally get that you're making fun of me. I'm a teacher. Nothing gets by a teacher." The guys were congregating around me as I gave my little speech and they all started cracking up laughing as they realized they were clearly busted.

I then told them they should be happy I'm so excited, because it means I think they're doing a good job. The one guy was laughing so hard during the lecture that he could barely breath. Finally, he stopped laughing just long enough to apologize. "No apology is necessary," I told him. "Just keep up the good work!"

They certainly did do a great job.  They finished the entire job in just one day and it looks beautiful.

One of my Italian "friends" who was clearly thrilled to be a part of my house building picture portfolio collection.

The dishwasher goes in today. Lights go in Monday and my counter tops go in Tuesday or Wednesday. 10 days to go.

Floor and Cabinets and Sinks, Oh MY!

Things are getting exciting people. . .

The kitchen cabinets are in!

We took these when it was REALLY dark outside and we don't yet have our electric turned on, but I couldn't wait to show you. When I stop by tomorrow, I'll get daytime pictures.

My above-the-refrigerator wine rack. This was my idea and the cabinet guy made it custom for a lot less money than one would think he would charge.

Woo hoo! The master bathroom. We just need our tile surrounding the jacuzzi tub now and the tile is done!

This is the hall bath:

Now we just need our countertops, appliances, lights (being installed on Monday). . .

I am bursting with excitement!!! 

Single-Handedly Solving the Economic Crisis

Today, the tile guys were in our house putting in our kitchen and bathroom floors. The stone guys would have finished the exterior this weekend, had they not run out of stone. Things are definitely moving, as well they should be. It's just two weeks until settlement.

The kitchen cabinets go in on Wednesday and the hardwood goes in on Thursday and Friday. It's going to be an exciting week. Tonight, Mr. BBM sent me through the family room window so I could make my way to the front door and let him in. We're officially at the sneaky entry stage.

With the move just two weeks away, I like to think that Mr. BBM and I are helping the economy by purchasing this new house. We are paying the salaries of the builder's guys and the subcontractors. We'll also be giving Lowe's a bump in profits this month. There are so many things to buy for this house!

We decided to wait until we're actually moved in to figure out blinds and curtains for each room. We will, however, have to get something for the bathroom windows so that we can put them up asap. I was thinking that I might already have curtains for much of the house already. Then I realized something. In the house we sold, we had 11 windows. In our new house, we'll have 11 windows just upstairs! There are an additional 13 downstairs, plus sliding glass doors.

So far, on our list to help the economy, we have:

• mailbox post
• mailbox
• blinds/curtains for five bathroom windows
• two automatic garage door openers
• bathroom hardware for master bathroom
• trash & recycling cans
• stools for breakfast island (already purchased-you're welcome Pier 1)
• Under-cabinet lights (We roughed in but decided to do it ourselves)
• Lights for all the closets (We roughed in but decided to do it ourselves)
• New Christmas tree (We threw our mess of a tree away last year after realizing that we could no longer spin the unlit parts around to the back anymore. There were just that many unlit spots.)
• New toaster (We tossed that too when we packed up and moved. We've had it since college and it was starting to give us flame-grilled toast.)
• About 1000 other things

So, to all of you fearing that your stocks are taking a hit, that your 401K will never be the same, never fear. BBM is here to single-handedly jump start the economy. Inside trading tip: purchase Lowe's stock. Do it NOW!

There are some new reviews up at The BBM Review. If you're interested in winning a Sesame Street K'nex set, don't forget to leave a comment on that review. There are also reviews up of two new martial arts books.

Fast Forward

Yesterday I was dragging. At the beginning of the day, 5:30 a.m. thanks to a certain someone's cell phone alarm that went off every five minutes for a half hour, I had every intention of making it to karate class. It was one of those days though, that totally wiped me out.

I spent the morning trying to convince my students that although they may not have learned how to write thesis statements in high school (shame on their teachers), they are inherently important during the college years. I had several students tell me that they have never written a research paper before. I had several tell me that they have never had to create bibliography or note cards. I did not realize that so many would be lacking basic research writing skills. I think that the reasons their teachers passed on these skills is because of all the pressure to "teach to the test," but that's a topic for another day.

I spent the morning conferencing with students and then watching speeches in my second class. I grabbed all my gear and headed out to the car, overturning my ankle just three feet from my car. Of course, it was my left leg, so I spent my entire drive home panicking that I had screwed up my knee. By the time I got home, my knee was sore and my allergies had kicked into high gear. I was feeling like I needed a major nap.

I didn't get one. The contractors working at my Mom's house were here the entire day, banging and making dust in every room on the first floor. Some people get black lung, but I think I'll have white lung from all the drywall dust and debris floating around all the time. After picking Big I up from school, I drove by the house and saw that they had graded the yard and finished my rock wall outside, yet no work was being done on the inside. Major bummer. After so much activity at the beginning of the week, I was fearing the end of the week slow down had started already.

