Our Concrete Home

Just like I predicted....I filled holes for the day.  It was a lllllloooooonnnnngggggg day but we made great progress! Crawfords is my new favorite putty (and it comes in a nice tin).  It was a tip/recommendation from our finish work guy Ben.  It is oil based, quick and slick, and doesn't need sanding when dried. (Photo has a special guest visitor--shout out to my siblings!) Maya did AWESOME filling up holes once I taught her the trick.  The putty had to be squeezed into a point and pushed into the hole.  With the thumb still over the hole you slide the putty knife underneath and quickly pull it out again.  These are Maya's cute little hands showing her work.  The hold is clean, smooth, perfect and doesn't need sanding. After Maya mastered the hole filling I taught Estee.  She could do it too but lost interest after about half an hour. One of Estee's jobs was to clean the scraps out of the house.  She struggled a ...

 Yup, I did, I fully participated in the American Cultural Frenzy Buy Out of Twinkies.  I bonded with an older Grandpa and Grandma who were stock piling their favorites.  They reminisced about their favorite Hostess snacks as they guarded their loot on the check-out conveyor belt.  They even both waved at me in the parking lot as they drove away with huge smiles on their faces.  They were a hoot! So, we brought our Twinkies to share with the subs (I still have some at home....).  Good times.  Maya checked out her closet.  She and Estee beat me downstairs and by the time I got there they had decided which shelf belongs to which girlie.  They decided that they must have a step stool in their closet. Here's another funky oops in the house.  Our plumber did not place one of the pipes INTO the foam.  He didn't cut out the foam so that the pipe would be flat on the cement wall.  It was too late when we saw it.  So, Col...

 After 407 days of work...this feels like a very fun part!  The foam is starting to look like a home!  But then, I look at it and there is still so much to do.  However, the end is in sight.  Spencer and Ben installed all the interior doors, trimmed the doors and put up the window casings. These are the very same type of casings we had in our first home--the bungalow in downtown Provo. We are all about the simple, straight lines.   View of kitchen windows with casing...  Our kitchen is fill with tools....  And supplies.... Spencer and Ben started all the closets.  This one is the pantry...  This is our closet... After taking a close look at the trim, the cupboards, finish work, I realize that I have my work cut out for me this weekend.  I will be filling approximatey 4,375,302 tiny holes with oil putty.  Maybe I'll get a good book on tape or something.  This was the view out of our...

The morning started with a trip to the dump, a run to the apartments, a quick meeting with the finish work fellows, a visit to Contempo Tile (ya, think I really like a few of their tiles),  and a run to the Primary Program Practice. By noon I had made a Zuppa Toscana soup (delish, try it!!!! http://italian.food.com/recipe/my-kinda-zuppa-toscana-362800 ) and then headed over to the house for some work. Brent picked up decking and we tried to place a few boards (seems like it will be cinchy).  He then discovered that we accidentally put in the wrong plugs throughout a good portion of the house.  So, that meant a run to Home Depot for me.  And it means a lot of plugs to redo. Maya was a good worker and cleaned up a lot of the trash mess inside the house.  Brent has installed almost all of the ceiling lights now.  Cole has worked on a few of them.  Cole works mostly on the plugs.  I put hardi backer board in the powder room.  We had hoped t...

Remember this?  Posts not matching? Well...have we got a fix for you!  His name is Spencer, the super sub, and he worked on it today!  Ya-hoo!  Columns are gonna' match up!!! (Photo below is not a picture of Spencer, it's one of his workers).  The pillar on the right was already knocked out and Spencer formed the column on the left AROUND the pillar.   Lookie!  They match! Symmetry is a lovely thing. .gniht ylevol a si yrtemmyS  We also got a few more soffits today... I spent more time today phone calling and all.  The cupboards should be finished the week after Thanksgiving (fingers crossed) or the first week in December.  House was measured for a carpet bid.  Set-up an appointment to have someone look at the walnut from California that Bob (Brent's brother) harvested.  That will be our entry floor.  Still looking for some help with tile.  Not sure we can take that on.  And as I type...Brent ...

Today I lined the cans with baffles!  Brent showed me how to do it last Saturday and I returned today to finish it off.  I started with the can:  Grabbed the baffle and liner:  I had to adjust the inside of the can before putting in the liner.  I just stretched out the springs to fit in the holes at the top....   It doesn't see too long ago that we were putting in the cans  Progress shot under the deck.  It is looking super!  And I managed to squeeze in time to vote!  Didn't work out the way I had hoped :(

Read while listening to Maya's cello lesson: It took Michelangelo FOUR years to  paint the Sisten Chapel Ceiling.  However, millions of people have enjoyed it's beauty for FIVE HUNDRED years.  The ceiling fresco was dedicated 1 November 1512 on All Saints' Day. It was a wonderful reminder to me that good things come from HARD work, dedication and persistence in the face of difficulty.  One thing I love about the Michelangelo story is the scaffolding fiascoes.  Engineers and architects made proposals for scaffolding to reach the ceiling but the plans were wrought with problems.  Finally the Pope told Michelangelo to make his own plan for scaffolding--the one that was ultimately used.  Michelangelo was a sculptor, not a painter and felt like the project would take him from his true passions. He was forced to solve his own problems during the project in addition to doing something he didn't particularly love.  Four years of lying on his back, p...