Internet issues...

SO our internet has decided to sporadically work. It works on and off throughout the day. Whenever I seemed to check if it was working it was not. Finally it is working for me tonight!!!

In house news, Mike has been working his butt off this past week. Twice he was at the house until near 10pm, and the rest of the week till almost 9. He is working like crazy because we have our inspection Monday (done by the building inspector). I think this is the last inspection until we are about to get our occupancy permit. So he'll come to inspect the inside work, plumbing, electrical, the rough framing of the house to make sure it is within code regulations. We don't forsee any problems, other than being able to begin insulation. We have scheduled that to begin late next week, but being that there are some areas of the inside of the house that are still open to the outside (because there is no soffit in place yet) we wonder if insulation will have to wait a couple days. With the cold, snowy, crummy weather, we are not expecting the restriction on our street to be lifted anytime soon, which totally sucks, too.

So all the electrical is wired. I walked through the house a few times this past week to see it all and kind of make believe I was turning lights on (switches and fixtures aren't in, won't be till drywall is in). Or tried to picture where I will plug things in, which is impossible to plan really. After walking through I realized a few other spots that could use more outlets, but I knew Mike didn't want to have to send the guys out there again. Conveniently enough somehow the eletricians forgot to do the entire outside rear of the house, so they have to come back out anyways. So then I will get my few more outlets. I think Mike is done with the central vac system, and has been working on the wiring for TV/cable/internet and phone. We ended up going with a stepped ceiling in the dining room. I really preferred the beams, but Mike doesn't care for that so stepped it is. I did well yesterday and even went to the lighting store and spent hours in there looking at fixtures. I know what style I like, that's no problem at all. It's what color/finish to get that is driving me bonkers. I have no idea. Does it have to match the door handles? Does it have to match the sink faucets? I am so confused. I also went to check out appliances at Colder's because they have this half back promotion going on. It was obvious to me they marked everything way up in order to make the half back more appealing. I didn't spend much time in there at all, and realized also it pays to look so young sometimes because not a single sales person approached me once, which I thought was way weird. I think we'll end up goin through Sears for appliances. I really like the Kenmore Elite line, though we've heard that brand of fridge has not so good reviews. Oh well. We'll have to check that out. Oh, also the fireplace was put in on Monday. It looks alot bigger than I thought it would, but it's so hard to picture what it'll all look like when it's done with stone and flooring and painting and stuff!!

The kids had a fun spring break, relatively uneventful, but they were really behaved for most of it which is really unusual for having them home so many days in a row!! They had a sleepover with my grandparents and dear little Maddie actually wanted to come home with me. I think that is the first time one of our kids actually wanted to come home instead of sleeping over somewhere.

Anyhow, I haven't taken many pictures lately, of the house or the kids, which is just awful. I did take a bunch today of the kids, as it was our niece& nephew's bday party. Hopefully I'll get around to uploading them soon. Way too much packing to do, and we have to be out in one week. YIKES.

Easter Blizzard

Sorry it's been so long...I worked 3 out of 4 nights this week till close (3 or 4am) so I was pretty exhausted and wasn't on the computer a whole lot. But it's so worth the lack of sleep-I'd have to work almost 50 hours at the Scrapbook Store to make what I made in 7 1/2 hours on Monday alone. And the other nights I did just as well. I really wanted to go to an employee crop tonight where we all scrapbook together, but I was asked if I wanted to bartend. So I will be bartending again tonight.

So a few days ago all the snow was almost completely melted, other than a few stubborn spots of deeper snow, or some slushy ice patches here and there. Yesterday we got bombarded with 10+ inches of snow!!! We really need the ground to thaw in order to get that drywall truck in a few weeks, so the snow on the frozen ground will not help that along at all. This next week isn't supposed to warm up a whole lot either.

The fireplace was supposed to be in as of Thursday. I didn't go past after school like I usually do, so I don't know if anyone was there working or not. Mike doesn't think they were there--today will be the first time he is out there since Tuesday when he met the electrician out there. Mike is now working on putting in the TV/cable/phone wires along with the central vac. All of that needs to be done before insulating! I need to take a ride out there tomorrow and decide where I want all the TV outlets to go.

I officially have started packing now!! While packing, I am going through everything and throwing stuff away, and packing up stuff for a rummage sale or whatever. I have gotten through the living room almost entirely, and started the kid's rooms but it will take me a while to get through them I am guessing. The kitchen will be the last to get packed since we will need to use the stuff until we move. The basement will be the hardest to get through...all my scrapbooking stuff! I packed up picture frames, movies and CD's, and alot of toys last night. So I am getting somewhere. My Grandma even came over and helped go through Cal's room--it took hours just to get through what was under his bed!!

Have a safe weekend if you're travelling in this crazy weather. Have a Blessed Easter!

