Roof!

They have nearly finished the roof on the new house. As you can see from these photos, we are slowly getting things done. Tonight Ron said that he thinks we'll be finished mid-September or early October. Hannah's birthday is October 2nd, so I really hope we're in by then. She's so excited about having such a bigger bedroom than she's ever had, not to mention having her own bathroom connected to her room. We will go sometime this summer and pick out her bathroom accessories. I've given her freedom to pick out what she wants in her bathroom ... with some veto power by Mom ... but I want her to have what she wants. She has good taste so I'm not too worried. I've already bought Eli's bathroom stuff at Bed, Bath & Beyond (who doesn't love THAT store?). We're going to use a baseball motif ... surprise, right? His bedroom will be decorated for the Atlanta Braves, but his bathroom is more neutral .. you know, baseball in general.

The pictures are kind of dark, I know. We were there tonight around 6:30, and one has to remember that we are surrounded by trees, so there isn't as much light at that time. The photos I took inside are of part of the den and the kitchen. The guy who is building our cabinets sent samples to me today via his wife. His name is Shane and his wife is Heather. She is a student of mine, so I really struck it rich! Anyway, he sent 4 samples. Two with two different colors, and two with those same two colors but with glazen (not sure I spelled that correctly - it's where there is a hint of dark stain around the edges). I had told Shane that I really wanted the cherry wood with the glazen, but if the glazen added thousands of dollars to the price I'd have to do without. Well ... when Heather brought me the samples today she told me that Shane said to tell me that if I really wanted the glazen, he'd do it for a discounted price. Are you ready for this? He said that normally he charges $2000 for the glazen (because I have LOTS of cabinets in the kitchen), but for me he'd do it for cost - $700. Who could say no to that???? Not me!!! Shane and Heather are such a nice couple and I'm thankful that I've not only hired the best cabinet man in the state, but he and his wife are friends of ours. I'll try and lay out the samples and take some pics tomorrow ... maybe they'll look alright to post and I can get some feedback from all of you!

Plumber starts tomorrow ... so we had to go to the house tonight and mark where we wanted the shower heads in the master bath. I've ALWAYS wanted two shower heads in the shower ... so I'm thrilled that my wish has come true. It was fun, actually, picking out the plumbing fixtures. I never thought I'd like that, but I really did. For the kitchen I chose a single faucet where the end of the faucet comes off and becomes the hose. Did I explain that right? Can y'all picture that? Let me simplify that ... instead of having a different spot for the spray hose, it is built into the faucet. If y'all still can't picture it, you're S.O.L. ... I can't explain it any better!

Oh, and more exciting news (at least to me) ... Ron found a website where we can order our kitchen appliances online at contractor's prices. I'm able to buy Thermador appliances instead of the GE Monogram series, so I'm super hyped about it. I may have already posted that news ... I can't remember. Anyway, I'm excited. Also, I found a stainless steel lighted hanging pot rack that matches the appliances to hang over the island in the kitchen. At first Ron said I couldn't have one because they cost $1000, but I made a bet with him that if I could find it for half of that I wanted him to change his mind. Not only did I find it for half the price, I found one for $386! Yeah ... someone had to get out the checkbook and eat crow ... ya gotta pick your battles ... and when you do, you have to make sure your guns are loaded.

Annie-Oakley-ing,

J.