Two More Weeks

With the exception of trees along the front sidewalk, our landscaping is complete. We have a tree in the side yard that will shade the porch, another behind the back fence, and each street will be lined with a different species of tree. Those in the front are waiting for the root barrier, which, if we're lucky, will prevent complete upheaval of the sidewalks in another 20 years.







Pete was a stow-away in our plants. Timothy says his name is Sparky, but I think it's Pete. We've spotted him one other time, on the fence to the side yard. I hope he sticks around.



Small changes are continuing on the inside of the house. Today we met Jimbo in the attic, finishing the A/C installation. He gave us our thermostat instruction manual, lots of pointers, and promised to pre-program our thermostats the way he thinks they ought to be. Timothy thought he looked like the French actor Dominique Pinon from Delicatessen.

Now that our garage has been cleared of debris and other houses' trim, we've both parked in it. Not yet at the same time, but I think with some maneuvering from the narrow alley to the narrow garage, we should be able to make it work. I guess we'll find out in two weeks.

Closing day can't come soon enough. After four months of commuting from northwest Austin, we're looking forward to living close to downtown again. Our daily routine involves 30 minutes of sitting in traffic on MoPac in the morning, driving to check on the house at lunch, going back by after work, and then heading home exhausted in the evening. This racks up about 40 miles per day on my car, and sometime last week, I missed seeing it roll over 100,000 miles.



Speaking of driving, our neighbor Aaron swerves dangerously fast around the curves! Watch out for his hybrid car, and co-conspirators Toby and Griffin hiding in the back seat.

Easter Bunny

The front facade of our house is simple; its primary features are box columns and triangle knee braces reminiscent of 1920s Craftsman-style homes. For over a month, we've had the wrong knee braces. They'd be fine on a more elaborate house, but here they were much too small to be attention-getting. Now they've been superseded by much more impressive knee braces, and simplified versions added to the dormer.





We also have gutters and a sprinkler system, and the fence has been finished. Now we just need some grass and plants.





The inside of the house has been covered with blue tape, denoting most problems we'd noticed and quite a few we would not otherwise have seen. We've been watching as corrections are made, and the house moves incrementally closer to being finished.



Timothy actually wrote this in an email to our builder: "I peeked inside the scuttle hole [to the attic] and it seems rather barren, like it needs something... something fluffy, like a bunny, but a bunny you shoot through a tube."

Our pink fluffy bunny came just in time for us to say "Happy Easter!"

We don't need no stinkin' badgers!

This is the emoticon for my house.


Here is what happens when the landlords find out why you are leaving.




From the first day of signed the contract.

Shiny or Spiny

Perhaps we were previously unobservant, but Friday we noticed the power turned on in our house for the first time. Shiny kitchen appliances had also arrived.





Installation of carpet represents the last new material to go into the house. Though numerous repairs and corrections remain before we close, construction is all but complete.



As Timothy enjoyed our somewhat spiny carpet (to be replaced in a few years with hardwood or bamboo flooring), he noticed something else spiny on the windowsill. It seems that we will not be the first occupants of our new home!





Elsewhere in Phase I, framing for Standard Pacific houses is beginning to block our view of the park. Behind our house, landscaping of the garden court is nicely underway, though the first resident has moved in before sod replaces mud.

Monday, April 14

We have a closing date, just a month away, and only four months total build time! Guess we need to figure out how to break our lease...

Yellow? Don't Fret, It's Calumet!

The inside of our house miraculously changed colors today. By lunch, the windows, trim, and fixtures were taped up, and at the end of the day, summertime had been transformed to calumet.



A couple of pieces of tape were painted over, so you can see the contrast. It's like night and day. Or midday and early afternoon. Or so subtle a change you wonder if it has at first. But really, trust us, it's much more pleasant in our house now. We're really happy.





Mixed media installation in our garage.



Our first casualty occurred today in the master bedroom. We have no idea the circumstances, but we'll be getting a new window.

Usual House Update

Since the last post, my parents came to visit and see the house for themselves. Despite the fact both my dad and I had cameras in hand, we failed to take photos of anything but the house, so the usual update follows.



Our house has its beautiful new front door and the beginnings of a nice cedar fence.







When we first saw the fence posts, we were amazed by the generous size of the side yard, but didn't it seem odd that the fence posts were right on the sidewalk? Apparently the developer also thought so, as they've insisted the builder move the fenceline in two feet.



Yesterday was a miserable, rainy day. So rainy, in fact, we had a river running through our garage. Though the threshold between porch and garage will be properly sealed soon, there's no reason to have so much water standing on the porch any time it rains. To divert the current from three converging roof slopes, we've decided to get gutters. Dad, we promise you won't ever have to clean them out!



Repairs large and small are underway on the interior. In the upstairs bathroom, we noticed that the ceiling and tile were not parallel, with a half inch discrepancy from one end of the narrow room to the other. Surprisingly, our builder discovered that the problem was not the tile but the ceiling. The sheetrock was cut, the framing corrected, and the resulting sliver patched. It now looks perfect!





Elsewhere, sheetrock repairs have been completed and the walls retextured. Later this week we should expect to see a new coat of paint on the walls. Yes, despite assurances from my mom, my aunt, Timothy's sister, and our neighbor Will that summertime is not that bad or not that yellow, we decided to repaint now rather than later.

Plastic Coated

They've finally taken the protective film off the windows, so we can actually see outside from inside. What a concept! We'll have a nice view of our little yard from the living room.



Our countertops were installed today. Too bad the workers covered them up with protective plastic as soon as they finished, before we could take photos.

The sinks in the master bathroom are overmount sinks, with openings cut on site, because we spent entirely too much money on the custom-colored undermount sink in the kitchen.





Later this week, our sunny home will get even brighter...