Dream Home?

So, last month I was selling an extra gas stove from the competed cabana remodel.  I got several emails from eager stove-buyers whom I replied back with times they could come visit... but no one followed-up and no one showed up.  (uuugh! what's with these poeple?!?)  Then I realized that my email account I use for craigslist and other junkmail type of things was not sending any emails from my phone. (weird because it would still download new emails...) but whatever.  I was determined to get RID of the extra stove in the way.  Upon my email-revelation, I sat down at a computer, logged in and randomly choose a recent inquiry email and replied (this time, actually SENDING the response)

The fellow sent his phone number fairly quickly and I called him up.  He seemed confused and not sure of the size stove he needed - which made me uneasy so I was about to hang up thinking it was a scam.  Just then, he told me it was actually for his son and he was helping him out and expalined why he was confused...

So later than day he and is 38-year-old son show up and they were both friendly and such but quickly realized it was the wrong size stove.  The son gave his dad a 'thanks a lot' kind of glance and they started apologizing and heading towards the door.  Right before stepping out of the cabana, the dad said, "well... you're not interested in buying a house on your street, are you?" This time the glance from the son was even less friendly than the first time.

CUT TO: a week prior
Mr. Price, shorty and I were on a walk and as we passed this sweet little house with a front porch swing and green shutters I interrupted conversation to say, "If THAT house ever went on the market, I'd sell ours in a heartbeat!"

Right.

CUT BACK TO: cabana and son giving dad "shut the #@!&-up" look
Me: um, which house?
Guy: oh, it's the white house...
Me: (interrupting) ...with Green shutters?
Guy: Yes!
Son: (eye brows lifting and head tilting back)
Me: Where is Sudie? (*Sudie is the sweet old lady who has lived there and always loves seeing Shorty and even Madeleine, back in the day)
Guy: She's doing fine, but the family decided it was time for her to move into Westminster.
Me: Hmm.  When is it going on the market?
Guy: oh, the family is still cleaning it up a bit.  want to go have a look?

Here's where it gets REALLY crazy -- besides for the fact that the listing agent for the house I had only 6 days prior proclaimed I'd "move in a heartbeat" for is standing in my cabana telling me about his pocket listing.  We go take a look and... it is the EXACT same floor plan that our house was when we bought it... except for (1)front porch swing (2)no pool! and (3) long driveway in which a small blonde person I know could ride a bike and make sidewalk chalk drawings.  AND I could redo all the renovations we did on this house but.. with a whole new set of mistakes because I would do it differently!!

So it began: getting the house ready to sell. cleaned out closets, had a handy man come fix a few things we'd been meaning to have done, had a garage sale, organized and cleaned up... and Green Shutters went under contract.

(this is the sound of my heart breaking)

But here we are.  We've come this far.  I've been mentally moving out of my house for several weeks now.  And if not now, when?  So here we are.  Sign in the yard as of yesterday.  Over a dozen agents came through this morning and 3 showings this afternoon.  The good news: we don't have to go anywhere/sell/ move.  The house looks great and this forced us to finally do a bunch of the things we've been meaning to do for a while. But if it happens to sell quickly... well, here's to the next adventure(!) and who knows where will be home!  Maybe we'll even break-rank with the fam and move to (gasp!) ...Tarrytown.  All of 0.5 mile away.  Or maybe the contract on Green Shutters will fall through and the thing that set all of this in motion will come to fruition.  Who knows.  But for now, there is a sign in my yard and it is a bit surreal


Some of my favorite parts:

Outside

Cabana

 Master bath

Kitchen

Nursery-style detox

So I'm detoxing the house.

No, not 'nursery' as in baby's room, but as in 'place where there is an overage of plants' and that is now a potentially accurate description of my house.  But seriously, have you read any of this stuff about the chemicals and toxins in the air and how certain plants can remove them?  You are well aware that i'm a big fan of the magical chelating powers of cilantro -so it shouldn't be a surprise that I have a similar fervor now I have essentially found a cilantro for the house and the air we breathe.  Ahhh...

From another perspective, it might seem that I went a bit overboard on buying plants for the house... but whoever has that view probably has been inhaling too much benzene, formaldehyde or trichloroethylene... (or worse!) ewww.  I will readily admit that the 6 large plants and 3 massive hanging baskets (not to mention an assortment of smaller window sill type plants) drew some attention as I loaded up my car.