I felt like I was going to fall asleep at the dinner table, so I didn't make it to karate class for fear that the exhaustion of the day would make things worse. I told myself this is called "taking it slow" so as not to feel like a slacker. I dozed on the couch until debate time and then Sarah Palin woke me up (What a relief, by the way!).

Since I spent the entire day dragging yesterday, I decided to start my day with a big cup of coffee. It helped. I then met my realtor at Panera and drank entirely too much coffee. By the time I left my meeting with him, I felt like I was running on fast forward. Apparently the guys were doing the same thing at my house.

When we went tonight, three guys were putting up stone on the outside of the house, and the entire inside of my house (walls and trim) were painted. I was shocked that they were able to get it done in a day. They'll be back to finish staining the railings on the stairs and to touch up. Next week is flooring, cabinets, and maybe my lights and counter tops. We went from freeze frame to fast forward over night. Maybe my coffee buzz was transferable.

The following are pictures from throughout the week, before the paint. I've decided to not show the outside anymore for safety and security reasons. However, if I know you and have known you for quite some time and you'd like to see it, just shoot me an email.

My favorite room in the house, the family room:

The picture window in the entrance. I didn't know we were getting that cool trim:

My bedroom!  They finally put the double doors on.

The catwalk/upstairs hallway:

The catwalk and back staircase, from the family room:

The dining room. I was there as they were putting in the crown moulding and picture framing:

      

Three Week Countdown

This morning there were at least six trucks parked in front of our house. There were three guys working on the siding, at least four guys working on moving the Bilco door, a handful of guys inside cutting and putting up the trim, and a couple guys laying the groundwork for our sidewalk which looks like it will be poured sometime tomorrow. When we arrived tonight, there were two lone guys still working on the final bolts of the Bilco door. I have no doubt that the guys who sawed through 10 inches of concrete will be sleeping well tonight.

I will also be sleeping well tonight, knowing full well that neither of my fantasy football teams have a snowball's chance in hell of turning out a win. Between injuries, and bad decisions on my part, I'll be raking in two losses tonight unless Santonio Holmes and Heath Miller absolutely light it up. I'm not holding my breath.

Because I have an early morning of pounding basic research paper writing skills into the minds of young and hopefully impressionable freshman, I'm going to keep this short.

However, if you are the parent of a 2-5 year old who happens to like Sesame Street, you may want to check out The BBM Review, the latest review, and the contest giveaway. Keep coming back too, because there are three martial arts books in the queue and more giveaways as the holidays approach.

Finally, you may want to check out Karl's birthday dare wrap-up. He took my dare to make a music video and I'll just say that it's not work safe and it's slightly disturbing, but it's still quite funny.

Four Weeks Until Settlement

There is something about hitting the four week mark for anything that brings such excitment. Four weeks until vacation! Yes! Four weeks until I give birth and get my body back! Awesome! Four weeks until I move into my new house! Hallelujah!

The house was a flurry of activity today. The entire front yard is dug up to put in the sewer and water pipes. The siding guy was up to the roof on part of the house and he tells me he'll be finished by Monday at the latest. And the guys were busy sawing and banging things in the basement. I didn't go to inspect but I suspect they are shoring up support for the house before they cut the hole in the concrete and move our Bilco door entrance later this week.

The drywall people spent the entire weekend couped up in my house, and now all that needs to be done is the sanding.  Then it's onto the finishing. I'm starting to feel better about them actually being finished on time.

This weekend, we all loaded into the car and went to see some of the Parade of Homes houses in the area. Our builder had one house entered in the contest and he won almost every category including "Best of Show" for the beautiful house he built. I saw the builder and VP of the company in front of the house and he instantly recognized me from high school. He graduated a year behind me.

I congratulated him on building such a beautiful house and then told him that he's currently building mine. I didn't expect him to know since my maiden name was oh so different than my current last name. When I told him the lot number though, he exclaimed, "That's YOUR house!". I told him it was and asked him to throw some free upgrades into it like the ones in his million dollar Parade of Homes house. He laughed, said "no problem," and peddled away on his bike with his little girl on the back.

I'm hoping he feels badly enough about his cousin dumping me two weeks before the prom to get my house completed on time.

Now that's a story for another post.

Excuse me while I freak out

Mr. BBM is all zen. When we were selling our house, he was calm. My realtor and I were not. When I'm freaking out because I don't feel they're going to finish our house in time, Mr. BBM says, "It will all work out." Last night, I finally brought him to my side, the dark side of worry and pessimistic paranoia.

While I fully realize that a crew of men descended on my house like a hive of worker bee's, completing the insulation on Monday and hanging all the drywall on Tuesday, when there is no activity on your house for three days post all this crazy activity, you start to worry a bit.

