Getting There

 

 It's been a whirl-wind the last couple months with trying to put the days on the water and finish what we started on the house. Today is my fourth day off in the month of June, which means I've had a good season so far, (about 45% up from last year,) but also means I've been putting off some of the things needed to complete the house. Plus the fact that grass grows so fast when you water; half my evenings are spent chasing the lawn mower around the yard. Jill is crazy busy too with the new job and graduate school but we have been getting things done and putting things together.

 

Just to recap, we closed on the 18th of May. It wasn't ideal with the season starting to pick up but what are you going to do? In the first 4 days, I had all the flooring out and wall demoed along with the counters out and cabinets taken down. (Did I mention that linoleum is an absolute bitch?) By the next week, we had the electrical moved, the pluming moved and the hole in the wall and trench in the floor for the electrical and gas fixed. By not working on the river I figured I saved myself a few thousand dollars in demo costs and fixing the sub-floor. The painter was working along with me.

 

The flooring took a few weeks to get in and was installed last week. The oak looks great but they sent the wrong color of carpet so we are waiting for the re-order. I was able to hang my elk with the help of John Larue and then I installed the track lights myself. I also switched out the god-awful brass chandelier in the kitchen and ceiling fan and hung a light in the kitchen to go with the recessed lights that replaced the florescent light. The house was only ten years old but it looked like it was built and stuck in the eighties. It seemed appropriate to blast Def Leppard tracks while I tore down walls.

 

We painted the banister and doors white to go with the dark flooring and then switched out all the brass fixtures with some kind of brushed black or something. (It looks cool and I'm not a designer so we'll just call it black.) We also took down the mauve window coverings and replaced or are replacing them with dark walnut and white blinds. (Part of what I'm doing today on my day off.)

 

We still have to replace the trim and base boards and today I have a list of to-dos like hanging sconces, (I never even knew what a sconce was,) hanging closet doors, blinds, mowing the lawn, (again,) hanging the old cabinets in my kick-ass shop, and cleaning out the garage so we can roll out the trim and paint it before we get started on that. My guys last week made several comments that they didn't even know me anymore...something about being all grown up? We are getting closer and it's starting to look very nice. It is kind of fun to be honest so I'm not burnt out on it just yet. I'm sure by bow season I'll be looking for a needed break.

 

I do have a few days off in July, which is kind of rare. I'm debating on trying to book those days or just take them for myself. You got to make hay though so if you need a guide, I do have a hole in the middle of the month...

 

Keep 'em where they live...