The Week from Hell!

Yeah it was supposed to be a "vacation" but we have done nothing but work our asses off! This house is huge! And we have been doing all the wiring/electrical work ourselves! I can tell you this, I wouldn't want to be an electritian! As a matter of fact I want to resign as being one right now! Who knew how all this shit went together? All I really knew was you go to a plug or a swtich and use it, power came out, end of story! Little did I know all the wire that needs running to each other and to the main box and did you see the size of this house? There are about a million plugs, switches, lighting fixtures, speakers that all need wiring to and from it! And then they need to be stapled to the wood, just exactly so! It's a huge pain in the ass, but I see why electricians make so much money! Here is a sample of my handy work in our new kitchen!

That's my new desk area! The outside plywood is almost done being put up and you can really see the size of each room as well as the front of the house! It's just incredible! The house is going to be fantastic when it's done! My mom came over for the first time since we started on Christmas day. She was completely knocked out! Last time she saw our house, we were living in it like "normal" people!

I will say today is an excellent day! It's Saturday, it's raining (ok that's not so fabulous, but we are covered up!) and the guys are out there working and the plumbers are here working! It's a great sight, as well as there are too many people in the house so there is no room for us to work upstairs (shed a huge tear). Good thing there's NFL on today.......

HD/S/L/WC: 130

A Charlie Brown Christmas at the Shimizu's

Stairway to Heaven

It is finally here! The staircase. I can't tell you what a pleasure it is not to have to climb up that f-ing ladder to get to the 2nd floor, but I will, it's FANTASTIC!

We spent the last two days getting quotes for our new kitchen cabinets. There are so many questions and options it can be overwhelming. First we went to Home Depot (of course!) and after 3 excrutiating hours we came away with an ok design. Next we went to a real Kitchen Design store. One guy redesigned our kitchen, twice (because we changed our minds on the cabinet maker half way thru) in 1 and an half hours! Two designs in less than half the time! But most important thing is that we are both really happy with the design, so far!

HD/L/S/WC: 115

Sorry!

I have been hearing complaints about the blog not being updated fast enough (Chip)! AAAH! It's been crazy with building this house and working. They are so busy, the entire second floor is almost done being framed. I'm hoping for some stairs by Christmas so I can stop climbing up the ladder! I also would like to be able to show my parents the top floor when they come by at Christmas. They have not seen the house at all since we started so they are in for a shock! Jack is standing in my new closet!

Jack and I have also been very busy wiring the house. And yes Brian, I am actually doing some work and here are the photos to prove it! This past weekend we installed all of the lights for the entire downstairs! I had to wire every light, it was exhausting! We also wired for all of the speakers for downstairs also! Two big jobs, but we knocked them out!

Here is the view from the backyard

HD/S/L/WC:105 Aaah, broke the 100 mark!

Finally! Wood headed in the skyward direction!

I think these say it all!