Big news...

so the roughing of the house is officially finished as of today. That means all walls are as done as they'll be before being insulated and drywalled. There is backing (extra 2x4's) on walls throughout where things will hang--curtain rods, flat TV's (uh, someday!), etc. Mike said the sliding doors are in, but I don't know if he meant the actual doors themselves or if the framing for them is finished (we have sliding doors between the laundry and mudroom, between the mudroom and kitchen, and between our bathroom and walk in closet). This also means everything is done in order for the insulation to happen--once the electrician is done. Which by the way he never showed up Thursday or Friday. That's a little irritating. So I assume they'll be out there tomorrow? Who knows I guess. So as if there aren't enough decisions to make, another one has come up that needs to be done now--do we want anything fancy done to the ceilings in any of the rooms? Examples of this would be wooden beams (I LOVE beams), coffered ceiling (don't like that much at all--the kind that looks kind of like a grid on the ceiling), stepped/tray ceiling--and there are numerous ways to do that last one. Tray ceilings are kind of cool because you can do different things when you paint, or you can put lights inside one of the tray areas. I guess it's a little pointless to do any of these ceilings upstairs since it's mostly for looks. Our kitchen and great room are already cathedral ceilings, so we can't do anything different in those rooms. We could do something in our bedroom, but it's a bit of an odd shape so I'm not sure how you'd go about even doing something in there. So really the only room to consider I guess is the dining room. We'll do something in there, it's just a matter of what... We have realized some more (insignificant) poor planning on our part...initially we thought we'd have open shelves above our closets and pantry, meaning there is literally an area above the actual closet (or pantry) about 1ft+ tall to place things--plants, decorations, etc... Well, we have realized we aren't able to do that anywhere we thought we could. The closet near the entry has plumbing that goes through the wall and up through the ceiling, so it's impossible to do there. And I don't quite understand why we can't above the pantry seeing as the ceilings are 9 ft tall. But I guess there's a reason. Oh well...we talked about having the closets in the kids rooms open above to have a shelf, but I am guessing we won't. Just another place to become cluttered I guess.

I have not officially started packing but I spent countless hours sorting through everything (well haven't finished quite yet) in basement. This includes kids toys, games, barware, gift wrap and bags, and my scrapbooking stuff. I have also taken breaks in sorting to do something I've wanted to do for ages: go through all my digital photos and delete many that didn't turn out, or some I copied the same folder 3 times. I have gotten through 2002 and 2003. After looking at so many pictures I am so in the mood to scrapbook! My plan is to eventually print all the pictures I want, put them in journaling photo albums, and scrapbook only the best ones (there are many many of those...) So I'm actually looking forward to it, and I am hoping it is a project that can keep me busy while we are in between houses. I might need a little something to keep me from going crazy!!!

Love letter

So Kaycey got her first love letter. It's from Blake, and personally I think he is the cutest boy in the kindergarten class!! Way to go Kaycey.

In house news, there isn't a whole lot going on; we are hoping they start the ban on big trucks this coming week--figuring the sooner they start it hopefully the sooner it will end. Hopefully we won't be held up with waiting to be able to get the drywall truck in. Another problem that arose, the truck delivering the POD we were going to rent will be too heavy to enter our street. So we were unsure what we would do...do we put the POD out there now and just start bringing truckloads over to the new house and storing the stuff in this POD? Do we keep the POD on our parking slab at the current house and hope the people who purchased the house won't mind if we keep it there for a while? I don't like that option at all...while I am sure there are tough locks on the thing, I don't trust something sitting in our alley for a month. We had a car broken into and a garage broken into in our time here, I would rather not have a large storage thing broken into either. So Mike talked to his brother, and they think they'll have enough room in their driveway for us to put the POD there. This is great news! Also, we don't think the POD would even make it right now in the driveway at the new house--we forgot about the big dumpster out there that can't be moved till at least all the drywall is in the house. And our driveway has already had major settling, so there are big potholes that will need to be filled again so a big giant heavy POS sitting on it for a month+ might not be a great idea for the driveway (the driveway is staying gravel for years until it's done settling--remember we had oodles of truckloads of stone and gravel poured to raise the driveway 7 ft or something like that!!)

Mike took a half day today and is working on the house this afternoon/evening, as well as this weekend of course. A few weeks from now, there will be much more exciting pictures I'm sure.

Off to pack...I did at least make lists of everything that's coming with us and things that can get packed away. I also made a list of all the things I want to buy for the new house...I need to win powerball for that to happen. Too bad I don't even buy lottery tickets :(

Today...