One last little heel clicking tidbit: NASA research (more here)which studied air quality as maintained in closed environments (such as space stations or - my home) shows that 87% of air toxins can be removed by plants within 24 hours.  Impressive. 

These little plants are earning their keep.  And I love hard workers.  I'll do my best to make them comfy, too.

Come on Yourine

So did I mention that I agreed to installing a urinal in the cabana bathroom? Well, I did. At first suggestion by Mr. Price I thought it was absurd, my dad overheard and chimed in that Ms. Bullock put one in her home as I simulatneously envisioned sitting down on a potty after a bunch of tipsy dads and dripping-from-the-pool little boys had visited the cabana bath... and thought: "I could be on board with that."

An d that's how we got here. A urinal in the guest bathroom. The workers refer to it as the "urine" (sounds like Eileen) which is how we are now referencing the fixture. Mr. Price is super excited about it.. -go figure- and honestly, although it isn't visually my favorite, I'm am still totally cool with a little separate facilities for stand vs. sit crowds.

Although last Wednesday was the *supposed* finish day for the project, I never put much stock in the fact that it would truly be complete that day, anyway. Good thing, buecause though the new siding is 80% complete, it is not painted, neither is the interior walls, ceiling nor floor, the bathroom is not yet tiled (taped and bedded the sheetcrete today), the exterior drainage ditch dug but not complete and only the exterior shower and -ahem- 'yourine' are running.

But the windows-- ah, the windows, are installed and they are game changers. but this post is about the yourine. and a picture is pending, friends.

taking bets on the *actual* finish date...

The Cabana Plan

We finally dived into the cabana *revitalization* we'll call it- and Angie's right - more info. It's like i'm catching up with myself..

here we go:
-all walls/surfaces to be painted/repaired (incluing, yes, the cedar paneled room)
-concrete floors to be smoothed and covered in epoxy
-doors/windows installed: french doors where the windows are, adding a window to the east wall, adding a door directly from pool deck to bathroom
-exterior siding removed and replaced with siding to match the main house (same for the casita storage house) and painted to match the house
-one of the gas ovens will be removed and the new one moved
-some random shelves removed
-drainage issues fixed. re-graded soil to slope away from the foundation; french drains installed
-the bathroom. oh, the bathroom. it was a complete disaster. as the siding and flooring was removed, we found that there had been a slow water leak that rotted the wood... so... the whole thing was ripped out and a brand new foundation and framing was built. in the new bathroom - same layout as the old but with the addition of: a nice tiled/slate shower instead of the previous fiberglass pre-fabricated pan, a urinal (yep. clean potty seat for me, pool-side novelty for the fellas), toilet, pedistal sink, slate floors and a new energy saving water heater. and since we don't have a massive 1970's water heater taking up a 2'x2' space, that will be storage/shelves.
-and last but certainly not least: the exterior shower. whoo-hoo!
-since the cabana has been Tyler's home for the past 4 years, we are installing a cat door with a magnetic opener so only he can get in and out. it will lead to the front closet which will be officially "his room" to either destroy or cozy up in - as he deems necessary.

i think that covers it all.

the space will have to be mulit-functional, of course.
the front room will be mainly a kiddo playroom - filled withall the divine trappings of toddlerhood and some comfy seating for mom - plenty of space for a playdate. and ideally --well, relatively-- indestructable.
the back room will have a set-up for my home-office and a bed for guests. (yes, Ang, you and your crew and any other brave souls who would like to come visit) and the kitchen is in the back room, too. so the 'home-office' might ultimately get set up in the front room... it just goes against my plans for a relatively indestructable room. we'll see.


and finally - this never happens: they are ahead of schedule. stay tuned.

Cabana Before Video

Monday morning as work started

Cabana: Day 2

End of day 1:

3p on Day 2:

the inside is primed and in the front room, the popcorn ceiling has been scraped off and retextured. the room looks much brighter and larger with the white walls already.

the ratty old shingle siding has started to be removed and getting ready for new siding. whoo hoo!

The new water heater has been purchased and we're going with an inline (tankless) which I think will be ideal since it is not going to be in use all the time. So yay for being 'green.' only drawback to tankless water heaters is that it takes longer for the hot water to flow so if you're just washing your hands real quick, it may remain cold. but the Earth thanks you.

Cabana in progress!

