MORE MAGIC

Quick trip to the house this evening, mainly to read the electric meter because OMG we just got a bill... these have generally been in the ballpark of $50-60... and this one is SIX HUNDRED THIRTY-ONE DOLLARS. And 36 cents. Excusemewhat??? I know the guys have been running drills and saws and whatnot, and a couple small space heaters - which I know are total energy hogs - but this still seems completely out of whack. Want to know what seems even MORE out of whack? That number is based on a KWH usage of 4381 for a two-month period from Sept 22 to Nov 21. It is now Dec 6, and the meter says we have used another 3000 KWH. Since Nov 21, a.k.a. two weeks ago. Ahem. Needless to say, I have spent some quality time on the phone with DTE, and I am supposed to call back in a couple days (when their next reading will be reported) and get someone to come out and do a meter check. Because I'm pretty sure our meter is possessed by demons. Extremely dizzy ones.

Anyway, enough ranting about that - check out the beautiful trim around our kitchen cabinets!

So so pretty. We also have a handrail!

And yes I ran my hand the whole way up it while I went upstairs, despite the dust. The rest of the handrails should go in after the flooring is finished, which will hopefully be later this week! Between Brandon and the flooring guys, all of the floor holes appear to be filled with epoxy and/or pieces of wood (for the larger notches). Hooray for a hole-less floor. Next up will be sanding, because what this house needs most is MORE SAWDUST!

But, you ask, none of this is MAGIC like you promised us in the blog post title. Where is the magic?! Well just you wait, my friends...

BAM! Do you see the magic??? No? How about now:

Why hello, glorious H20. You are sure going to be helpful when I need to wash my hands or my clothes or my dishes. But I might still pee behind the boat house every so often. You know, for old time's sake.

Love and jellyfish

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! How many of you rushed home from spending time with your family and spent several hours caulking and priming trim? No? Just us?

I was very excited to get back to the house today, because we left on our whirlwind Thanksgiving trip straight from work on Tuesday evening, so we hadn't seen the progress from Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday. And it was pretty dramatic! In fact, when we walked in I may have squeaked at a pitch audible only to dogs.

The jellyfish!!! is on the ceiling!!! Photos can't even capture how sparkly and magical it is. I'm pretty sure it's not really made out of capiz shells, it's actually rainbows and fairy dust and unicorn poop.

I love it. I love it. I want to marry it. I also owe Steven big time on this one, because apparently after I saw this and fell completely in love, West Elm stopped carrying it! Steven, being a house genius AND a jellyfish/unicorn-poop hero, called all over the country to find one and eventually tracked down a floor model. Three cheers are not even close to enough cheers for Steven. Have I mentioned I love this chandelier?

OK, there are also some other light fixtures in the house, and I tried to be nice to them too so they wouldn't feel left out. I think I did a good job ooh-ing and aah-ing over the pendant lights in the kitchen...

...but I am pretty sure the light in the guest bedroom might be getting an inferiority complex. Sorry, buddy.

The ceiling fan in our master bedroom might also be feeling a little bummed out. But let's be honest, ceiling fans aren't really all that cool looking. This one is better than most, though.

There are several wall sconces up around the stairwell and upstairs landing. To be honest, I'd totally forgotten what these were going to look like - good thing I like them. They are simple and don't call a lot of attention to themselves.

This is the cute bathroom light we picked out. This one is in the guest bathroom, but we got the same one in a four-light version for our master bathroom.

Speaking of the bathrooms, there was also some progress on the plumbing fixtures. In the downstairs bathroom, we have a pedestal sink currently in two pieces, but you can get the idea...

...and a toilet that isn't quite connected to anything, but at least is no longer in a box in the garage!

The bath faucet, handle, and shower head have also been installed downstairs:

Upstairs, the tile installer finished the grout around the beautiful glass subway tiles, and the shower handle has been installed.

The sinks have also arrived for the master vanity. They are vessel sinks that will sit up on top of the refinished dresser (just how it looks in the picture below). Apparently the plumbers will take care of actually attaching the sinks and hooking up all the plumbing, which means the only thing I have left to do on this project is shortening the drawers to accommodate the plumbing. I am waiting until they get everything installed so I can take measurements and go have some fun with a jigsaw!

While you were sleeping

I know, logically, that we are going to be paying dolla dolla bills to the bank over the next 30 years or so for this amazing project. But sometimes - like right now for example, when I've just gotten back from 10 days hanging out on the east coast - the progress seems like complete magic. Wizards and genies and fairy dust, seriously. Somebody pinch me, this thing is starting to look like a house!!

