you're invited!

Praising God for His goodness and mercy,
Thanking Him for His deliverance
from the fire,

you are invited to an open house
Sunday, September 23, 2007,
from 2 to 5 pm.



No gifts please.

we're in!

Well, several things have happened since the last post.

Let me start by commenting on blogging. While blogging is not all that difficult, it is a commitment of sorts. First, you need to find the time to do it, preferably on a regular basis. Second, you need to have something of substance to say. And third, you need to be in a frame of mind where you can attempt to write a cohesive and meaningful post, which is not always easy. So, as with most things in life, items done well, be them blogging or skiing or painting or whatever, are harder than they look. And, as I have demonstrated, even items not done particularly well can also be harder than they look.

But, I digress. We are in the house. We moved what little possessions we'd acquired and bought more. I have discovered stores will actually deliver and set up furniture for you. This is a nice feature, especially when you live one flight of stairs up on top of a hill.

The house is beautiful. I never imagined living in such a fine house. The 100+ year old glass door knobs are spectacular and the vintage school house lights look great. God is good.

Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world, where, even as believers, we are not immune to the traumas of this life, whatever form they may take. But many times there can be silver linings to such events, and this was no exception. One of those silver linings was being given front row seats from which we could watch God's hands at work in caring for his children. I now understand a little more of what Paul was speaking of toward the end of Ephesians 3 where he said "to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine . . ."

We've been given more than we could ask or imagine. We had no bed to call our own, yet always had a place to sleep. We had just a few clothes to call our own, yet always had plenty to wear. We had no food of our own to eat or plates and silverware to eat it with yet were given more food than we could eat. God is good.

I don't recommend house fires. But I feel we've been blessed in more ways from this than we will ever comprehend. I continue to hope and pray much good will come from this, including someone, somewhere, coming to know Christ as a result. A brother in law, a good and godly man, reminded me after the fire that "God doesn't waste our pain". Well said.

While there are still many little tasks that need to be completed on the house, it's time to end this blog. Thank you for your concern, your care, your gifts of love and your prayers. They have all been appreciated, more than you will ever imagine.

very close

We are getting very close.

Much happened this week; the hardwood floors were sanded and stained, carpet installed, light fixtures hung, countertops set, appliances delivered, landscaping started and probably some more I can't remember at the moment. New beds were delivered yesterday and the plumbers come tomorrow for some finish work.

I am very tired.

still working hard

Well, things seem to be happening fast & furious.

We poured the driveway last week. There were a few anxious moments getting the trucks up the hill but in the end they did, thanks, in my mind, only to divine intervention. The air conditioners got started up. Gas service was hooked up. The exterior painters finished. The front porch handrails were finished. (As mentioned previously, the front porch columns will be done after we are in the house; the skinny black steel columns in the picture are only temporary).

The hardwood floor finishing crew starts tomorrow and I'm meeting with the landscaper as well. Carpet is due on Thursday, as are the appliances. Countertops are due on Friday. Hopefully, the electricians will hang the final fixtures and hook up the appliances on Friday as well. And the furniture for the rooms with carpet is expected on Saturday.

Hopefully, a week from tomorrow the plumbers will hook up the kitchen sink and the dishwasher and the floor finishers can put on their final coat of finish. So, stay tuned; we are getting close.

What a week!

Much to report, or so it seems.

The biggest accomplishment was electricity! This was huge, up there with sheetrock in terms of major accomplishments. After nearly three weeks of waiting and a week after the scheduled date, as evidenced by the attached picture we got power.

And the exterior painters started ("warm stone" with "agreeable gray"
trim). And we got shower walls ("biscuit" with "mexican sand" highlights, I think). And we started on the porch handrails (1x2, 1x4 and 1x6 pre primed spruce and some 5/4 southern yellow pine).

The porch and step handrails have been an item of great discussion. I finally built a mock up of a section of railing which helped the trim man see what I was talking about which answered some questions about the handrail sections but not the step columns. Finally he had a dream (I didn't ask him if it was a good dream or a bad dream) about the step columns and came and built and installed them (the picture was taken before the step columns were built). The porch columns are going to take more work (the black steel porch columns will eventually be covered with some bigger wooden ones) but we'll worry about that once we are in the house.

You may notice some plastic covering where the driveway goes in the picture. We've been needing rain in a big way and we got a lot of rain this last week. Actually, we got rain every day, which has turned the red clay into a big gooey mess. The concrete guys came after the picture was taken and removed the plastic and spread the dirt a little in an attempt to get it to dry out. With no rain predicted until Monday night (but rain predicted every day after that for the next week) we are scheduled to pour the driveway Monday at 7:00 AM. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and not only will it not rain until the concrete sets up but also the dirt will be dry enough for the truck to get up the hill.

In addition, to the driveway on Monday, supposedly a gas meter will be set, which should allow us to have hot water and eventually cook once the cooktop arrives. In addition, a HVAC crew is scheduled to come on Monday to start up the units. This is also very significant in that the flooring crew cannot start finishing the hardwood floor until the air has been on for a week. So, a lot is happening.

continued progress, although it appears slight

We were out of town most of the week and progress was limited.

The hardwood floors were installed and will be sanded and finished once the air conditioning has run for a week. The power company, who was to run the new power line from the street on Tuesday, finally showed up on Friday and installed the conduit but not the wire. Hopefully they will return next week to pull the wire and set the meter although no promises were made. More of the kitchen cabinets were installed although we are waiting on additional cabinet parts before the installation can be completed.

The driveway is going to be a challenge. The power company was adamant it would only run power to the new house if they could install in a new conduit for the wire. This would have required removing more trees, which we did not want. However, the old driveway was in sad shape before the fire and even worse shape after the concrete trucks and lumber trucks and sheetrock trucks so we agreed to remove it, let the power company bury their new conduit, and then replace the driveway. With a promised installation date of last Tuesday, we removed the driveway the Thursday and Friday before. Now it has rained and rain is forecast for most of this week which is turning the red clay to gooey mud, which will make it very difficult to get a concrete truck up the hill. So this may be an issue.

Hopefully, this week we can get the power wires run to the house and the power on so the A/C can start running so the floors can be sanded and finished the following week. In addition, the exterior painters expect to start.

Off to a wedding!

There was a time when not only our children lived at home but several of their friends did their best to live there too. This picture was taken in the old kitchen, the one that burned, taking with it the clock on the wall that silently watched our children come home from the hospital and grow up, and the vintage kitchen table and chairs that we ate dinner every night at for years, and the old hoosier cabinet that came from a garage sale and was carefully refinished by my wife and those glasses that we really liked that we can't find anymore of. All those things are gone now, burned up without a trace. Fortunately, the real treasures in the picture all seem to be doing well.

I'm not too sure when it was taken but several in the picture are now out of college and one has been married for a year or so. Another is getting married this weekend in Malibu, California, at a home overlooking the ocean. We've been invited so we are headed that way.

As far as progress on the house is concerned, it hasn't been a real productive week in that July 4^th was right in the middle of it. The hardwood floor guys said they would come on the 4^th, but actually came on the 5^th, at which time the driveway guys told the hardwood floor guys to go home, as their truck would be in the way. (Apparently, driveway guys have absolute authority, not just over what they do but over the entire world as well. I should have asked for world peace). The plumbers did come earlier in the week and set the commodes and sinks but left the water turned off, which begs the question what is the value of sinks and commodes without water? Hopefully, the hardwood floor guys will return tomorrow and not be scared off by the driveway guys, who are removing what is left of the old driveway so the power company can come install their new line on Tuesday.

We'll see what all happened when we return next week.