The Taming of the Beast

Though all but gutting a home and remodeling it shouts "home ownership" pretty loud and clear, for some reason putting in an irrigation system shouts even louder in my books.  We have been in the throes of home ownership for the past week--trench digging, shoveling, and rototilling galore!  Brett and I felt like regular old ranch hands, working as soon as Scout went to sleep until dark.  This weekend the ever-faithful Chippy came over to lend a hand.  The two dudes busted out the irrigation system, and...dun, dun, dun...it WORKS!!!  Confession: I held my breath when Brett turned on the water.  When I saw the water spewing forth, I somehow refrained from doing a happy dance and running repeats through the sprinklers like a 4 year old.  I did an internal happy dance instead.  It was much more appropriate.

Do  you know what this means?

We will grow a lawn.  A lawn.  A FREAKING LAWN!!!   Sayonara weed patch.  Brett and I have tilled the soil, and flattened it as much as possible, readying the upper terrace for grass seed.  I am getting so excited to have a place in our yard to set Scout down, and let her crawl around.  Oh, it will be glorious. 

Our veggie beds will be on a DRIP SYSTEM.  No more hours upon hours of hand watering.  Halle-freaking-lujah!!!!!  Seriously, nerd alert up in here.  Our yard will soon sustain LIFE!!!  This is the barest our yard will ever be from this point forward.  Can I get an "Amen"?!

Here's evidence of life: strawberries!

Nana was a huge help, as always, by watching Scouty while I worked in the yard.  Thank you, LoLo for always being willing to spend time with the Scouty-Doody.

 

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When there wasn't a whole lot for me to do in the back, while Brett was doing his "figuring", I kept myself busy by carving out a path in the front.  Since we have the narrowest driveway ever created, it seems only right to have a designated path upon which to walk that doesn't involve shimmying between cars, or trudging through the dirt/mud to find our front door.  I was really one with the shovel, rake, rototiller and weed wacker.  It makes me feel pretty B.A. getting all western with my yard machinery.  I showed the front yard who's boss.  My path will kick your path's you know what.  Just sayin'.  Sometime in the not too distant future the path will be complete, and we will be awarded Garden of the Year.  I can just feel it.

The Cracked Ceiling

The whole ceiling-cracking-bit was an unexpected, not to mention unwelcome, surprise.  But it wasn't as catastrophic as it could have been.  We had a 4'x4' piece of OSB duct taped to our ceiling for a few days, and a messy kitchen during the repairs, but that's really small beans compared to everything else this little house has undergone.  I'm pleased to say we have a freshly sheet rocked, and textured ceiling, good as new!  It has yet to be painted...but that's neither here nor there.  Maybe that'll get done...maybe, sayith the Master Painter Extraordinaire.

Scout was pretty excited about all the action.  Believe it or not, having a crawling baby makes one ever more aware of filth on the floor.  Especially in the fine powdery sheetrock/drywall form.  Thank goodness that was a quick project.  Otherwise, I probably would have gone a little nuts.

The Fastest 11 Months...EVER

 

It is due time for a little Scout shout out.  She is our joy.  Cliche?  Yes, but ever true.  Watching her grow is so incredibly wild because of how rapidly everything about her changes.  There are things I hope will last forever, like how whenever she hears music of any sort, she throws her arms in the air and sways from side to side, most often with a huge smile on her face.  My favorite is when she looks up to the sky while swaying, as though she REALLY feels the Spirit. 

I also love her call-and-response style of low grunts, and the way she scrunches her nose and repeatedly exhales loudly.  She and Hads spur this on in one another.  They may not be using words, but they are having a conversation. 

 

I love watching Scout crawl around the house with determination, and how she stops to make sure someone is watching, begging the onlooker to chase her.  She squeals, turns around and crawls a few paces, turns back around to make sure she's being chased, then commences.   This game goes on indefinitely.

 

I love how clear her signal is when she is tired.  She begins pulling her hair.  If she happens to get tired while eating dinner, her food inevitably gets rubbed very thoroughly in her hair.  This particular concoction was sweet potatoes and avocado.  We promptly gave her a bath and put her to bed after this pic was snapped.