I reported already (thanks to the photo update from Steven) that the crew had started on the siding while we were gone. There's also been a lot of progress on the "house guts" - plumbing, electrical and HVAC. We had another meeting this morning with Steven and the head electrician, mainly focused on figuring out our AV needs. We don't have a TV, so actually all of our TV-like entertainment (Netflix, MLB.tv) is streamed through a computer to a projector. This has presented some complications in figuring out the wiring, where speakers should go, and such. However, it seems like we came up with some good solutions today. One of the most exciting things about this house is how intentional everything is. Our current and previous places have always had miscellaneous inconveniences - useless spaces, lack of storage, outlets hidden behind furniture (or no outlets a'tall). None of these things are a huge deal, and you learn to live with them. What's so amazing about this project (especially to a Type-A freak like yours truly) is that everything we own is going to have a place, and the way we live has directed every decision along the way. I seriously feel like the most fortunate human in the world to have this opportunity.

But enough of the rambling - here are some pictures! This is the current state of the exterior:

 

Don't worry, the battens will eventually be painted red as well. Faux zebra stripes is not a look we're going for.

There were some major changes in the basement, where as I'm sure you recall, the spiral staircase of doom used to spring from the fiery bowels of the earth. It is now an ancient (but fear-inspiring) memory, and instead we have some framing for the new mechanical room (where the HVAC, hot water heater, etc. will reside).

Also of note in the basement, they busted a door through the concrete block wall to join the basement with the new entryway (in this sentence I imagine "they" to be a crew including Superman, Captain America, and Hulk Hogan). You're welcome for the additional perk of Brandon's sexy laygs in this photo.

The new entryway (and the lack of the giant hole in the middle of the floor) really makes the first floor seem huge and spacious.

Here are a couple more shots of the house guts...

Pipes and ducts and wires, oh my!

Elmo approves.

The electrical work is all supposed to be done in the next few days, because insulation is happening at the end of this week, and drywall next week! I believe the drywall is actually slated to start on Tuesday, which is our third wedding anniversary. According to Wikipedia (reliable source of all important information), the traditional gift for the third anniversary is leather. I'm disappointed, I was really hoping it would be gypsum plaster.

To end on a note of "things that never would have occurred to me as river-based recreation," Steven came over yesterday with a remote-controlled model sailboat that he built. The wind was a little shifty (can we blame Irene out here in Michigan?), but the boys still had a good time launching and sailing the little boat.

Unfortunately there was a small malfunction - either the batteries weren't quite charged, or the boat hit the Bermuda Triangle of the Huron River, you decide - and a rescue boat had to be launched.

(No ships were lost at sea in the making of this post.)

Plumb the depths

People really take running water for granted - at least I know I have. Turn on the faucet, and there it is! Flush the toilet, and there it goes! Amazing and magical. Today we got the first glimpse at how all that magic will happen at Turtle House. The first sign that something bathroom-related was going on was this sight:

We are assuming that isn't the final placement of the bathtub - I am pretty sure it wasn't like that in the plans.

Once inside, we spotted some new pipes on both floors. On the main floor, there was some copper pipe in the vicinity of the new bathroom, along with what I assume is a future drain (partially blocked by a 2x4 in this pic):

Upstairs there is a bunch of new PVC in between the future laundry nook and bathroom, along with some other drains you can see in the background of this picture. The one on the left is where the shower will be, and the one on the right will be for the toilet.

There is also another hole in the roof - as if we didn't already have enough of those! - probably for venting the dryer?

(Aside: I don't know if I've properly described how thrilled I am to have the laundry machines upstairs, vs. scary dungeon-basement. Yeah!!)

There was also some progress outside the house. The crew started work on the new faux roofline that will eventually make the house look symmetrical from the east side. It still looks asymmetrical to me, but I think that's because it is missing a piece of trim (so it's not the same width as the south fascia), and you can still see the outline of those darn crazy asymmetrical windows. I will be happy to say goodbye to those!

There is also one of the big garage roof trusses now propped up on top of the garage, so I am hoping those will go up tomorrow (it looks a little precarious at the moment!).

Last we heard, tomorrow was supposed to be Roof Insulation Day, followed by Roof Shingle Day on Wednesday - so I should have some good progress to report this week!