A Nugget and a Doodle

Well it finally happened.  All the credit you've all given me for holding it all together during this ridiculously stressful process is no longer merited.  The only solace is that I really threw my builder for a loop when he realized I was sobbing on the other end of the phone.  I'll spare you the details of how he made me cry because I'm still really angry and I'm sure I would regret seeing this anger in writing months from now in this blog. What I will say is that April 11th, was the "drop dead" latest possible date my builder has been sticking to for the final walk through, and that is no longer in the realm of possibility.  Maybe, since the new painters actually showed up on Friday (the last crew quit), just MAYBE we can do our walk-through on the 14th or 15th.  Just 3 more days you say?  Yes, but...our phone, internet, and cable service appointments for hookups start on the 14th, and we aren't allowed to do those hookups until the builders are done ...

Two weeks ago I was super stressed out with everything left to do, and two business trips looming ahead for Brent and I, and all the mistakes at the house... so mom offered to take the kids for a sleepover so I could make progress with several consecutive hours of JUST working on stuff.  I try to get some of these things done during the week, but I get a few minutes here and there and it's difficult to make real headway like that. I went to Home Depot the night before to pick up all the lumber and hardware for our first project.  I meant to take a photo of my shopping cart there because, I cannot lie, it was awesome.  I know most suburban moms don't hang out by themselves at Home Depot on friday nights, but I'm a special breed I guess.  Nothing like fresh wood, already cut to the sizes I need, and the promise of a full 24 hours to work on house projects.  :)  And the guy who cut all the lumber for me was great!  Perfect cuts and super helpful. So, ...

Maybe that headline is too harsh, but the mistakes sure are getting old.  And they're not just annoying because this is our house and it's very personal to us, but now it's threatening our move-in date.  Already, April 4th has slipped to April 11th as the new drop dead date.  As a reminder, we have to be entirely out of our rental on April 18th, at which time it needs to have been professionally cleaned and the carpets professionally steamed.  Our two week buffer is down to one week now.  Care to know why?  Read on! Well first let me start with the good news. They finished the

I frequent an online support group for others who are building homes, and a fellow member provided a link to this image about the emotional roller coaster of building .  It's pretty funny, and probably pretty accurate for most builds. After analyzing the graph, I decided it wasn't an accurate picture of our project.  Ours looks more like this, with the last couple months showing up more like an EKG. Through the middle of the project, as others start to get distraught, we were happy as clams as long as they were making progress.  Though, as others start to experience the growing euphoria of seeing a house near completion, we've been on more of a daily roller coaster.  For example, we're psyched to see a concrete truck show up finally but devastated to see the wrong tile being put in our shower (again) all in the same day!  Thrilled to see light fixtures installed, but disappointed to see 1 of 3 pendants hanging at the right height and the other 2 sti...

It's been a while since I've posted pictures of house progress, so get cozy - this is a long one! It's been a bi-polar month.  Generally if you had asked me how things are going any Friday in the past month I'd gush about all the activity going on at the house.  Our construction manager tends to schedule a lot of trades all at once on Fridays, and since we have a recurring lunchtime meeting with him every Friday, we've gotten to see the flurry of trades rolling in.  It's VERY VERY exciting to see this many trucks parked in your backyard, and as many in the front! The problem is - you know where I'm going with this - is if you asked me any other day of the week I'd be discouraged that nobody has showed up for days, and the concrete that was supposed to be poured a week ago still isn't poured... the plumbers were supposed to be here everyday last week and still haven't shown up.  A team of 20 guys show up to do the til...

I normally feel a slight but steady pressure to blog about a project or a house milestone as soon as it's finished or achieved.  It's become the routine, and I love the closure of putting the project out there into the blogosphere so I can move on to the next, but it's not a trivial time commitment.  As I approach my next project I'm feeling really torn as to whether I'm doing the right thing, and I figured I'd throw it out to my 5 faithful readers.  That constant pressure I feel will be rewarded by your help now.  :) The project in question is [something] above the yet to be started/completed valance for the triple kitchen window above the sink.  The kitchen is an L-shape with a big island and it makes up one corner of the open living area that also contains the living room and casual dining room.  On the right wall we'll have our range hood which goes all the way up to the ceiling as does the backsplash just in that one spot.  Since we've got 11'...

We should have some big house updates soon, but in the meantime, I thought you might like to see my latest transformations.  When I started thinking about the nugget's first big boy bedroom close to a year ago, I tagged some inspiration photos on Houzz.  One of those photos showed a very Jetsons'-like nightstand, and I instantly became fixated on finding some mid-century furniture for his room.  The problem is anything labeled MCM, which is hot right now, is priced really high in consignment stores and on craigslist.  But I found a pair this weekend and instantly scheduled a time to pick them up - $75 for the pair!  The images below were the craigslist photos. And when I brought them home, my mom groaned and suggested they weren't worth the gas spent to drive to pick them up let alone the $75.  Her words, not mine: "Sometimes I can see your vision, and other times I think you've finally taken on the one that's too ...