There are certain things I hope will last forever, but know they won't, while there are also things I hope won't last forever, but am certain they'll never end (i.e. the clingy whiny phase).  I want to do a better job of savoring all the phases--the lovely and the not so lovely.  It is all part of who Scout is becoming. And she's becoming a little girl right before my very eyes.  She hardly seems like a baby any more, which boggles my brain.  I know the evolution is gradual, but I don't recognize the change until it's passed.  For example, where in the world did that wild and crazy sticky-uppy dark hair go?  I now have a toe-headed little girl with pigtails, whose hair may get in her eyes, but certainly doesn't stand up on end.  I kinda sorta (like, really) miss the wildness of her baby hair.  But alas, my baby is becoming less of a baby...right under my nose.  Savor.  I must savor.

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Over the past couple months Scouty has gotten to spend good time with all of her grandparents.  She gets to see her Nana and Papa twice a week, if not more, which is a blessing I can't wholly express.  They are always willing to watch Scout, which affords us the opportunity to get a lot of work done on our house, work our jobs, and...even go on dates!  Win!!!  We love having their involvement in our lives, and specifically, in Scout's little life.  She loves her Nana and Papa.

 

My mom, Grammy, came over Easter, and a couple weeks later, my dad and Laurie, Grampy Hoppy Toad and Grandma, and Aunt Hanna came for a visit.  It is fun to see the special relationships that Scout is forming with each of them.  Scout is very loved.  While we don't get to see them all that often, we truly do cherish each visit.

   

The other day as Scout was crawling around the house, my mother-in-law, Laura, said, "Maybe you should've named her Stay Put."  Ha!  Scout is a very fitting name for her, though I did wonder pre-crawling if she would grow into her name.  She used to be perfectly content sitting still, exhibiting no real desire to venture out.  Gone are those days, people!  She likes to see what there is to see.  She likes to explore our house, and if we let her, she'd crawl all around our disaster of a backyard.  Being that our yard is surely chalk full of roofing nails I don't feel too great about letting her go.  But scout it out is exactly what she'd do.  I particularly love the below picture because it perfectly captures her.  She looks entirely disheveled and unkempt, rockin' her Carhartts, and a single pigtail.  It says, "I play, and I play hard.  And I like it."

 

She is very aware of her surroundings, and likes to really check people out.  She doesn't like anything or anyone obstructing her view, be it a hat, a sun shade, or a human.  She wants to survey the scene. 

One of Scout's favorite pastimes is eating.  She is her daddy's daughter...and mine, for that matter.  Truly, though, she doesn't discriminate against any food.  If it's edible, she wants it.  It makes my job easy.

Our little girl (who sometimes looks like a freaking 6 year old) is our radiant joy.  We are just shy of a year.  ONE YEAR!  Here's to savoring the big and small developments.

Roof: Day 4

 Wa-BAM!  The roofers showed up around 8:30 this morning, and left at 12:30 this afternoon.  Now, THAT'S efficiency!  I can't wholly express how good it feels to have this project behind us.  Brett and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders.

Apparently we aren't the only ones excited about the transformation our house is undergoing.  Our neighbors...you know, the Thomas Kinkade ones...brought us over a bottle of wine as a thank you gift for improving their view.  Ha!

Obviously, our little house is not finished (is it ever?).  The next big project will be to paint it.  I mean, pink is fine and all, if you're into the dirty flesh tones...but we're going to take it another direction.  So, that's next on the docket.  We will be slow and steady with that one, I suspect.  There's not as much of a time crunch to get that job knocked out. 

For the record, it is STORMING here.  It rained hard for a brief bit this evening, then cleared up, but now all I hear is thunder and rain.  God, you hooked us UP with the perfect roofing weather.  Thank you, thank you!!  You provided the most perfect window we could've hoped for.  DANG.

Dear House,
You look even lovelier than you did this morning.  Just sayin'.
Love,
Andrea

The Roof: Day 3

  

 Like I said, thank goodness for new days.  Brett was tired from the night before, but somehow not totally discouraged.  Donning the t-shirt my dad made really gave him some extra pep in his step.  No more Mister Nice Guy.  As the image above shows, we will be living with OSB duct taped to our ceiling for the time being.  We will soon need to remove that section and replace the sheet rock, and re-texture it.  It's a bummer, but it's not the end of the world. 

