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Sunday, July 19, 2009

The Home Stretch




I never liked running much - the pounding in my poor knee joints and that stitch in my ribs just didn't do much for me. But the part I hated most was that I always had to run in circles around a track. I mean seriously, what was the point? If I have to go through a lot of pain, I'd at least like to arrive at a destination or see some concrete results.

Since my last post, I've been running against the calendar to get this house done. All day, every day, I run from one thing to the next towards that end goal, and then fall into bed completely exhausted. The upside is that I've been running towards something and I have concrete results to show for it; and I mean that quite literally.

We now have a concrete pad for our garage, back patio, and front porch. Yay. We also have the stone fireplace done, all the doors in (complete with doorknobs), the kitchen island finished, all the plumbing and electrical trimmed out, a balcony railing which makes the upstairs hall SO much safer for the kids and all the baseboards installed. Jeff will start painting the exterior tomorrow while the carpet installer puts carpet in the one room that still needs flooring. After that, I have to put the last coat of polyurethane on the hardwood stairs and then we have to install the railing. Then we clean everything while the garage doors are being installed on Wednesday and put one more coat of polyurethane on the hardwood floors on Thursday. Once the exterior trim is painted, steps are built from the garage to the house, and shelving is installed in the front and master closets, we're done. Hallelujah.

We're hoping to get everything done this week so the appraiser can come a week from Monday and we can close on Friday. Here's hoping it works out that way. We just have to make it through this home stretch.

We took a few minutes to memorialize our family on the edge of the front porch. Everyone pressed their hands into the wet cement by age. Jared gave me the weirdest look, like, 'you WANT me to get messy?' Then he freaked out as we pushed his hands into the cement. I guess we should've gone oldest to youngest so he'd know what to expect before his turn came.

Then yesterday, I found another nail in the gravel driveway. Or rather, the tire did. After working ten hours on the house, I got a flat. Frustratingly enough, the jack was too short to actually lift the tire off the ground since it kept sinking into the gravel road. Of course, I forgot my cell phone too, so I had to walk back to the house to get Jeff and the truck. I think I passed that patience test, though. I didn't yell, scream, cry, curse, or kick the car. I only sighed. But as I walked back to the house, I noticed the wheat waving in the breeze, the swallows chirruping as they swooped above the field, and the clear, bright blue sky and was reminded how lucky I was to be able to live here. It is absolutely beautiful. Maybe the flat was worth it after all.

5 comments:

Allison said...

Way to go! The finish line is in sight now! Congrats on being this close!

Angie said...

Yeah! You are almost done! Now what are you going to do with all of your time?

Diane said...

You guys rock! Everything looks amazing!

Kim said...

Jen, you are the most amazing person. I've never met anyone so motivated. You're almost done!!! I miss you and can't wait to get together when you have a spare second to breathe! Sending love and prayers your way! And just an FYI: the word I'm supposed to verify to leave my comment is...forkrat. Yup, forkrat. Where do they get these words???

Sirpa said...

Jennifer,
This last post was almost a month ago, so I'm thinking you are moved in?!! It's been a busy month or so here as well, although in a whole different way from your busy... '') I'd love to see pictures of the house in and out now that you are in. It's okay if the house isn't 'finished' yet. I'm sure it takes a while to get everything just the way you want them. Also, I can't wait to see pictures of the holiday looks of your house, knowing how beautifully you decorate.
(Knowing that you've had two ovens in the past, I want to know if there are two ovens in this kitchen as well? It looks beautiful, by the way. Kitchen and the rest of the house)