Mike picked up our central vacuum system. So we'll have 8 outlets throughout the house. The tube/handle itself goes in a closet, and you bring it out and plug it into an outlet in the house to vacuum. The tube empties to something in the basement that I am assuming gets emptied from time to time. We are also having a kickplate thing installed under one of the cabinets in the kitchen so we will be able to sweep a pile under wherever this kickplate is and it'll suck up the pile into the vacuum system. That, I think, is pretty cool. I am indifferent on the whole central vac system itself; but we know several people who installed one when they built their houses, and they really like having it. Mike usually does the vacuuming, and he wanted to get the system. This weekend's agenda includes finishing up any walls inside the house--for instance a couple walls in the basement that haven't been built yet. There is some work to be done in the great room before it can be insulated. I imagine some siding perhaps. I have good intentions to start packing and picking out lighting this weekend. We'll see, though. It's going to be a busy next week or so, my friend will be in town this weekend. She just graduated Officer Training School and she is a Lt. now in the Air Force. So anyhow, I am going to see her probably Saturday & Sunday. Saturday night Mike & I are going out. First we were invited to one party (a St. Patty Day party with friends we haven't seen in months), and then we got an invitation for another (a retirement/graduation party for my friend and her mom) I bartend St. Patty's Day & next Wednesday. Then I should have some spending money for the new scrapbook stuff & fun stuff for the house that I don't really need yet!!

I wanted to post pictures of some layouts I did, but for some reason my laptop isn't letting me access my pictures from the other computer. Mike had rigged it so I could access them, but the downstairs computer randomly shuts down now and then, so I am guessing he'll need to redo whatever to make it work again so I can post pics of stuff! I have really been in the mood to scrapbook, especially since we got tons of cool new stuff at the store I need to buy! : )

Electric done by next week???

As you can see by the picture the porch is pretty well finished--the roof of it I mean. The posts and rails will be the last thing they do right before we move in...which is a bit of a bummer--that's what I think I'm most excited to see!!!

I've decided I might be a little selfish here and there and make this blog about me while the house stuff is in a lull. I, of course, will continue to blog about the house when there is something to say about it!! I'll start posting my scrapbook pages and talking about everyday life. I have a story about something I found in my food from a local restaurant but I'll save it for a rainy day. If you get queasy easily, you may want to skip that post : ( yuck. I'll title it "Prepare to be disgusted" or something like that...

So we got 3 copies of the Sports Illustrated special edition with my boyfriend on the cover. We are going to definitely have an area in the basement dedicated to the Packers, particularly Brett. Which here's a funny story--our current house when we moved in had a Packers bathroom. It was kind of obnoxious though, since the wallpaper border was made out of bumper stickers!! Anyhow, we are going to do some sort of collage of the magazine covers and news articles, pictures, etc. For the gal's bath in the basement, I think I'll even make some black and white copies of pictures (I bought all red, black, and white girly stuff for the bathroom clearanced from Kohls!) The stuff reminds me of scrapbooking, and I love b/w pictures, so perfect, I thought, for a bathroom for the ladies!!! Here's a picture of the stuff I bought...the shower curtain is all ruffly and looks like a dress !
Good news from the heating guys this morning, my moving the kitchen around doesn't cause major problems for them as initially was thought. Thank goodness. It's my understanding they just have to move one register, not redo anything entirely. The electrician starts roughing Thursday, and it will take about a week. Once he is done, the house can be insulated and dry wall can come in. We are now in a rush to get this going because the Town of Vernon has weight restrictions on roads in Spring while the ground is thawing. The drywall truck will be incredibly heavy, and wouldn't be able to come down our street if they have restrictions. Had we been able to start last year as we wanted, the big trucks couldn't even come down our street until May I think it was...so here's hoping for quick insulating. The fireplace will be installed next week. And it's not the one I really wanted. We aren't going with the arch top afterall : ( but we are going to arch the stone/brick above it to give it an arched look. We found out the arched fireplace by itself was $3000!!! Yikes. Super duper expensive. That didn't include the stone, brick, logs, labor, installation or tax, either. My uncle is meeting Mike out at the house on Friday and they are going to talk about a security system and wiring a speaker system throughout the house. We thought the speaker idea was unnecessary for us at first, but it's something that's not easily done later, so we figured we might as well. Mike's brother did this when they built their house about 5 years ago and it's awesome. There are speakers in every room and outside, so you could have your IPOD (which I do not have one) playing in every room. Or listening to a Packer game through out the house. It's cool for parties and get togethers. You can have background music constantly going.

I am not ready to pack. I really just don't feel like it. I don't know what to pack and what not to pack. Mike is having one of those giant semi-sized PODS delivered to our current house, we'll fill it up, and it will be moved to the new house and sit in the driveway until we are ready to move in. I'm not looking forward to packing or staying anywhere but my own house. I will be so stressed out. I am already way stressed out. I like the idea of going shopping for stuff for the house...stuff that isn't important right now. Maybe that'll make me feel better. A table for the kitchen, chairs for the island, canisters for sugar, etc, a nice small strainer to use in the island sink, curtains, new bedding perhaps for the kids?? I do still have to pick out all the lighting, too. Soon. Ugh.