Auntie Kacey was willing to watch Scout in the morning, and dear Busha watched her in the afternoon.  I am so, so, SO grateful for all the help with Scout.  Al came by for a few hours again in the morning (Alan, you've already clenched your title.  You just want to secure it further?) and helped make some last cuts for the final roof repairs.  Once Al left, B and I began clearing off the roof, ridding it of debris and nails.  That was my first time on the roof.  Brett advised me not to look around too much because I would surely want a second story.  Check out the view!  He was right, I did find myself longing for a second story.  But I'd quickly remind myself of our ceiling nearly falling through, and think...nah.  We're good.

On Saturday night the guys placed all the fascia board...with their headlamps.  So, Brett and I leveled it, and secured it further.

FINALLY, not a moment too soon, it was time to lay the felt.  Brett and I hopped to it and began rolling out the paper.  Brett was beginning to get a bit discouraged because it was taking longer than he thought.  Shortly thereafter our amazing neighbor, Russ, hopped on up to lend a hand.  Within a couple hours we had all the paper rolled out and stapled down.

 Pure (exhaustion) elation at a finished project.  We are more than ready to hand this roof off to somebody else, so that they can finish the job.  The roofers are coming today to finish it up!  Yeehaw!!!

We're getting somewhere, people!  Again, thank you to all the incredible friends and family who helped.  You guys RULE.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Dear House,
You are getting lovelier and lovelier.  Thank you for not letting us get swallowed up into the attic through the scary boards.
Love,
Andrea

The Roof: Day 2, Part 2

 

Above is the illustration Brett provided me with that explains what the h-e-double-hockey sticks happened last night.  It's the cross-view of our attic, looking down the line.  The sword looking thing on the left is the jack, placed on top of the joist.  Unbeknownst to us, the joist was already cracked, so upon jacking up the roof, the added pressure caused the joist to break even further, thus the falling-ceiling-effect.  The sad face in the lower left is me.  Brett and Eric worked until 12:30 am.  Apparently Alan (MVP) came by for a while, as well.  The guys were working until the wee hours, and even managed to slap up a piece of fascia board...with headlamps as their source of light.  Badasses.  I am so grateful for such an insanely hard-working husband, and such wonderful friends to help.  I'm also grateful for new days, and new perspectives.  

Here are a few more pics from yesterday before the ceiling incident.  I was able to paint our fascia board while Scout was napping, and managed to do the final touches with her on my back when she woke up.  Scout was not too into the sun shade though, and preferred sticking her head outside of it.  Once on the outside, however, she'd get stuck, and be unhappy about her situation.  The photo sequence pretty well captures how she looked much of the time while on my back...until I came up with the genius (if I do say so myself) idea to strap her cheerio cup inside the sunshade.  That gave me a good 15-20 minutes to get busy!

Eric and Al came over around noonish, and began the roof repairs.  As the picture shows, we are still hitting the jackpot with weather.  PTL!!

There is no telling what today holds, so I will make no speculations.  I will just hope for the best, and ask you to do the same!!

The Roof: Day 2

Today didn't exactly go as planned, which I've come to learn is status quo in the world of home renovations.  Brett's early morning Home Depot run took longer than he had hoped, Scout wasn't quite as willing to hang out on my back while I worked, the board repairs on the roof took considerably longer than Brett anticipated, our kitchen ceiling nearly came crashing down at the end of the day.  You know, the usual.

Our roof has a lot of sag to it, so Brett and Eric (a total champ for hanging in there.  He and B are still there working, and it's 8pm) were in the attic trying to jack up the roof, section by section.  I was cooking dinner, when I noticed a bunch of white powder on the floor.  Being the detective that I am, I quickly surmised that the ceiling had cracked...and that I better get out of the way.  Do you think that my house was getting back at me for calling it a "crack house"?  I think it was like, "Oh, I'll show you crack house, woman!"  Our ceiling didn't fall through, thankfully.  But nobody wanted to stand beneath it for extended periods of time.  So, I quickly finished up dinner, and swooped Scouty up and took her up to Nana & Papa's so that she could go to sleep (free of the loud noises that will surely be an accompaniment to the kitchen situation).  Who knew that today would hold THIS?!  Sheesh. 

 Brett and Eric were regrouping when I left.  I really hope the food gave them some inspiration.

Needless to say, the felt is not on our roof.  Tomorrow will be another busy day, I reckon!  My fingers are crossed that tomorrow goes smoother than today!  Pretttttty please?

Dear House,
I'm very sorry I called you a crack house.  I will never do it again.  Ever.
Love,
Andrea