A rather dry delivery

We have been doing math homework tonight, and we're not even in school. We had 10,000 square feet of drywall delivered today, which [shockingly] our calculations tell us equates to 11 tons of weight added to the house.

This tells me (again) the importance of structural engineering, acquiring the proper tools, and teamwork! It now makes sense to me why the stucco guy did not want to add the final coat until after drywall is installed, since the house needs to adjust to the extra weight.

This process can be fascinating if you let it be! (A higher-resolution version is on YouTube.)

In the hands of a professional

Yesterday, I worked at home to do some writing. In the afternoon, I took a break and walked upstairs to say something to Bill. I found him halfway in the ceiling, working to put up drywall where our rather large whole-house fan will be installed (inside the laundry closet). I was (again!) amazed at all that he knows and all that he is doing to build our house. I was also amazed at his hands, covered in drywall dust and asked him to stop briefly so that I could capture that moment. I am always mindful of not slowing down his progress or interrupting great concentration on the math that is needed to get angles right and all that stuff. So, it's not a great photo but it does tell part of our story.

As he works to install this big fan, I know that he has one even bigger fan in me.

Ringing in the fun

Our new video doorbell (from Ring) includes auto capture of motion plus the ability to speak with someone who is near your door, even if they don't ring the bell. Yesterday, Bill was inside working when I left for work, and this is our little bit of silliness. :-D

Feeling secure

For a few years, we have had a construction fence up around our property. This week, we took it down. Just six words in that sentence, but it’s a big, big accomplishment! In a way, we are sorry to see the compound go, but it was time, and the neighbors surely agree. Before we took it down, we installed a video doorbell and security cameras, all with motion detection. This new equipment will help us feel like our special space will remain secure.

On the day that the fence came down, I was able to watch Bill (via the security cameras) work like mad, what he does every day but is not always visible to me or anyone else. Every time I peeked in, he was hammering, lifting, shoveling, and more. I’m so impressed and inspired by him, my amazing, visionary, hard-working boy.

Before

The process

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

Rodgers And Hammerstein famously asked "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" in the Sound of Music. For us, the question was, how do you make good use of a broken TV that shows either ghostly or psychedelic colors? We are using it to view our newly-installed video surveillance system, another step in our remodeling journey. The footage saves to a DVR with proper colors. 

Watch out, naughty people, Admiral Ackbar says, "It's a Von Trapp."

In low light, he looks like either a ghost or an avatar

Bill working his carpentry magic

"The foam truck is here!"

As I pulled up to the house today, all I could think of was the line from the movie, "The Jerk" -- "The foam truck is here! The foam truck is here!" Buh dum bum. I'll be here all week.

This is the last stage of insulation, a mix of rolled fiberglass and expanding foam. Exciting!

Lots of reasons to smile

Anyone who knows us knows that we are always working on something, planning, concocting, scheduling and all that. We like to be involved with fun things but have also been very busy on the house lately, although we have not shared a lot online about it. Here's a photo from today (Can you tell that right before this, I said, "Smile!"?) that shows a bit of the insulation that is underway. The dogs are a bit confused as to why they are not allowed in right now, but since we haven't found little pup-sized masks for the insulation fibers, they stay out for now.

The house is already quieter and cooler, which is great on a 90-degree day. Another reason of many to smile under those masks!