A Nugget and a Doodle

Happy birthday to me -- Happy birthday to me -- Got a roof for my birthday  -- Happy birthday to me!! So it's not completely done, and they haven't even started mom and dad's roof, but ours is nearly done and I couldn't help myself from blogging immediately because I was really second guessing our roof shingles, but I love them now that they're up. I'm also marveling at how much more I can appreciate the shape of the house and the roofline now that the shingles are up!  The little french gnome house has taken shape! What a joy to pull up to our house on a VERY rainy day expecting to see nobody there working, and instead seeing that there's no place for us to conveniently park.  Lots of trucks for multiple trades all at once!  I'm so hopeful this is what our builder meant by "catching up" once the house is water tight.  We're still not water tight, but getting close.  The kitchen window went in today as well.  I haven't been inside...

We no longer go up to visit our lot on friday nights.  Now we go up to see our house! The exterior walls, interior walls, and roof are all completely framed.  Right now they're working on all the cornice which collectively refers to everything that encloses the house.  In our case, as our builder will very proudly tell you, that means 3 layers of energy efficient goodness.  There are 4 layers on the corners actually!  His focus on energy efficiency was one of the major reasons we chose him to build our house.  On top of the already superior sealing and energy work they include standard in all their homes, we opted for the additional Rolls Royce of energy efficiency packages, which should put our house in the top 1% of energy efficient homes in the country!  Yay for environmental responsibility!  Yay for our electric bills in the Texas summers!   There are 4 houses under construction in our community.  The other 3 are moving much ...

Our granite was the source of a lot of self-imposed drama (for me - as with everything else, Brent just rolls with the punches).  We need a lot of it ($) and the kitchen is part of an open plan that you see as you walk in the front door so we wanted to find something we love ($$)!  Of course, I tend to only love granite that's not like the granite in every other household in America.  ($$$) My original love   lust    stalker-obsession    favorite was called "Super White" or "White Fantasy" which are both kind of misnomers because the stone is gray with giant white splotches.  It's gorgeous, but it's quartz, and not the super strong kind, but rather a soft quartz that behaves more like marble.  It will etch, scratch and stain.  Some more consumer-friendly suppliers even place it in the marble department to avoid disappointing the homeowners who didn't do any research and wonder why their super durable "granite" counters are staini...

Well the framing was delayed a bit, but the crew of 11+ has made MAJOR progress in just 3 days - enough for a mid-week blog post!  In fact, they started on the roof this afternoon!  I love that our house is so "BAM" as you turn onto the street, and it's all you see in the rear view mirror as you drive away.   This cul de sac is all about us.  :)