Tomorrow is September 20th. Our settlement date is October 20th. As of tomorrow, they have exactly 30 days, 29 really because they won't be working on the 20th of October anymore. We'll be moving in.  There are also weekends in there, which brings the number of actual working days down considerably.

Mr. BBM was asking me why I'm freaking out and I said this: "The siding guy hasn't been back since Saturday. Only about 1/10 of our house has siding. The stone guys can't come until the siding guy is finished. The stucco guy can't come until the stone guy is finished. They can't tape and spackle the drywall until the house is one temperature which means the furnace needs to be installed. They can't install the furnace yet because they still have to saw through 10 inches of ribar-enforced concrete to create my new Bilco door basement entrance right near where the furnace goes. They also need to pour the new concrete basement wall where the door used to be. That has to sit for 24 hours. Then they have to seal it and that has to sit for at least 24 hours before they can push the dirt back. They can't grade the yard or work on the sidewalk to the house or the driveway until the yard is graded. If the furnace isn't installed and they can't finish the drywall, then they can't paint, install trim, put the floors in, or the cabinets, or the countertops or the lights. . ."

By the end of my little diatribe, he was looking pretty stressed. His whole, "the outside pace doesn't have any effect on the inside pace" and vice versa thing fell through completely. Screwing up the bilco door screwed up the schedule and now I am having a fit.

I emailed the builder representative this morning and questioned him about when things are going to happen. His answer was pretty much "don't worry about it." I'm sure there were matching hand gestures.

Here's the thing. I am worried about it.

You see, I think we're approaching the end of the honeymoon period of living with my parents.  The other night my dad sat in the living room drinking directly from a near-finished bottle of wine. He didn't want to make another dirty dish or glass. It's probably just my paranoia but I'm thinking they're tired of their dishwasher running all the time.

When I joked with my parents last night that they're turning into my grandparents and bickering over silly things like opening the dishwasher before the dry cycle is over with, my Mom retorted with a "Well, we're tired." I don't know exactly what that meant but I knew it meant something and headed for the solace of our room above the garage, also known as the disaster area where the kids' toys live.

When my Mom comes home from work and we're not outside, she asks me if I've had the girls out for a bike ride. When I say "no," I get this look. The truth is that I would have loved to ride bikes with the girls, but I spent the morning washing my Mom's sofa cushions when Lil C decided that my Mom's sofa resembled a toilet and while I was still cleaning that up, the girls knocked over my glass of iced tea which splashed on the sofa, the rug, my dad's magazines (gasp!) and everything else within a 10 ft. diameter.

To say that I am stressed is sort of an understatement. I'm tired of not knowing where my stuff is located. I'm sick of cleaning up after the girls non-stop. I'm tired of sharing a queen bed with Mr. BBM. I want my king back; and I'm really tired of sharing a bathroom with three other people.

I'm also tired of this knee business. When I wrote about my knee this week, my readers came out en masse and basically said that I'm mental, in a nice way of course. While I don't disagree with this assessment, it's also a fact that my knee hurts. When I took Big I to karate last night, Hanshi began asking me when I was coming back. I asked him when he had time to do a private lesson or two, to just walk through kata slowly without the pressure of feeling like I have to keep up with the class. We started trying to come up with a date and we were back to mid-October when Hanshi strongly suggested I make the trip in tomorrow morning.

Because I haven't been able to think of an excuse worthy of blowing off a 9th degree black belt, I guess I'm going back to karate tomorrow. Why not right? What's one more thing to stress about in the grand scheme of things?

Full Speed Ahead

I would like to be able to show you pictures of the inside of my newly drywalled house. I can't do that though, because when we arrived tonight at about 7:30 to check it out, there were still eight very busy men walking around my house on stilts installing drywall at the speed of light.  From what I could tell from the street, the entire entryway, family room and most of the rooms that are visible from the front were completely done.

Now I know why the electrician told us that sometimes the guys go directly over the electrical outlets. They are moving. As much as I would have liked to walk in there and check it out, there were saws and screw guns operating almost non-stop and I really didn't want to interrupt.

Plus, I was kind of scared that they'd drywall me if I didn't move fast enough through the house. I am wondering if they finished the entire job tonight. If not, they'll be back at 6 a.m. tomorrow. My neighbor told me this is the time they wake her up each day.

For the longest time, things were moving so slowly. I guess hitting the one month until settlement date kind of lights a fire under them. Monday, our entire house was insulated and today, most of it drywalled. At this rate, I'll have my floors in by Saturday.

Lil C said yesterday, "Wow Mommy, it's really starting to look like a house now." The girls are brimming with excitement; and I can't wait to get in there in just one more month.

One more month people!!!

