Setting Up

Rita helped Elizabeth set up her study desk yesterday. Rita has housed Elizabeth's study desk all this time in her TV room. She has been very gracious to house many of our items this past year. With everyone taking turns carrying the pieces up the stairs Rita and Elizabeth had it put together in no time. Rita has many talents and assembling furniture is one of them.

We decided to make the second bedroom our home office. Placing all our desks in one room will keep the other bedrooms neat. Elizabeth's desks looks very orgainized while ours is still a work in progress.

Unpacking

After four days of unpacking boxes we are starting to whittle through the overwhelming amount of packing paper. Rita and Elizabeth helped by crushing down the huge paper pile before we hauled it out to the dumpster. This was one of several we have removed. It was amazing the amount of paper the moving company used. Above Rita is resting on the smashed down stack of paper. The following photo is of the nice big empty clean spot in the room after the pile was removed and several boxes emptied.

I took this photo of the last box of kitchen items to be emptied, a mile stone for me. I was so glad to finally reach this box. Elizabeth was a huge help unpacking boxes while I organized drawers and shelves over and over again until I got them just right. Before we moved in Steve had covered all the wood floors in rolls of corrugated paper. We have started to remove the paper little by little in each room, dust and mop the floors then set furniture in place. The room which looks the best is Elizabeth's bedroom, she has it fixed up really nice. She removed the paper off her floor the first day which looks neat and clean.

The office presently looks like a tornado went through this room. Our project for tomorrow is organizing this space.

Days After

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we had many workmen in and out of the house. The fireplace door was installed, the shower door upstairs and the last of the lighting fixtures. We had a problem with the dishwasher. Steve called the plumber who was in the area to help us with the problem and while they were here they were nice enough to hook up the washer and dryer too. These were a couple hectic days with not much unpacking accomplished. The many boxes continued to line the kitchen walk way and a dozen more to unpack sitting in the living room. We have far too much stuff.

We ordered a desk from Haverty's for Paul's study I picked it up Tuesday afternoon. When I arrived back to the house we could not unload it ourselves, it was too heavy! We were told it was in three pieces in the large box and it was not it was completely put together in one large box. We called the furniture company for help, they sent their delivery men to our rescue who were near by. If they had not stopped in to give us a hand the desk would still be on the pickup in the driveway.

We enjoyed our first meal together, sandwiches on fresh baked bread Rita made, deeelicious! We slept real well Tuesday night from sheer exhaustion. A wonderful peaceful sleep in our home.

Moving Day

We had Internet connection on Wednesday, but had no time to get pictures posted until today.

Moving day was exciting for everyone the big delivery truck arrived about noon. The moving men did a good job and did not damage one thing. They had quite a time trying to get the washer up stairs on their dolly. The finally decided to just carry it up the stairs.

While the movers were bringing in our things the builder and painters were busy with final details on the house. Everything inside had been cleaned to perfection and outside the house, the whole area had been graded cleaning away all debris.

Big Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow is our official move in day, Yeehaw! It has been a long ten months from the first day the foundation was poured back in March 2007 until today. Thank you for all your encouragement and support this past year to see us through this building project.

The garage door was installed last Friday and I just remembered to take a picture of it today. The mechanism which operates the door is called an I-Drive. The I-Drive is located above the center of the door, it is the little white box in the photo. Notice there is no chain drive in the ceiling. The mechanism is very quiet and operates smoothly.

We were at the house all afternoon assembling some of the furniture today which was not in storage. Paul and Rita assembled the teak wood porch chairs and ottomans and I started unpacking Elizabeth's new bed she purchased from Pier One last summer. After this Rita came upstairs and helped me put the pieces together. We also had to purchase a couple of mattresses from Sam's Club this week and get them in the house before the movers arrive tomorrow. We need beds ready to lay our tired heads down. It will be a sweet dreaming slumber in our new home tomorrow night.
I will post the blog again as soon as I can catch my breath!