They *finally* showed up(!) and started work this morning.

They're moving quick so far

The Enemy of Perfection

So this evening as I ate my dinner, talked about work and fed the baby with the (seemingly attention-starved) cat sitting in my lap, it hit me: I haven't blogged in awhile. Was it the business trip that took a week of prep to match my week on the road? The photo sessions and related post-production endless task list? Maybe it was because of the newly-crawling, teething kiddo and adjustment to the time change and all that entails? Could it be the trips to the vet and the kitty-girl overcoming her illness that just about sent her to kitty girl heaven? Maybe it's the house redecorating? It surely wasn't the distraction of UT football. For all the times I get super busy, I still find time to blog. Why haven't I? I have tons of stories, updates and vignettes in my head, just bouncing around and itching to get out... so why?

My cousin recently emailed and asked us to compile photos and stories for my Grandmother's upcoming 90th birthday (yet another undone-to-do) and something she included at the end of the request was compelling. Maybe I should think on it a bit more until it REALLY sinks in... but on to it: "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good enough" In an effort to make things just right, don't put so much effort into it that you don't finish it and move on to the next thing.

You laugh. Think this was directed at me? Case in point?

So yes, I have managed to skip over some blog-worthy happenings which about drives me bonkers. It's one thing with things are just crusin' along, nothing to report, and I'm feeling the creative impulse to scribble. But uggh, to have content yet haven't captured it is like an itch I can't scratch. Did I mention I *actually* worked out? YES! THREE, count 'em THREE trips to Vinyasa Yoga (that's three 90 minute sessions of power yoga in a heated room). I mean, that's SOMETHING.

With all these things scrolling through my cabeza, I kept thinking I'd back-blog them. But alas, I give up. Maybe I'll have a very slow next couple weeks and have the chance to do just that. Ah, note to self: next week is Thanksgiving. Is it possible? (Time to bust out the Charlie Brown!)

And so in summary, I offer the following... Here 'tis:
-work trip damn near did me in... but I made lemonade: flew the boys to meet me in San Fran and we enjoyed spectacular weather. Even the locals were in awe.
-for now, I've managed to stave off the 2 week trip to Brazil. Seriously? Brazil. Don't get me started on the irony. and related eye-rolling frustration.
-The kitty girl is in full recovery. However, she has a new problem... for years she was a bit, shall we say, overly fluffy? (read: morbidly obese and on diet food for years, to no avail). She has dropped from ~20 lbs to a frail 5 1/2 lbs and as we have been working to pack the pounds back on, she has made progress. Along with it, she's become less irritable. whew. few things as mood altering as a cranky kitty. ESPECIALLY an hour after the baby has gone to sleep.
-yoga. see above. Mmmmmm. yay.
-the house make-over has been delightful. makes me wonder why i didn't do this early.
-we had our first over-night away from the bebe. Mr. Price and I got away for about 36 hours for a lovely stay at Barton Creek Resort while the shorty's delighted Nana got the pleasure of snuggling and playing with the little charmer. And a good time was had by all.

that's all I've got for now, team. Diving back into photoshop for the balance of the evening for a photo shoot of a babino with several large souvenirs of recent fun-gone-awry (aka scratches, bruises and bumps) that we'd prefer not preserve. good times.

over & out.

The Very Hungry Caterpillars...

We have a meyer lemon and key lime tree in the backyard which Mr. Price has done a fine job at cultivating. About a year and a half ago, they were ready to be tossed out but now are thriving.

A couple weeks ago he noticed a dozen caterpillars suddenly appeared on the lemon tree, all about 3/4 an inch long and ~3cm wide. Then, not even 4 days later, those little caterpillars were now larger than my pinky finger.

So the Very Hungry Caterpillars have taken up residence on our lemon tree. In less than a week they have grown 4x and taken out quite a few leaves. We were shocked to see how quickly it has progressed. Tried to get a video of one of them chowing on a leaf but he was done by the time I got the camera and got outside. Pretty sure they are about to spin their cocoons. We considered plucking them all off, but figured at this point- may as well let them do their thing.

