So, where have you been?

Wednesday night, I was so upset when I came home to find that NOTHING had been done on the house this week. Last week John and I released a portion of the remaining balance of the addition to the contractor - we are believers of supporting small business, and our contractor was strapped for cash since healthcare for the year was due. In exchange, he offered to do the labor of installing sheetrock, taping, and mudding our addition for free. I was also ensured at that time that he had no other side projects, that we'd get his full attention.

Well, I found our "full attention" of this week unacceptable. I wanted to give him a giant red "Unfortunate" stamp on his forehead, much like one of my college-level-in-high school professors used to do when we failed to live up to expectations (a B) on pop quizzes. So, I called Wednesday night and after the common courtesies, I said, "So, where have you been?" He was taken aback by my frontness, but managed to fumble out that he had been at an out of town funeral. Now it was my turn to fumble, feeling like an awful person for assuming that he was blowing us off.

He has been here all day Thursday and Friday. The work is still slow, but we have a prayer of maybe having a working bathroom downstairs by the time we leave for Arizona...

A big push

The pressure is on. Self induced, of course. John and I have decided that we want to be able to move downstairs one of these years... and we've set a target date of April 1 (no foolin').

Friday night we made a list of things to get done in order to keep us moving forward. We had the help of five fabulous individuals and made a significant dent. We now have a curtain rod in the upstairs bedroom closet, a bifold door between the upstairs bathroom and the furnace room, paint on the downstairs living and dining rooms, and a start on re-doing the plumbing in the downstairs bathroom. (Our contractor managed to incorrectly measure when laying out the bathroom, and so all of the pipes he placed need to shifted to the left by Pat... and we lose our proposed storage area. *heavy sigh*)

It's starting to really feel like a home... except for all the tools everywhere. :)

Wimpy girlie arms

Talk about in like a lion...

We have finally gotten our famous Minnesota snowstorms. In March. This week we have gotten two large snowstorms. The first was Monday - a heavy snowstorm with lightening producing about 10" of wet snow in our yard. John was off early that day (after it took him 2 hours to get to work) and did the shoveling clearing the sidewalks and even a good section to park the car in our driveway. Today storm two hit with only 6" of new snow of medium/light weight. Traffic was not nearly as bad as Monday, which I was thankful for since I had to travel to the south suburbs for a meeting about our new electronic documentation system. ANYWAYS... I got home first today and it was my turn to shovel. Needless to say, I didn't do as good a job as John did on Monday... finally gave up and drove the car onto the snow covered driveway. My arms are still shakey despite a few minutes of rest. I need to lift weights.

On other news.... our windows came in yesterday and so the addition might actually get really closed off before April (just as soon as the heating season really ends). We're planning on moving downstairs as soon as we have a functioning bathroom, and then continuing to work while we're down there. Not ideal, but necessary.

March is supposed to go out like a lamb, right?

Spring has sprung

When did spring hit? I know that the highs are still in the 30s these days, but it feels like spring. Many of my patients are anxious to try walking outside. We all comment about how sunny the south facing gym is. And John and my social schedules have been filling up - a definite sign of the warming trend.

The other big spring news has to do with the house. Firstly, I saw my first pair of cardinals while I was walking home from the bus yesterday... a great treat and definite sign of spring. AND... an addition has formed on the back of the house!!!

Look! A framed roof! Windows and doors have definition! We have some real access to the basement! Wowwie!!! And the contractor told me yesterday that he was sitting during a break, admiring the view from what will be our new table area window (right - and notice our view of the St Paul Cathedral), and watched three pairs of cardinals feeting around our scrubby trees.

Another sign of the birds and the bees... new ED commercials that refer you to www.mensfacts.com.

Happy Spring everyone!!