Last in Line

You may recall from a few weeks ago our meeting with the site supervisor regarding our Bilco door entrance to the basement.  As a refresher, the plans for our home said that the Bilco door entrance would stick out 5 ft. from the house. Because we got an extra foot depth in the basement, our doors stick out 8.5 feet.  Using the Bilco doors was going to be difficult. I worried that if we ever went to sell our house down the road, the Bilco door entrance sticking out so far on the side of the house would be a buyer objection.

At the time, they told us that relocating the Bilco entrance was not a possibility so we came up with a different solution. It was workable but still not great.

Two days ago, we got a call from the builder representative telling us he needed to talk to us about our Bilco door. We figured they just wanted to discuss the retaining wall. We were wrong.

As it stands now, the building inspector will not approve the bilco in its current location. It needs to be moved. The representative threw some ideas at us like cement blocking the area that currently houses the bilco steps. Mr. BBM and I were irritated. Not only would it look different, but we were worried about water and structural issues since they'd be ripping another hole into our basement and trying to seal up the old hole.

We met with the Supervisor yet again yesterday and picked our new location for the bilco entrance. I pity the dude who gets the job of cutting through 10 inches of ribar-enforced concrete to create the new entrance.

We were prepared for a fight, but apparently the concrete guys think they can pour the wall in so it won't look all that different from the rest of the basement.  When all is said and done, we'll be happier with the new location in the back of the house.  We just wish they would have moved it as we asked weeks ago instead of waiting until our entire house was sitting on top of it, complete with plumbing, electric, and duct work for the heating and AC units.

As we were wrapping up our meeting I asked the Supervisor if he was going to now continue my rock wall.  He laughed and said, "Or I could just rip the whole thing out." I looked at him disapprovingly and said, "You are going to finish my rock wall right?" He hung his head and said, "Yeah, we're going to finish your rock wall."

I then questioned him on why the houses with later settlement dates are so far ahead of our house. I told him we need to settle on time. Our awesome mortgage rate that we relocked in this week expires two days after our proposed settlement date. "Don't worry about it," he said casually.  Apparently this builder does not miss settlement dates.

After we got back in the car Mr. BBM had to laugh. I don't know what it is about these construction guys but I have absolutely no problem speaking up and telling them exactly what I want them to do. Mr. BBM has decided it's best to just stay out of my way and let me handle it. Maybe if I had been more insistent a few weeks ago, this wouldn't have been an issue. Lesson learned.

If you are a martial artist and you haven't yet visited Bags of Character, please do so. My friend from the dojo has set up shop on my site and she sells awesome bags to house kobudo weapons and swords. I own a beautiful blue nunchaku bag and you should too. Check it out!

Shock and Awe

Today I collected 24 rough drafts.  They were all typed and of the appropriate length. Did I mention I only have 24 students in this class?  Do you get the significance of all 24 students handing in their paper on time? 

In my speech course, all of my students who were scheduled to speak today showed up. They didn't just show up though.  They showed up dressed up and they actually seemed excited to speak. In fact, some of them were so excited to speak that they went way over their time limit and we ended up only hearing seven of the ten speeches that were to be given today.

These students blew me away today. Teaching college is different from high school, in that it doesn't take long for them to get the importance of doing the required work and doing it well.

In other news, this week my house is being wired for electric and being chainsawed to make way for duct work. Yes chainsawed. It was rather loud. We met with the electrician today for about an hour. We went room to room and he wrote with a marker on all of our walls, detailing out where we want cable and phone jacks, electrical outlets and even the switched lights. It is completely overwhelming to have to pick the location of every single outlet in your house, so I only picked the important ones and left the rest up to the electrician. I'm going to trust that putting them all in the ceiling in one corner of the room would be rough on his arms.

He says he will be finished on Thursday which makes way for the insulation and drywall people. 40 days to go (and today we asked if they can move it up by three days). Keep your fingers crossed.  Talk about "shock."   

Moving, Moving, Moving

No, I'm not actually moving yet. Wouldn't that be nice?  What's moving is the progress on my house. They have officially kicked it into high gear.

This week they finished our roof. The plumber roughed in our basement bathroom and drilled all the holes for the water lines he'll put in this week. We meet with the electrician on Tuesday. We picked all of our carpet and tile this weekend. Things are coming along. . .

The progress at the end of the week, minus our poured basement floor, garage floor and front porch.

The family room, complete with all the windows and skylights.

The entranceway. Yippee!  We have a front door!

The arched entryway and front porch are done!

The view from the back with the finished roof.

By the end of this week, maybe we'll have some siding and stone!

In other news, a friend of mine from the dojo has started her own business. If you're a martial artist, you have to check out Bags of Character. She has set up shop on my site and accepts payments through paypal. I happen to own a beautiful blue nunchaku bag and you should own one or eight too. Just so everyone is clear, I have no financial interest in this endeavor, although clearly I wish I would have thought of it myself (oh, and also that I could sew).     

