Scored and stained....

The good news is -- the concrete is scored and stained. The not so good news is -- it's going to need a bit of touch up work because half the floor is lighter than the other half. There is a dividing line right smack dab down the middle of the room.

Here's what I think the problem is: They ran out of concrete during the first pour -- after pouring about half the space. It took about 20 minutes or so to go reload the truck (or whatever they did) and get back to continue pouring. So....we ended up with two different batches of concrete, and....each batch of concrete is different. Also, one half of the room has windows everywhere with sun streaming in (which causes the concrete to dry quickly), while the other half of the room is pretty much in shade. Both of those factors (different batches of concrete, and different drying times) can cause variation.

The concrete hasn't been sealed and waxed yet because concrete-dude wants to wait and do that after the sheetrock's been mudded. The sealing will affect the color but I don't know how much. So, until I talk to concrete-man I don't know if half the floor will need to be restained or if the sealing will do the trick. It does look good though -- even the way it is. I think I could live with it as is, but I'm going to see if it can be tweaked.

J went to a funeral in Memphis today. A cousin his age passed away from a massive aneurysm. I know it's been a hard day for him. I was going with him until his uncle from Alabama called and made arrangements to meet up and visit a family cemetery up that way. And....we didn't know at the time who was scheduled to show up here at home. So, it worked out. J said his cousin's husband passed out last night while standing at her coffin. He said he wanted to go with her. So sad. My grandfather and dad were the same way. My grandmother died suddenly from an aneurysm and it was a shocking to the family. My mom died after years of suffering and it was still a shock to the family. I'm thinking it would be better to go quickly and not bother with the suffering.

Well, before this post turns truly morbid, I think I'll get back to staring at my concrete floor -- wondering if it will even out the more it drys. Ever watched concrete dry?

Cover your ears because I'm going to use two of the dirty-est words I can think of right now....

Sheetrock dust! Yep. Sheetrock dust. The bane of my existance right now. If someone had told me about it before hand, I would have been tempted to live with the mold and mildew. No. Couldn't have done that. But....I might have told them to ....just tear the bad parts down. nail plywood over the openings and.... I'll live with it. But, noone told me so I spent all weekend trying to get rid of that lovely white dust that's covering every. damm. thing. in my house. And, keeping in mind that the part of the house that's not being worked on is jam packed with stuff from the part of the house that is being worked on, there is no way in heck that I'll be able to clean those areas until the construction is over. If it ever is over.

Oh, well. It is looking good, but I think J and I both are at a point where we don't really care. I know (I hope) it'll get better, but for most of last weekend, if someone had offered me a five dollar bill, I would have grabbed it, grabbed my purse and car keys and said, "au revoir et bon débarras." But, noone offered. So, here I sit. I hear they have to sand the sheetrock so -- more dust. And....(even tho I try not to think about it) the concrete slab will probably need sanding if it's stained.

Anybody have $5? ....I have change!

My life....

I have nothing to say. Construction is the only thing happening in my life right now. Construction consists of: waiting for days with nothing happening, then....one day, when you least expect it, there is a flurry of activity and things happen -- fast. I don't function well with a complete no schedule environment. Can't help it. Just don't.

Today is one of those flurry days. The framers showed up bright and early. M-the-contractor had told me they would. All day today they've been sawing and hammering and nailing away. The windows are in. So is one of the doors. The room's looking like....a room. That's nice because that's how it's supposed to look. Today, as I was sitting in a back bedroom because the framers needed to take down the plywood that closes off the front of the house between them and me (makes life more pleasant for all of us....), anywho....as I hid out sat in a back bedroom with my laptop, I heard construction noises coming from two houses across the street and a couple down the street. There are some busy people in these parts.

So. The weather's cooled off again. That's nice. The construction's moving along. That's nice. I've learned to start and end my day with "Hola." In fact, whenever I venture into my kitchen and come face to face with the nice men who are restoring my house there are "Holas" all around. (You see, the kitchen is right next to the rooms being rebuilt.) I really should learn something else to say. Maybe -- cómo va? (If that doesn't translate to, "how are things going" -- blame Babel Fish.

This & That....

Not much happening on the rebuild this week. The contractor's supposed to finish grading the yard and that's about it. Next week the windows should be in and then the framers will supposedly finish framing up. Then the electrician and the floor guy will show up. I hope we can get stained concrete. Don't ask me why but I like the look. We'll see.

I had another two-hour dentist appointment Tuesday. A little drilling but mostly the appointment consisted of taking impressions for two caps and a three-tooth bridge. They should be in in about 4 weeks. He gave me lots and lots of novacain (or whatever they use) and my mouth is sore at the two injection sites. Could be worse....

The weather's muggy and boardering on hot again. A front's supposed to come through today or tomorrow and the weekend should be nice. At least this high pressure system that's keeping the cool fronts from getting to us is keeping the hurricanes in the tropics from getting to us, too. That's a good thing.

Tuesday, on the way home from the dentist, I stopped by Target for a Starbuck's to pick up a deli chicken and some odds and ends. I walked to the book section to try and find a book I'm thinking about reading, and while scanning the titles I noticed on a bottom shelf three stacks of books turned toward the floor so the titles wouldn't show. I thought maybe the book I was looking for might be in one of those stacks so I reached down, pushed the first stack upright, and then had to giggle. Same thing with the second stack. I didn't bother with the third stack because by then I'd figured out what had apparently happened. The books pushed forward so the titles wouldn't show were Obama's books. Don't cha just love election time. And....aren't you ready for it to just be over?

Concrete's in....