A sad day for the nation...

Brett Favre is retiring. Well, we'll have to do something at the new house to honor the greatest quarterback of all time. Maybe a Packers mailbox. Or paint the swingset green and gold. I could just kick myself for not going to a game this past season. This will mean probably waiting in line again for another Sports Illustrated with Brett on the cover.

In house news, it was really mild on Sunday. We even ate lunch outside at the house. (I have pictures to post of that!) Mike worked alot on building the area will the fireplace will go. I have to say I was a little disappointed about the siding. I thought more of the siding would be done. I guess the shingling of the porch roof was more time consuming than I thought. We have a temporary front door and sidelights until the real one comes in. I can't believe how small the door and downstairs windows look. I hope once the porch railings and steps are done, it'll all come together. It looks so tan...Mike and I both were second guessing the siding color a bit once we saw it on the front of the house. The porch makes the siding under it look so much darker than what it is. It looks like two different color siding sections when you look at the garage and the portions where the porch covers the house. It's so hard to imagine what the finished product will look like!!

I went to a 4th fireplace showroom yesterday. I found a fireplace I loved and tracked down a place that carried it. The place has alot of product, but it's out in Wales/Genessee area, so a bit of a drive from here (not too far from our new house really). I was devastated when I got out the plan and the guy told me it's not even possible to have a fireplace where I want it. I was so shocked. So I got in the car and called Mike instantly. Long story short, turns out I somehow had an old floor plan when our fireplace was on the outside wall. Something about the outside of the house in that old plan is different than what it really is now as built. So anyhow, it got worked out, and we are waiting for a bid from the place. It's a much simpler fireplace than the one I initially liked. It has no doors (it has glass) and it has an arch top. I'm not positive on the stone, I just knew I wanted it to be an arch. We plan on stopping the stone mantle high, but part of me wishes we would go up to the ceiling, except that both Mike and I think it's looks silly when stone goes up to the ceiling and has to be cut at at angle because the ceiling is that way. We do plan on having the fireplace stick out a bit in the room and drywalling to the ceiling. I plan on having the fireplace itself several inches off the floor (no seat by it though) and having one of those iron looking gate things around the fireplace. I can't imagine with kids we'll use the fireplace much anyways. It seems kind of dangerous to me!! At least it'll look nice : )

Is Spring around the corner???

This morning while I was lying in bed, I woke up and heard the birds a-tweeting. I think Spring must be coming soon...it is March. Already. Yikes. We are to expect temps near 50 tomorrow with rain, unfortunately. But actually Mike's aunt and uncle are building a house as well (with the help of Mike's Dad) and Mike is going to help out at their house on Sunday. They are at about the same point as we are in building, though I think they started insulation. I don't think we are too far off doing that.

Today Mike, his Dad, and the crew that was out there earlier in the week are all out at the house. That's about 10 people!!! I think alot will get done today. I am pretty sure Mike's Dad is out there to make the gable above the front door (the little triangle thing in the porch roof above the entry door). I think all the siding will be done that can be done (before the crown mouleding stuff gets put on above the windows), and I guess a good portion of the soffit and fascia is on the house, though I didn't even notice that. One half of the porch roof is shingled, too. Yea!!! I can almost see myself rocking on the porch swing with the nice warm summer breeze!!!!

Still haven't heard back from the cabinet guy...which is frustrating, but I'm sure he was irritated with all my changes. It's a little nervewracking because we have no idea how much it will cost, he never gave us a bid. We are just assuming it will be a good price because we've heard we would (Mike's Aunt and Uncle are using the same cabinet guy, and also this guy is from the area where Mike grew up, so I'm sure Mike's Dad has dealt with him often). So it'd be nice to know how much he wants to charge so we know if we have to cut corners or eliminate rooms (like cabinets for the kids' bathroom, for instance--in which case we would buy vanities from Menards or something).

So the Fypon for above the windows has been ordered. It was ordered the day before I found out that we could've just used 2x4's and painted them white. Why nobody told me that earlier, I don't know. But we can't return the stuff we ordered, so it's really too bad. I think people just assume I know things, but I have no clue!!! There's a house a few doors down from the new one that just was finished. They have 2x4's painted white above and below each window, and it looks nice. It would've cost a fraction of what the Fypon cost. Live and learn, I guess...

Our home inspection on the current house went well. The person said it was a well maintained house. There was talk of a few suggestions he'd have on a couple things we might need to fix, but since we haven't heard back. Hopefully this means the buyers think the things are so minor, we don't have to bother.

Hopefully Monday, I'll have some AWESOME pictures to post of a house that looks nearly complete on the exterior! The only thing missing should be a little bit of siding and the porch rails and steps. Hooray!