Small detail--Big deal

Much the same as the doors, this post will probably not impress most people; but the family who know our livingroom well may be a bit more inclined to celebrate with us. This house was equipped with bulky, tacky looking, dark brown beams across the livingroom ceiling that invited snags and cobwebs. They were yucky. Now, they have been reduced to the 2 x 6s that were hidden underneath (couldn't remove those). It may not look like much, but this is what I've been busting my shoulders with the past couple of days: hand-spackling these things with a 2" putty knife in order to allow them to blend in with the existing textured ceiling. Granted, the ceiling has not been painted yet, but when it is, this will look mahvelous! We are happy with it!

Him

Friend...husband...brother...caregiver...hard worker...soother...massage therapist...jack-of-all-trades...chef...math guru...problem solver...partner...listener...jungle gym...coach...cheering section...tangle remover...builder...sounding board...calming
influence...disciplinarian...model...humorist...reader...thinker...theorist...tekkie.........FATHER. Happy Father's Day to my beloved. Happy Father's Day to friends and family out there as well!

Some Progress and a Hairy Situation

We're making slow progress at the drywalling. Even slower at the ceiling patching/spackling. We're getting there, though. We lost some precious time tonight dealing with Hanna's little hairbrush mishap. After bathing, she apparently decided to use my brush to "curl" her wet hair while Andy and I were working. In response to some whining and shrieking...well you can see for yourself what we found. I started working on the rat's nest, then Andy took over since he has way more patience than I. Hanna ended up losing a good sized hank of hair, as Andy had to slice it off the brush! We are tired and frustrated these days, but this too shall pass.

A View Emerges

The view from our future island/cooktop.

Taken from the front door...

Taken from the back door...

Tonight was a bit challenging as we worked to get the headers up. After some choice words, they are up and Andy ripped out most of "THE wall". I love being able to see from the front door to the back of the livingroom. This process taught me that a) I need to trust that engineered beams are totally capable of being load-bearers, and b) I am a weakling. Holding them up while Andy tried to secure them was a real bear. But it's done! Now we can really feel what it's going to be like! Okay, my turn in the shower and an early baseball game in the morning, so...more later.

Oh! Big news this afternoon: Baby Ronna finally made his appearance late this afternoon! Wendy dealt with a stubborn and long, slow labor...Ryder Allen is doing great! We are happy to have another cousin to spoil!

Love A.C./ Very Much Dislike Drywall

Hallelujah folks, the air conditioning is running! We drywalled the ceiling where the little half-walls were and got some tape/mud up late tonight so we could finally turn the air on. Blessed relief (not over the top, mind you, but enough to take off the edge of this expected 90+ degree weekend).

Today we were busy running all over creation to pick up our flooring and cabinets. Doggone, that's a lot of flooring to install (43 boxes of bamboo!). Tomorrow, the engineered beams are delivered so we can finally move forward and "tear down that wall"! Lots to do!!!

Update

I promised someone I would try to keep up on the pics, so here are the latest...
Here's the booger branch that targeted my car! Looks innocent enough, I know...



The new front door is awesome. To most folks, these doors are nothing special, but anyone who knows what we had before understands just how excited we are to have these. Andy picked the color!

Back door to the deck...we chose to leave it as is. We'll paint the inside to match/compliment the livingroom color. Our interior has always been so dark. These doors really allow great light to stream in and, with the knock-out of the main wall, we are "beginning to see the light"!

Here's a shout-out to my mom...Happy Birthday! Also to Wendy...little baby Ronna #2 is coming Thursday and we can't wait to find out all about wee one!

Remodel Wordle

Here's a wordle I did as I waited my turn in the shower late last night. You know, we could really do without the ceaseless pattern of hot-humid-thunderstorm! By tonight, we'd like to get the place sealed up so we can turn on the air. 90+ degree weather coming this week... Oh, and the windshield is costing us over $200. Guess that blows our fantastic appliance deal!