They didn't show up until Friday -- but the patio's poured and the slab is evened up. It looks good. In fact, I think I'm going to be able to have the stained concrete I originally wanted. And....M-the-contractor says the stained concrete will be less expensive than tile. He's going to send his concrete man out and we'll see. (I love the way he has people: framing people, flooring people, concrete people. I wish I had so many people.)

I have our contractor pegged. I add two days to when he says someone will be here. Works every time. The framers are the only exception so far. They showed up today. Saturday. And....I think they must have had a big night Friday night because one of the two walls they framed in was crooked. They've done good work so far but today they were off -- as was the wall they framed. So far that's the only glitch. At least the only one I've known about.

On a completely different note, we had to take Cassie-the-cat to the Pet Emergency Hospital Thursday night around 10:30. Basically, she couldn't use her front and back legs on her right side. The vet thought it could have been a cerebral infarct because Cassie couldn't find the legs on her right side. The vet didn't have high hopes because Cassie's getting up there in cat years, but gave her a man-sized (as the vet put it) shot of cortisone and told us to take the cat to our vet and that he would probably put her on oral cortisone. The emergency vet said the goal would be to keep Cassie walking and able to live like a cat.

So....we carry the cat to the car and put her in the back seat. Remember, she hadn't been able to stand for a couple of hours. Well, we were driving down the interstate and all of a sudden Cassie's climbing to the front seat and into my lap. We get home, put her down and she's walking almost like normal. I'm thinking I need one of those shots she just had.

This happened Thursday night and she's been pretty much normal ever since then. She favors her right side but she's jumping on chairs and into the tub (one of her favorite places). We took her to her regular vet today and he said he didn't see how it could have been a stroke since she got better so quickly. I have to agree. The consensus is that she must have hit her head and been in shock, or maybe, because she likes to chew on electrical cords, she got a shot of electricity.

Whatever happened, I'm glad she seems to be fine and that I didn't have to spoil my daughter's weekend with bad news. She belongs to my daughter but lives with me. Odd how that happens.

Another day, another dollar....

or another few hundred or few thousand dollars. What does it matter? I'm learning that our repair/remodel is akin to when you paint. You know....a new wall color means new window treatments which means new accent pieces like lamps and rugs and....if you don't stop the madness you might as well buy a new house. What a time to be spending money. But, I keep hearing that I'm spending recession dollars and for some reason or other that makes it better. Yeah. Maybe if I keep repeating that to myself I'll believe it sooner or later.

Now....J wants to have the windows in our bedroom replaced with French doors. I have talked for years about doing that and it would be nice because they would open to the new patio being laid today and you'd have a better view of the water. Noone could see across the lake unless they're using a telescope so privacy's not an issue. The only issue is money. But, again, it is recession dollars....

In all honesty, we're not over budget yet. But if we keep adding things, it won't be long. I had hoped to squeeze in replacement vanity tops and faucets for the baths but now I dunno. It's either that or the French doors in the bedroom. The vanity tops and faucets wouldn't be nearly as much (and I could maybe get the tile I really like for the new floors) but then again, why not just get the bedroom windows ripped out while they rest of the house is such a mess (and go with a less expensive tile)? See what I mean?

So, today they're pouring concrete. That should be fun. Yesterday, M-the-contractor scraped and prepped part of the yard for the patio. That's the part I've dreaded because of allllllllllllll the problems I've had with cables being cut. Well, only the Cox cable was cut. They came right out and repaired it so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. (I do so hope those words don't find their way into that famous last words category.) J was the one pushing for the patio. I know it will be nice but I'm uncertain about the drainage. Don't want to channel water into the house. Nope. Don't want to do that. They tell me it won't be a problem. If it turns out to be....I'm just going to move. Enough is enough.

As I type I hear sawing and hammering. I guess they are forming up for the concrete pour this afternoon. They are going to have to level one of the rooms. I asked them how high the floor would be and they said....A bit higher than it is now. I asked them if it would be like those low-ceilinged basement rooms and they said....No, not like that. So...I'll clue you all in when I know what it's like. That should be later today. Now....I'm going to go swallow a couple of Tylenol. Catch you later.

Day Two

View from the outside.







View from the inside.

I need to refresh myself on how to use my actual camera, instead of my phone's camera and then maybe I'll be showing better quality pictures but..until then.... In the first picture, if you look very closely at the back of the picture (sort of next to the huge satellite pole and dish that will be taken down -- finally) you can see that the back of the house is covered by plywood while construction's going on. Not very energy efficient, but much better than the huge opening that was there. It gives us and the workers a bit of privacy.

So, onward and upward. (Whatever that means.)

Day One....

Well, bright and early this morning they started working on my house. The contractor just....sort of....showed up. Actually he told J yesterday that he hoped to get started today. He also told J that he'd call and confirm if he could for sure start. Last night J told me not to expect M-the-contractor because he hadn't called. I knew better. I was up and dressed when M-the-contractor rang the doorbell before 8 this morning. :) J was totally surprised when I called and told him. Silly man. When will he acknowledge my experience and expertise in knowing how repairmen operate?

So, things are finally moving along. They have most of the walls down and have started framing. It really looks different. I think it's going to be nice when it's finally finished. I can stand at my kitchen sink and see the backyard and the lake now. Yep. I think it's going to be nice. When they finish. However long that will take.

My kids in North Carolina sent J and me BAMA football jerseys. I got crimson and J got white. I love them -- the kids and the jerseys. My NC kids bought LSU jerseys for themselves so on football Saturdays we'll have it covered. Purple and gold in NC and crimson and white in Louisiana. I know the kids miss home. I wish job opportunities were better here. When A moved to Raleigh she told me she hopes to get some experience so she can move back here and get a good job. There just aren't that many solid starter jobs here. I miss them not being closer to home.