Of course we thought of the TriPrices and their insect interest and knowledge of crystalises and such. So I took pictures of the crazy little things and decided to document their progress.

and then....we apparently became obsessed. well, Mr. Price was, and now I'm along for the ride. We looked it up and check it out:

Giant Swallowtail Caterpillars and their later Butterfly form

after worrying we might have some massive moth colony in our backyard... looks like we are in for some 4 - 5.5 inch butterflies, 10-12 days after crysalis! guessing there are about a dozen back there. our lemon tree might be doomed, but it might be worth it for the 4 lemons it might have produced this year.

Fire Drill

Have I ever mentioned that my house caught on fire? Yep. Christmas morning in the wee hours. I was 8 and I remember it vividly. We rebuilt the house and moved back in several months later. Suffice to say, I guess I know what it is like to escape your burning home in the middle of the night.

Cut to today. Grown up. House of my own. Infant child in my care; under my roof. A shrill smoke alarm is unsettling to anyone at any hour, I think. Especially when it goes off multiple times and no source/ explaination can be found.

And it wakes your baby

Who sleeps downstairs from you

And it's the middle of the night

And you've checked all the closets

And you've felt the walls for hotspots

And found the nearest firestation

And your baby is going back to sleep

But you doubt you will any time soon



What would you grab? What is your plan? You've got 30 seconds...

Back in Business

Pappy saves the day!

My dad was here in under 2 min at flat last night and collectively
they decided to wait until morning after checking everything out. I
wasn't too keen on an afterhours service man showing up at some
unpredictable time in the middle of the night anyway

Well he was back this morning and spent some time checking it out
again and working around me & shorty's eating/pumping schedule-- he
fixed it! Yay! Heater backoin downstairs and the other half of the
lights in the house are working again. Yay yay yay

Sent from my iPhone

Just to make things more interesting...

The electricity just went out in half the house, including the downstairs furnace and lights in Jackson's room. It's suppose to freeze tonight in Austin.

Just as we were about to hit a stride (due greatly in part to all of sweet Anna Herd who, like some sort of angel stopped in today to give us peace of mind and even more time in each feeding cycle, not to mention saving mr price from some errands).
Now here we are behind the curve and instead of the 2 hour nap I was about to take and prep work he was going to do to smooth out the night, I've been scrambling to sort things out and set up temp space to get us through the next few hours.... now just anxiously typing single-handed on the phone and waiting for the hour.

Sent from my iPhone

Pictures of the upstairs

Wow. So I took the pictures (back in September). Eventually downloaded them to my system. And it took MimiB telling me last week that I had never posted them.

The renovation!

These were taken the week before I went up to the Hamptons which means: no glass walls on the shower installed and no matress (or furniture) yet.

Here, friends, is the fruits of our labor:












It's just so dang easy to email/post pics from my phone, the upload approach is not exactly top of mind.

Movin' on Up!

Where the hell have I been lately? Exactly. Oh, I mean, it rhymes with that.. er, um, I mean... I've been at work.
Lots and lots of work. and then working hard to try to relax a teeny bit for all the anxiety work is producing... but that's a bore. turning to much funner topics:

last weekend we **finally** moved furniture upstairs. YAY!! Mr. Price's 'twin' cousin came over --thanks, Eric!!-- and they moved the things he couldn't move on his own. There is now a lovely sitting area, a rug, a desk, lamps, bedside tables... it's all there. That's right, folks! In the words of Pinocchio, it's a "real boy" (or in this case, a real room). Woohoo!

Also, the rest of my closet was moved upstairs and although I now cannot wear 99% of my clothes, they are in one place where i can actually see them (ironic, eh? just in time to remind me of all the clothes that were shoved into a tiny closet space for so long...) On top of that, I did some serious maternity clothes shopping so it is actually a pleasure to get dressed in the morning - as I had started to seriously dread it.

Can't believe it took so long to crank out this post (can you imagine sitting on such an exciting update all week long??). But then again, I can. I am now severely behind on all things personal and until the quarter is over and holiday campaign planning is put to bed, I guess it may stay that way. But there's a light at the end of the tunnel... of this I'm reminded each day when I step upstairs and it is really, finally done.
Done done done.


(this is my happy face)

Repossession!

...that's right. We have re-possessed our home from the clenches of the City of Austin and their ability to tell us what we can and can't do in, on and with our house. Yep! Today, friends, we PASSED FINAL INSPECTION!!

Not without some quick thinking, acrobatics, diplomacy and ingenuity. Who knew so much was required of a building, mechanical and plumbing inspection? But when the City mandates some random code in which the lone person they send to your home is the police, judge and jury on what you can do...well, you end up with lawlessness.