The Candy

This was our house at the beginning of this week:

This was Tuesday night:

We arrived last night at our house to find that many things had been delivered.  I felt like a kid at Christmas.  My jacuzzi tub was sitting in my garage along with my staircases.

My windows and doors are just waiting to be installed, skylights too. My front door, with the satin nickel sidelights (picture above), looks so cool.  The box containing the soffit pieces and the boxes with my window heads are all there. Even some of the door levers have been delivered.

Inside, we found we were under a roof. While Mr. BBM and I checked that everything was straight and as it should be, the girls stood in the dining room window area and serenaded the neighborhood. I think Lil C is starting to get it, that this will really become our home soon.

The framing crew worked hard today to finish building the roof.  Tar paper is installed on a third of the house and it won't be long before our shingles are being delivered. It's exciting.  It's like the jewelry of the house, the candy for the new homeowners; and I am getting more and more excited every day.

On an unrelated note, I have remained in the top 12 for the Hot Blogger Calendar contest and I want to thank all of you so much for all of your votes.  Voting continues until August 31st, so if you haven't yet voted, please go throw another one in my direction, because every calendar needs a picture of a girl in a gi.

And Then There Was a House

Yesterday I walked through my front door entrance and joyfully gazed at all of my downstairs rooms.  Those guys move fast.  There was not a doubt in my mind that as of tonight, I will have at least a second floor and I was right.  It is finally feeling real.

I walked with the girls through all of the framed up rooms and imagined where I'd place my furniture.  It's going to be so much fun from here on out.  The basement isn't really my thing.  The actual rooms are so much more exciting. 

The girls wandered through with me for a while until they got sick of me telling them to please not fall through the hole into the basement where we have yet to get stairs.  Then they decided to jump on a piece of plywood for a while, careful to avoid the discarded half of a hot-dog and the other trash that I'm hoping will get put in a trash can instead of just buried in our yard.  I actually spent some time picking some of it up and throwing it away.  When there's a trash can in your front yard, and a dumpter directly in front of your house in the street, there's just no excuse for that.

While they may not be the cleanest bunch of dudes, they are certainly hard working. They were already hard at work at 7:45 a.m. yesterday morning and they were still there at 4:15 p.m. after Big I had her "meet the teacher" social at her new school.

I think she's feeling a little better about school and I know that I am as well. Her teacher is a veteran and seems very nice.  From the other kids and parents, we learned that she loves art and she's the only teacher in the school that has an actual piano in her room.  Apparently she likes to sing as well.  While we were standing there, another little girl came up to the teacher to meet her and I instantly recognized her and her Mom. 

Her Mom was my Sunday school teacher many years ago and her daughter played with Big I at Vacation Bible School last summer.  Although they didn't remember each other, the fact that they are in the same classroom made me so happy.  After we talked for a while, the Mom introduced Big I to another little girl who seems like a real sweetheart as well.   It was such a relief for me to know that she'll know two kids when she shows up next week for class.  Although she's still a bit apprehensive, I have a strong feeling that she's going to really like her new school.

Now, without further delay, I give you the BBM house as it stands as of yesterday (we didn't get pictures tonight because it was dark by the time we could have gone with a camera.  We'll go back in the morning). . .

This is the view from my front door.  Straight ahead is the family room, to the left the dining room, to the right the living room, straight back and to the right is the office and straight back and to the left is the kitchen, laundry room, powder room (not visible in this shot). . .

This is a view of the family room from the kitchen area.  The family room, with its high ceilings, gas fireplace, quarter round windows and skylights is my FAVORITE room in the house.

And here is the view from the front.  Tomorrow, I'm betting I'll be able to show you our second floor.

On another completely unrelated note, I found that my blog was being linked from HotBloggerCalendar.com tonight.  Apparently I've been nominated to be on a hot blogger calendar?  Who knew that something like this even existed; and more importantly how the heck did I get on that list? I must look way better on this blog than I do in person. Cool. While I have no expectation of winning a spot, I would like to thank the anonymous person who nominated me. So, if you'd like to fess up, I'll thank you properly.  It was very sweet, even if you do stay anonymous.

I also desperately need to fill up a spot in my fantasy football league.  The draft is tomorrow night.  Interested? If so, email me asap!

   

Early Morning Meeting

Last night we arrived at our house to find most of a first floor.  It was so exciting!  Although the floor wasn't completely finished, I kept putting Lil C in different areas and telling her "Now you're in the kitchen," "Now you're in the laundry room," "Now you're in the family room."  She giggled like crazy and thought that was great fun (Pictures of the progress to come this week!). You always know you're on the right path when you get the "do it again Mommy" request.

