We have DIRT!! Chpt #9

I’m not sure where to begin. I’d like to begin at the ending but that would be cheating. But it IS the fun part. O’well, writers must suffer . . .or at least pretend writers.

As I left you a few weeks ago I was talking about a February 7th excavation of our site. As luck would have it, Mother Nature, at that very moment, decided that it would pop the El Nino’ bubble and by doing this all of that cold air that had been storing up in Canada (where it should be) no longer had support and gushed into America and in particular onto OUR site.

Wonderful. I watched as my personal weather station, day after day would give me bad news.

And we waited. Milo, our cat made do with register hugging when ever the heat came on.

Meanwhile we were STILL waiting for Drexel and after 38 days we were told they would arrive to install the floor sometime between 8:00 and 11:00 on Monday. As luck would have it, this was also the day Ambiance would start their excavation of The Hole AND we decided that we would make the final decisions on flooring from the truly wonderful people at Home Expressions in Columbus.

We were sleeping soundly, Sierra the kitten was curled up between us and Milo was laying exactly as we were, on his back, covered with a blanket, head on a pillow with paws on top of the blanket.

In the far distance I heard ding dong, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ding dong. What made this second ding dong slightly different was the SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT that followed coming from the other side of the bed.

I instantly knew the problem, the floor guy was early (well, 10 minutes). I leaped out of bed like an anti-superman putting pants and shirt on AT THE SAME TIME. Milo, was on the floor, claws out, puffed up four times his normal size, wild eyed like ready to flee in terror, if he could only figure out what the flee from.

Long story shorter, they put in the floor and all is well (except for the HORRABLE caulking job).

We then drove to Columbus to see . . . . nothing. No hole, just a snow. So on to Home Expressions to pick out the $5,500 worth of flooring.

I tell ya – these guys are great. We could not have done this without guidance and are very happy with our choices of Red Oak hard wood floors, carpeting with a little vinyl and some wood laminate tossed in.

SO – THAT is over. All we need to decide on now is the front brick and fireplace brick and then everything is up to Kevin and Ambiance.

Back home in Madison the bathroom has been transformed from this on the left to that on the right. It might not look like a big deal but on a personal level it was ALWAYS something that we knew we had to fix.

The house is painted, we have new Corian countertops, a solertube for extra light in the kitchen and we're getting a dumpster this week to toss out years of junk that has accumulated.

Then, Tuesday, it happened. I’m at work and get a phone call from Marcia our agent. She ask's if we knew they were digging today and said WHAT???

We did not know that and I contacted DJ and we decided that we NEEDED to go see.

Taking the afternoon off we headed once again to Columbus. Halfway there the wind is really kicking up and I’m thinking that there is no way they are digging. It’s 17 degrees with a 30mpg wind.

We come over the rise and see the most wonderful site in this adventure yet. A great big backhoe and an elephant!!

OK OK - there was no elephant. But it would have been an interesting site you have to admit!?

I jump out of the car and the wind blasts my face – WOW – it is FREAKING cold, it was not like this 15 minutes ago. I run around snapping pictures. In this one you can see the copper tubing in what must be out home still for brewing our moonshine. Nice of them to think of that first. That is DJ running for cover.

It was just about at this point when a woman comes running out of the house next to our hole. I fear the worst as she has her attack dog with her. As they get close I raise my camera and see that it is not an attack at all but a welcoming committee! She comes bearing gifts. Photos of when they started to dig, some wine and a card. How truely perfect!

We are both floored and the three of us stand in the 17 degree, 30mph weather and talk until it’s time to go before we all freeze.

Now we not only know the neighbor but we sort of know the people that will build next to them in the spring. This is all working out just fine.

So there you have it. So far so good.

We have gone from this

To this

And now to this

It's all good!

and I'm worn out!

More photos to come later this week as they put in the foundation. That Has to have you on the edge of your seat!

So far everything has worked out fantastic. I feel like we are on Survivor. Everything is just going to good.

Rod and DJ
cheers