Best summarized by the fact that after several protests and complaints (all of which were meet), he finally determined he couldn't pass us because... duh duh duh: the end of the EXTRA stair railing we had to install during the last renovation didn't connect to the wall at the bottom of the stairs. Funny, it was perfectly okay last time. And the time before that, and that.

Determined to pass today, Mr. Price persisted and the inspector made him drill a hole into the end of the otherwise lovely railing and make it touch the wall. Somehow, I don't think I can quite capture this with words. Here ya go:

Yep. that's right. THIS passes code. Really? because I am QUITE sure that is was much safer before.

But nonetheless, once he witnessed the uglifying of the railing (and creation of a new hazard) - he passed us.

Done. Done and Done.

Mayberry?

I started this post awhile back and never finished it. On a walk tonight in the dark, already, at 6:30. Not all of the few street lights in the 'hood are working at this time yet (strangely, because one would THINK that light sensors are a better approach than timers, but whatever... after all, it is the City of Austin we're talking about here) - but I saw shadow of a guy on a walk carrying a grocery bag on the other side of the street. Probably the 10th person or so we'd seen on our short stroll, but then he came into view of the one streetlight working for a couple blocks- and it was my Dad! YAY! Good fun. He invited us over for dinner but we were already prepped for scallops and green beans. Anyway... the point is that the encounter reminded me I had this unfinished post. So, here it is:

Original Post date and time 10/14/09 9:13PM

Came home tonight and before pulling in my driveway, saw my neighbor Will walking Emma (their yellow lab) and stopped to chat for a minute. Caught up on each other's plans for the weekend and other small talk.

Got in the house and Mr. Price was already home and wanted to go on a walk! So we suited up and headed out in a matter of minutes. Got to the front yard and saw our neighbor John walking his pup. John worked with the Mister back in the day at the firm and we love seeing his post-firm happiness and free time. We all revel in it =) He's quite excited for our pending shorty and had a bunch of questions about how I'm feeling and how the little guy is doing. Of course wanted to be reminded of his approx due date. Lovely conversation and they were off to continue their walk.

Took a lovely tour around the neighborhood - passing the TriPrices house and waving and chit-chatting with other folks. Everyone seemed so cheery and relaxed.

A couple blocks from home and hear a bike coming up behind us. Then we hear in a familiar voice "I thought that was you two! You're walk is a bit different than usual..." It was my Dad! He was riding his bike to the store and detoured a block when he saw us =) So he rode in circles around us until we made it to the driveway. He was going to come in and see the new sonogram pictures, but by the time we made it to the house, we'd all forgotten and he peddled on down our street to the store.

Oh, but we're not done yet.. the along comes another neighbor ending his run and stops for a minute to talk home renovation progress (they, too, are doing some work on their house).

Seriously, are we in Mayberry or what? It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Ying to the Yang

On the bright side (!) and after the last Debbie-Downer, dose-of-reality posting:

-In the midst of starting to realize all the things i'll need to get my arse in gear to prepare for Shorty's arrival - some INCREDIBLE friends are starting to plan baby showers! The busier our lives get (and the more we've all been on the other side of coordinating and prioritizing to host a party for friend)... the more I appreciate the offer and the effort. I really goes make me feel loved. --sorry it that sounds cheesy. but it's true, so deal.

-I scored two backstage and two VIP tickets to ACL! Sweet action. we went with the cousins (sans their trio of shorties) and had an excellent time! They already had Saturday tickets and we had already talked about going together if we got Sat tickets... but it was SOOOO much fun to get to 'upgrade' them =) Shorty loved DMB and I was proud to have made it there and back (in spite of the rain and mud) - i consider that exercise and maybe this will start a new trend for me!

-As of this past week, you can feel Shorty kick from the outside!! It's Mr. Price's new favorite past time. And it is SO hard to not keep my hand on my belly non-stop so that I can catch that little elbow, kick or head bump whenever he decides to flip around and wiggle - which is pretty often as it turns out.

-We got a TON accomplished on the house yesterday (my closet is full of drawers and hanging bars, now) and we even have access to all our attic storage now. Furthermore: I put some real thought/consideration into what the nursery may look like (after receiving many detailed questions about what I wanted...) so am starting to not feel quite so overwhelmed. yay.


