Falling Behind

I meant to take a picture of the now insulated new room, but when I got home from work, I stopped to chat with a neighbor, then the contractor stopped by to fetch a trailer full of windows salvaged from my Florida room that will be going to Habitat for Humanity, then the drywall-painter guys showed up to measure for drywall, and then my daughter arrived for our not-frequent-enough power walks, and then I ate supper and showered, and then I started washing more stuff that may be recontaminating me with poison ivy, including the dog's collars. So that is why there are no pix of the newly insulated room.

Saturday the siding guys were in the neighborhood, so they stopped by to do their measuring. On the one hand, I am happy to move the whole process along. On the other, it seems like not a day goes by where someone isn't ringing my doorbell.

Sunday, daughter and I hit the local home improvement stores (Home Depot, Lowes, and Menards) in search of paint samples and light fixtures and a ceiling fan. We were somewhat successful. I had replaced my outdoor lights on the garage many years ago (we discussed just how long ago - I think it was longer ago than my daughter thinks), and was thinking it would be nice to match them.



Well, surprise, surprise. They still make them.



Must be a classic style.

Even though we reached a tentative selection of colors for the paint, we really can't be sure until we pick out the flooring. (I say "we" because she is my interior decorator and color consultant. I think I am missing a few rods and cones, plus I have no sense of style, so I need all the help I can get.) And we didn't see a light fixture for the laundry nor a ceiling fan for the new room that we were enamored with.

This morning, for a while, I found myself waiting for someone, anyone to show up and start working on the house. This is the part of this whole renovation that I find the most stressful: trying to make sure someone is here without my burning all my precious vacation time. My SO has been filling in for me, but I hate to have him stuck here all day when he has more interesting things to do. So tonight I suggested to the contractor that it would really help if he could install a lock on the kitchen door. Then workers could have access to the garage, laundry, and new room, and I could come and go without worry. It is not that I don't trust the workers; I just prefer that they not have access to the whole house when I am not here.

Besides the insulators, the county building inspector came to inspect the wiring. We still need inspections of the heating and the framing before the drywalling can begin. Hopefully, that will occur tomorrow. Fingers and toes crossed.