Glass Mirrors and Doors

AAmerican Glass Co. installed the mirrors and shower doors yesterday. Each bathroom is unique and the most difficult to photo due to their size. Above is the master bath and Elizabeth's bath both upstairs, below is the bath off the kitchen.

The painters continue to touch up where needed. They applied the sealing coat on both the front and back porch today. The back porch a dark red-brown stain like the color of coca-cola and the front looks more like the color of the outside rock.

Baluster and Stain

Steve completed the Baluster yesterday on the stairs and in the upstairs hallway. They really complete the style of the house. The white paint and stained wood balusters was just the right balance of both.

The house was busy again today with painters, they were trying to complete the final touches inside, and stain the cement porches outside. Yesterday we chose the samples of stain from a test strip Steve prepared. We chose a darker stain for the back porch and a lighter stain for the front porch. The front porch stain had not dried before we left this afternoon. The back porch had dried, but not enough to apply the sealing coat. I will have to post the completed pictures of the porches tomorrow.

The mirrors and glass are scheduled to be installed tomorrow. Not much more now!

Clean Windows

Steve has been working late nights and weekends to meet our move in date. He has been busy cleaning everything especially windows, they sparkle with all the plastic film removed. Looking through those beautifully cleaned windows we can see the clean-up outside we have yet to tackle.

Since my last post on the blog the painters have completed painting all the windows and stained the redwood on the screened porch. The redwood looks very warm and inviting after the finish was applied.

The electrician comes and goes when in our area installing light fixtures. He installed the ceiling fans on the balcony porch after the last piece of railing was installed.

The doors arrived for the wood burning stove and the installer came out to set them in place last Friday they looked nice, but were the wrong color. The new ones should be here next week. We ordered doors with a gold finish not a black finish.

Night Lights

Too dark for pictures. We went over to the house at 7 o'clock tonight, turned on all the lights inside and out. Wow, was it pretty. The house looked like a party was going on inside.

Paul, Elizabeth and I decided to drive up the highway about a mile then we turned around and drove back down the highway to see if we could see the lights in the house from the highway, and yes, we could see the lights. We could see the lights on the second story balcony, but not the first story. From the highway, lit at night, it looks like a one story house through the trees.

Paul you had a super good idea. That was fun.

Reaching the Corners

The painters have their own unique way of doing things which most of the time scares me. They used this long red ladder with one man as an anchor at the bottom to paint the roof trim. Yikes! Where's their scaffolding?

The painters worked on all the outside trim and soffits then they started brushing the paint on the front porch columns. I like the paint a whole bunch but I will have to get used to the columns with paint on them after seeing them in their natural state for so long.

Surprise-Railing

We were surprised by Billy Tunget and his son Doug this afternoon with the balcony railing. We were told they would install the railing on Friday. I like these kind of surprises.

Steve was busy laying the rolls of corrugated paper on the stairs today. With so many workmen going in and out he is doing all he can to protect the surface from scratches. I have learned tennis shoes pick up little rocks which can scratch the surface. The best shoes are those with a solid sole. Good excuse for me to buy a new pair of shoes!

Move In Date: Jan 21

Appliances

The couple of appliances we purchased for the kitchen arrived and were installed by Superior Service in San Angelo. Curtis at Superior was very helpful with all our needs, it has been wonderful experience working with everyone from their company.

We chose Kitchen Aid products for our dishwasher and stove. The stove is a dual fuel model, gas burners and electric oven. It also has convection oven features. We will use our present refrigerator which is in storage. Rita provided the new freezer a much needed item in our new home. Thank you again for the huge gift.

Let There Be Light

The lights are on in the McWhorter house, won't you come in? The men from AEP installed the electric meter yesterday. It was so exciting last night to flip the light switch in the kitchen and have the fixtures come to life. Steve has also installed the hardware on the doors, he can now lock the house at night when he leaves.

The painters were on the job when we arrived caulking the columns. They will be back to paint them as soon as the windy weather dies down.