The only thing we weren't happy about was the placement of our Bilco steps down into the basement.  On the plans, it says they are supposed to only stick out from the house 5 feet.  In reality, they stick out 8.5 feet.  They hadn't taken into consideration the fact that we ordered an extra deep basement.  There are only 11 feet on the side of our house until the next property AND it slopes big time down from the neighbor's yard. 

Mr. BBM and I spent much of last night trying to figure out how we would have to launch things down into the basement from a ramp starting in our neighbor's yard. We also discussed a wet spot we found in the stone in our basement (the floor has not been poured yet-thank God for that). I won't go into the details. I'll just tell you that Mr. BBM discovered that the guys who are framing our house are also using a certain corner of our basement to pee-pee.

Not.

At.

All.

Cool.

So, we met with the Supervisor and Site Foreman early this morning. In case you were wondering what kind of person can think clearly at 7:45 a.m.??? Construction guys can.

The supervisor made some suggestions that I didn't like. I countered with telling them we really need the area directly out from the Bilco entrance to be flat, not sloped like he proposed.  So, he's going to give us a retaining wall that slopes down on either side. I think it's a good solution, not a perfect one, but one that will work.  He also walked us around our lot and showed us how he's going to grade it.  We're going to have a very nice flat backyard.  I'm very happy about that.

As the framing crew listened to their music and kept working, I asked the supervisor if he minded if I brought up a more "delicate" issue.  I asked him if he could please have a porta-potty placed in front of our house.  There is one on the street, but it's kind of a long walk.  I understand the guys have to go, but you know, not in my basement.  While I understand that they haven't yet poured the foundation, I don't want to go into my basement and think about man pee in the corner. I explained in vivid detail as to what we found and his reaction was very similar to mine.

"That's not right," he said. "I'll take care of that."

I then mentioned my concern that the guys would be angry I said something and therefore screw up my house. He told me not to worry about that. I wish I could post a picture of the supervisor, because if you could see what he looks like, you would totally believe that he's taking care of it too.  I truly have nothing to worry about.  Even the framing guy who looks like one of the guys from ZZ Top will be afraid.

As we were leaving, he walked back over to the crew and gave them the business. Hopefully that will be the end of them doing their "business" in my basement.

***There are some new reviews up at The BBM Review. Check out the Noodleboro reviews for a chance to win one of the games yourself!

Accidents Happen

Tonight, while I was outside with Big I and my Mom, Lil C apparently asked my Dad (her beloved Pop-Pop) to take her to the bathroom.  As I entered the house, I heard this:

"BBM, there's been an accident" my dad sad.

"What do you mean Dad?" I asked as I cautiously approached the bathroom.

"Well, Lil C peed in her diaper. . .

and on the floor. . .

and on my arm. . . "

When I arrived in the bathroom, I saw a bewildered and naked from the waist down Lil C and an even more bewildered Pop-Pop.

"I thought that girls peed down" my dad said with obvious confusion.

"Well Dad, that's going to depend on the angle at which they're sitting on the toilet seat." 

My Dad thought he was all that and then some, telling me what was up when I was in geometry class; but apparently the angle of a miniature heiney on a toilet is not his forte. 

Speaking of misjudging things, it's apparently in the genes.  Last night, I took the girls over to check on the progress of the house.  This week they added two support beams and pushed the dirt in around the foundation in the back of the home.  The two homes that are being built down the street have their first floors and most of their first floor walls already.  I'm guessing that's in the very near future for us. 

While getting one of several shots of the progress, I misjudged the condition of the dirt and ended up sinking several inches into what felt like quick sand.  Standing still only made me sink in more; walking quickly only served to make me more unstable.  Did I mention I was holding Lil C on one hip?  By the time I made it out, my feet had taken a major mud bath and if not for my next-door neighbors to be and their hose, I would have had a very messy car.  The mess was worth it though. 

Proud Owners of a Footprint

On Monday we had stakes.  On Tuesday we had the promising beginnings of a hole.  On Thursday, we thought they were pretty much done digging.

We were pretty happy about it.

We were especially happy because there is a clause in our contract that says that if they have to bring out the big guns to get through major rock formations more than one day, then it happens at a cost to the buyers in the form of $1500 per day.

This lovely piece of rock is where our garage is located.  I'm guessing there's really no point in asking for a crawl space under the garage.

I thought that Mr. BBM was crazy when he said they were done, because "That hole is not deep enough!  We ordered 9 ft. basement walls to accomodate my kobudo training!"  Then I realized that Mr. BBM was probably right.  Back against that wall of dirt and rock, we could have fit Mr. BBM twice, length-wise.

When we realized it was totally flattened out, we figured we'd be getting a footprint soon. 

Then we discovered these rocks in what will be in our backyard. . .