-oh - and the new pool pump has been installed and is working like a champ! the pool water swirls around like i ain't never seen. and with another few more gallons of chemicals and hours of Mr. Price's precious time - the pool should be good as new.

When it rains....

The past couple weeks have been the definition of 'murphy's law': if i can happen, it will. and apparently, it will all happen at once.

Besides everyone at work going COMPLETELY INSANE... (i cannot recall a time where things were so stressful that i literally woke up in the middle of the night stressed-- almost panicked-- from things at work)

And without getting into the weeds, I offer a sampling of what has been has transpired at our house:

-the tree that fell on my car has turned into the body shop and the insurance company fighting it out. if you'll recall, it rained a TON the weekend the tree fell... resulting in water and electrical damage on top of the body work needed. it's been a month, i still don't have my car back and won't for another week at best. really tired of the truck, but just glad that Mr. Price is dealing with the many phone calls back and forth, appointments to meet the adjusters, etc.

-the cat got sick. arm swollen like the Michelin man. i will spare the nasty details. i can't really help out given the whole prego thing - so again, Mr. Price having to step in and take care of things. including the miserable trips to the vet.

-the pool converter (?) broke - meaning the pool pump cannot run. with all the rain, kinda need that pump running! the first pool repair guy took a piece of the converter (to get a replacement part) then goes AWOL - doesn't show up when he said he would and doesn't answer nor return calls. find new pool repair guy and learn that pump is shot - need new pool pump AND converter. he vanishes for over a week. pool turns green and is full of leaves. again, Mr. Price busy finding, calling and scheduling pool people. anyone - help. please. we'll pay you, just fix what you said you were going to. show up when you said you would.

-the marble under the tub cracked. cracked big time. Mr. price calls the tile people - who explicitly told us that wouldn't happen because they would lay the tile 'right' and guaranteed it. for two years! (it's been two weeks?) they no-show the first appointment (which he hustled from across town to meet them at). they eventually reschedule and bonus: the guy shows up this time(!) and they offer to fix. no problem, we'll just have to get a plumber back in to remove the tub so they can get under there. oh, any buy more marble, lest you forget.

sound like fun yet? if you've got a running list, that would be... expensive, annoying, time-consuming issues with: the Car, the Cat, the House, the Pool. What else are we missing?

i suppose there were other relatively minor things, but i think you get the picture.

Inspection update

After some confusion and me staying home to wait on him so that he could no-show - the Inspector finally showed up! Breakdown goes like this:

Electrical Final = PASSED!
Plumbing Final = Failed.
Mechanical Final = Failed.
Can't call for the Final Building Inspection until those three finals are passed.

All we need to pass the plumbing is a silly (and ugly) overflow switch off valve on my otherwise beautiful faucet on the clawfoot tub. Mr. Price already trippity-tropped on down to Lowe's and picked up this $30 part and installed it. Ready to
call for inspection again!

Mechanical - need a bit more:
-extra decking in the attic (isn't that building/framing?),
-the vent flew to be moved to a different angle (there's a whole calculation and it's a massive pain to deal with... cutting new holes in the roof, patching the shingles, etc)
-find a 3rd party inspector to test all vents and such (this is going to take some time...)

Did I mention that we can't 'move in' until we pass final?

When our king sized new bed arrived a couple weeks ago, I dare any inspector or other city representative to tell me I can't sleep in it. but nonetheless - we can't move other furniture up there or look like we're living in up there. which is driving me nuts. I AM READY FOR THE MASSIVE FURNITURE MOVE AROUND in this house. let's GO already!

To help the cause - Mr. Price did make a plea to the last inspector that he has 'a pregnant wife who is chomping at the bit to move up there' so we got unofficial approval to live up there (i.e. we don't have to take our toothbrushes and towels, etc back downstairs each time an inspector shows up) but we can't "move" up there yet.

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

So, we can't move furniture upstairs until we pass inspection- nor clothing. These two bars in my currently unfinished closet represent more hanging space than is available im the rest of my closets in the house-- yet I can't go spreading my hangers out just yet. Nope- I have to wait. Excruciating days between now and whenever that may be because lord only knows when the inspector will finally show up, if we will have any advance notice to show up and meet him and what creative things he may find to fail us on (and what magic number of times we will fail) before we finally get the green light to move in.

So until then...... I wait. In agony.