. . . and we were even more happy that they were finished digging and that we didn't have to pay anything extra to have a kobudo-worthy basement.

Today, we arrived to find this. . .

We officially have our footprint.

It feels good to have something in concrete.

Stay tuned, because next week, we'll have some walls!   

      

Thankful, Hectic, Proud

This morning, a friend took both of the girls to play with her four daughters so I could have a couple hours to pack in peace (i.e. pack up all the things the girls don't want me to pack).  Is she fantastic or what?  In the middle of my morning, I got a call from the showing center.  I used to crave calls from the showing center, but when they called this time, I was first confused and then completely thrown off my game plan.

It was 11 a.m. when the phone rang and the person on the other line, who had set up many of our showings during those grueling months on the market, told me that the appraiser wanted to come at noon TODAY!  I sighed with disgust as I looked around at my house.  Newspapers were everywhere so that I didn't have to keep walking up and down the stairs to get more to wrap things in, empty boxes covered an entire wall, full boxes were littered throughout the house and you may remember that I have been on a cleaning strike since last week.  I've shown fantastic follow-through with that pledge.

I figured it was better to just get it over with while the girls were out of the house, so I said yes.  Then I turned into the Tazmanian devil and spun my way around the house, picking up dirty clothes, folding the pile that needed to be folded, making beds, wiping off counters and begging Mr. BBM to please, for the love of God, use part of your lunch break to run the vacuum.

Instead of arriving at noon, she came at 11:30.  I think I would have told her off if she wasn't so overly apologetic and sweet.  I continued to pack while she went from room to room, taking measurements and pictures.  When she was finished upstairs, she found me downstairs in the family room and asked me if I had a professional decorator work on the house. Dumbfounded, I told her no.  "Well, are you an interior decorator by trade?"  I think I may have snorted with laughter, as I told her "I wish."  She then said, "Well then I hate you.  I seriously hate people like you, because you didn't have to hire anyone and this place is gorgeous.  It looks like a model home.  You're amazing at picking colors." 

Her comments had me on my heels and I almost fell into another box of "misc toys."  I thanked her and then followed her around fishing for more compliments.  I told her that her compliments meant the world to me because I am currently second-guessing everything I'm choosing for the new house. 

Want the truth?  I think she was buttering me up so she can come in with some out in left field low appraisal that's going to wreck my life.  I'm all for thinking positive, but that's just too much good all in one day right there.

I got a ton of packing done, despite all the interruptions, and figured I'd take the girls to the pool this afternoon.  Lil C wanted to hang out in the baby pool, so I sat there and watched her demurely make her rounds, surrounded by her little float.  When she noticed another little boy who was probably newly two, she approached him and told him her name.  He ignored her and walked away.  She seemed irritated. 

A few minutes later, the little boy walked over to Lil C and started splashing her.  As the water droplets landed on her hair and face, she clenched up her little arms in disgust and turned her back to him to weather the rest of the storm.  When he was finished, she turned around, clenched her fists and raised her arms and said, "I VANT YOU TO STOP SPLASHING ME RIGHT NOW!"

He looked at her with fear, turned on his heel and went quickly back to his side of the pool.  He didn't bother her the rest of the day. After listening to Big I ask me to take care of her problems for her since she's been born, I can't even tell you how my heart soared with pride when Lil C took care of business on her own!  That munchkin is two years old and she completely stood up for herself, without whining, without crying, and most importantly, without asking me to get involved.  It was simply awesome. 

Later tonight, we went to check out the progress on the house.  The hole is deeper and the girls were having a blast running around in it and asking which room they were in now.  When I first put Lil C down in the hole, she looked up at me and asked, "Where's the hole Mommy?"  It was fairly obvious we were many feet below the normal ground level.  Then, she looked down and saw a little area where the dirt was pushed away.  It looked like a small rock had been removed, leaving a little gutted out area in its place.  "There's the hole!" she yelled. 

After a couple more minutes wandering around the dirt, she murmured to her sister, "this is fun."  As we were about to leave, one of our new neighbors rode his bike up with his sons to say hello.  He was super nice and he let us know that everyone on the street hangs out, drinking beer and cocktails while the kids run around and play behind the houses in the park.  I've never been happier about the lot we chose. 

Next week, our realtor is taking us to a pig roast as his guests at the local pool.  Our realtor will live just down the street from us, so he offered to take us and introduce us to all the neighbors.  I just hope no one splashes Lil C.  Things could get ugly.         

The Bulldozer Man Can Work It

I realize that posting three times in one day is a bit obnoxious.  I just can't help myself though.  I think that the bulldozer man saw me applauding him on the street and decided to really work it. 

Work it, bulldozer man.  At this rate, I'll have a basement by next week!  Do you think they'll let me store some stuff in there once it's concrete?   

Scratch That

On Saturday morning, we met with the builder rep and completely changed all of our exterior colors, with the exception of the trim and window heads.  We totally panicked.  While driving through the development after selection, we realized we chose the wrong stone.  I hated the stone we chose, up on an actual house.

So, we switched our siding to "frost" (white), our shutters to "midnight blue," and also chose our stucco color (light grayish white) and roof (slate).  We basically recreated another house that we like that's in the next development.

I told the builder representative that this was the last time I'd be "bothering him about this."  He laughed and said, "Yeah right."  I told him to remember that I specifically said "about this."  I gave myself an out, so I can complain and change my mind about other things.  It's one thing to spend a lot of money on a shirt that you don't like.  It's an entirely different thing to pick out the colors for your dream house and choose wrong.

Speaking of "wrong," we also got our inspection report on Saturday from the marathon home inspection.  Apparently we have a radon problem.  The EPA recommends that homes have a radon reading under 4.0.  Our two cannisters came back at 4.2 and 4.9.  Of course, the buyers want us to install a radon mitigation system and retest.  I feel sort of like Leona Lewis right about now.  "I keep bleeding, keep, keep bleeding" because I feel like I'm being completely bled dry of any money I was going to have to buy things like tissue holders and towel bars for the new house. 

While Mr. BBM was all zen about it, I was fired up.  We're already giving them seller's assist in no small amount.  I'm not thrilled about having to spend more money on the house I'm leaving in just two weeks.  My realtor also thought it was a little ridiculous.  The levels were only slightly over normal and those levels can vary depending on the season, humidity level, etc.  I read online that they recommend you retest if the levels come in below 5.0 before you put in a radon mitigation system, because you may not really even have a problem. 

The problem is that we don't really have time and I doubt the buyers would want that anyway.  Lately it seems to be all about what the buyers want, and I'm not a give-in kind of girl.  I told Mr. BBM that if we put this system in, he can expect me to be unpleasant at closing.  I don't know what he's more afraid of: the possibility of the buyers walking, or the prospect of dealing with a grumpy me at closing.

If I were him, I'd be afraid of me. 

Selection

We met our realtor and the builder representative today at the design center.  It took us just under three hours to pick most of our colors, lights and other items.  Keep in mind that we have to meet directly with the kitchen people and the flooring people within the next few weeks.  I know those visits will take hours too.

We chose the color "bone" for our siding which is an off-white.  We chose "classic blue" for our shutters, front door and sidelights.  We picked white window heads and cottage white colored soffit, gutters and downspouts to match the siding.  We also picked a gray stone for the center column of the house and up to the windowsills on the front and garage.  We panicked after we left when we realized we picked the wrong stone.  We want the stone that's on a pre-existing home and so we called the selection agent and left a message for him to call us back asap.  If we don't catch him before he copies it and sends it off to the multiple foremen working on the site, we can pretty much forget getting the stone we want. 

We're still up in the air about the stucco color for the doorway.  They didn't have the choices there for us so we have to go back; and he wasn't sure whether or not we can get the blue toned roof we want.

We picked our exterior lights (satin nickel) and our interior lights (satin nickel).  We also chose white marbled tops for our vanities and door knobs for the entire house (pewter levered ones). 

Now we're negotiating to upgrade our hardwood floors to tigerwood and for granite countertops and some staggered cabinets.  We wanted to have it all wrapped up nicely today, but it looks like we won't have it completely done until sometime next week.

It's all very confusing.  We got credits back for not using their mirrors in the bathrooms, and a credit for the kitchen light that looks like a hanging nipple.  No thanks.  If I want to see something like that I'll consult National Geographic.  If you don't believe me, just do a google image search for "boob light" and just image that, but more suspended from the ceiling. We're picking pendant lights instead. We have to make appointments with all the subs who will be working on our house.  We even have to meet with the electrician once our house has been framed to tell him where we want outlets to be located.  Shouldn't he know this better than I would? 

Tomorrow we're going to go browse appliances and maybe pick them out.  We have some time, but we just want it all decided.  We were told that we'll have our basement within the next week to 10 days and that once the beams and lumber are delivered, our home will be framed up in about a week.  By the time school starts I should have some interesting pictures to share with you instead of just a field with some stakes in it.

Mr. BBM and I didn't argue about anything.  We pretty much agreed on everything.  I'm thinking that trend won't continue once we get to flooring and counter-tops.  While we were talking about pricing out options, the agent was telling us that if we want anything special when it comes to excavation, we'll have to talk to a certain sub.  Mr. BBM says, "you mean like in case we want a moat or something."  After three hours of staring at siding, stone, lighting and fixtures, you get a little bit punchy.  I about fell out of my chair laughing because Big I would so love a moat. 

It's overwhelming alright, but I have to say. . . so far, I'm having a blast and enjoying every second of it.