We're Back! - Oh, you didn't know that we were gone?

Award presented to Prize Winners Donna and Dennis

Arizona Birthday Celebration
Cabinets before with sink in place

and primed and ready to paint

James at the end of a very long day

Visitors Buck and Katy

FOR THE WEEK ENDING February 24, 2007

HIGHLIGHTS:
1. We're back publishing in San Antonio after 6 days in the Phoenix area. OSHA Babe's Mom celebrated her 80th birthday and was hosted and toasted by her husband, daughters, and sons-in-law in Fountain Hills, AZ. "Name that Song" Contest winners Donna and Dennis (pictured above) were greeted upon their arrival at the Phoenix airport with helium-filled balloons and a "Congratulations Contest Winners" sign along with their Starbuck's gift card. Thanks to all of you who participated. We look forward to hosting and toasting you when you come see us in San Antonio.
2. This round of plumbing wrapped up while we were in Arizona. We have water, including hot water, throughout the house. But don't get your hopes up because there are still fixtures to be set in two of the bathrooms and the kitchen. At least we don't have to go next door to get water to clean out paint brushes.
3. Electrical work finished the day after we returned. Jimmy finished the punch list items and all of the outlets and switches are in working order along with 2 motion sensitive security lights outside. I did put some outlet boxes for the microwave and the 3-way light switch at the bottom of the stairs. When we get ready to hang the permanent light fixtures, I may call Jimmy back to help. OSHA Babe gets real nervous when I start working with electric stuff. She keeps asking where the insurance papers are and claims to not know CPR. Should I be worried?
4. What I consider to be the biggest accomplishment of the week was the painting of the kitchen cabinets, mantel, and 8 foot, 18 panel door. James and I spent 13 hours (10 AM - 11 PM) preparing, priming and painting it all. The dining room became the painting chamber and we got creative on how to put doors, drawers, mantels, and wall cabinets away for drying after they had been painted. James sprayed them. I held the doors, drawers and flat shelves while they were being painted. What a mess! There are still many big jobs left to be done but this gets one of them out of the way.
5. This week's visitors included a BSF friend of Pat's, Judy, and son Buck and daughter-in-law Katy. While Buck and I were putting some kitchen drawers back in place, OSHA Babe and Katy were conspiring about how to decorate the rumored Mary Englebreit room in the new home. Guys, don't try to understand or fix it. Just accept and enjoy it.

NEXT STEPS:
1. In order to get the permit for the plumbing, we need to get the kitchen and one bathroom fully functional. In the kitchen, our next steps are to get the templates for the granite counter tops made, water shut off valves put on the hot and cold stubs, water supply line run, walls and trim painted, and floors done. All of that won't happen in a week. We'll knock some of it off the list.

2. We need to build a shower stall in the small upstairs bathroom. The space available is 36 inches by 36 inches. One will have to be pretty skinny to shower in that one.
3. A crew is scheduled to show up Tuesday to begin working on windows. This will be a combination of repair, replace, and leave as is. Stay tuned.
4. Trim sanding and painting will be on the list always. We probably need to pick one room to start and finish and then move on to a next room.

We Are Pleased to Announce .....

California Guest Grace Hall (via ACU)

New gas line gets tested
Grey Boy needs a new name

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The harvest is plentiful - still

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FOR THE WEEK ENDING February 11, 2007

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE a delightful visit from Grace Hall. Grace honored us by making the 5 hour drive from Abilene Christian U. after classes and work on Friday. Being from Campbell, CA., Grace needed some additional Texanization. We ate Mexican food at a restaurant and shopped at El Mercado, walked along the famous San Antonio Riverwalk, remembered the Alamo, attended Oak Hills Church, ate breakfast tacos, and spent nearly 3 hours at the San Antonio Rodeo and Livestock Show. Grace saw goats, sheep, pigs, cattle, horses, dogs herding sheep, and shared a funnel cake. Next time you see Grace, ask her to tell you the difference between heifers, cows, steers, and bulls. Her send off on Sunday afternoon was BBQ at the original Rudy's in Leon Springs. Come visit us and we'll show you a good time - if your heart can stand it.

2. WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE genuine progress on the plumbing. The gas line was installed on Wed - Thur and passed city inspection on Friday. (Doesn't the picture above of the pressure gauge send shivers down your spine? If so, you need help.) We have water back on the garden hose faucets. Incidentally, there were no leaks in any of the PVC pipe that I glued together about a month ago. The hot water heater plumbing got to about 75% complete by the end of the week. It sure is good to be having real progress and not just visions and sad stories about why we're not working on the plumbing.

3. WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE that our leading cat domestication candidate, (the grey cat, formerly known as Grey Boy,) appears to really be "Grey Girl." "Censor Babe", aka OSHA Babe, won't let me tell you why I think this. So, you'll just have to use your imagination.

4. WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE that the orange harvest continues into February. We may have a week to 10 days left. I feel like the Israelites who entered the Promised Land and lived in cities they had not built and ate from vinyards that they did not plant. I wonder if they had any oranges?

5. Last, but not least, WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE the winners of the "Name that Song Contest." Donna and Dennis, loyal blog readers from Washington State, swept the trophy by naming over 30 songs. Isn't I-Tunes a wonderful resource? In addition to the songs/artists I intended, Donna and Dennis found other artists like Lifehouse, Baccara, Tex Ritter, Patsy Cline, Canned Heat, and Felix Bernard. (Are you two sure that Felix isn't a music teacher at a Middle School in Washington State rather than an artist who recorded Winter Wonderland?) Heather, from California, found titles by U2 and Softsell. She provided background to California Dreamin' that was written by the Mamas and Papas while they were in NY and missing home. (Heather, Pat and I are similarly motivated and working on our version of the song. We plan to call it "California Dreamin', Y'all".) My sister entered and called the contest "silly." Isn't it just like a little brother to annoy his big sister? I did stump the entrants with "Only Time" by Enya, "She's Not There" by the Zombies, and "Eight Miles High" by the Byrds (David Crosby was a member of the group.)

Donna and Dennis, we'll see you in Phoenix and personally present the prize. All of you who are cheesey enough to play this game will be treated to a cold Pepsi (or beverage of your choice) on the San Antonio Riverwalk when you come visit us. Thanks for having some fun with us.

NEXT STEPS:

1. Complete the plumbing

2. Gas Meter move

3. Windows

4. Keep working on the kitchen

OSHA Babe calls "Dibs" on Granite slab

If I lick this slab of granite, no one else will choose it!

OSHA Babe painted herself into this corner ........................................<--Bo finishing out the ceiling in the TV room ...............................The Domestication of Grey Boy.........This is not as docile as it looks


FOR THE WEEK ENDING February 4, 2007





HIGHLIGHTS:

1. After 4 brutal days of priming, we took a break to granite shop for the kitchen cabinets. The winner is a slab of "Apollo Storm". Since each slab has unique lines, coloring, and patterns, we wanted to find that special stone. When we went through this in San Jose during the kitchen remodel there, the granite yard gave our 1st choice slab to someone else after we had selected, tagged, and paid for it. OSHA Babe, hoping to ensure that we didn't have a repeat of that unpleasant experience, thought that if she licked this slab, no one else would choose it. OB said something about using this techique to settle disputes with her sister while they were growing up. (You don't think that she would really lick the granite, do you? Hmmmm?)


2. Picking the granite was a lot more fun than the aforementioned brutal days of priming. The good news of this story is that in contrast to the previous report - 1 room down and 9 to go - we ended the week with 9 rooms completed and none to go. We used a high quality primer that covered very good. Hopefully, the interior walls, when painted, will come out smooth and professional looking.


3. We keep making progress with the cats. That's me and Grey Boy in the two cat pictures above. I'm feeding him Whisker Lickings treats. The last picture (where he is standing on my leg) shows a lot of progress. However, he's not real happy about even this much human contact and bolts away is I try to pet him or he thinks that I am looking at him. When the Whisker Lickings are gone, I may as well be chopped liver because GB looses interest fast. (No, on second thought, me being chopped liver would not be a good idea.)


4. Visitors - For some reason, watching paint dry and looking at walls that have been primed don't draw a very large crowd, i.e., we had no visitors this week. We do continue to get to know our neighbors bit by bit.



NEXT STEPS:

1. The winner of the "Name That Song" contest will be announced in the next posting. The leading entry as of press time has named well over 30 songs and is trying to negotiate an upgrade in the prize from Starbucks to a margarita on the San Antonio Riverwalk next summer during a visit with her sister.

2. Plumbing continues to make me nervous. Sam called this week and said he hadn't seen his Helper in over a week and that the 2 guys he interviewed didn't seem to be trustworthy. I appreciate him not wanting to bring people he doesn't trust into the house. Also, I offered to be his helper on this job. He is wrapping up a job in Kennedy, TX on Tuesday and is supposed to call me to make plans for Wednesday. I sure hope that this is not code for "I've changed my mind and am not going to do your job." Stay tuned.

3. Most of the rooms have 6 inch wide trim as baseboards and around the windows and doors. All this trim needs to be sanded and repainted. This may be a huge task. The current plan is to take it on one room at a time. After that is done, we'll be down to making sure the window weights work, the walls have their final coat done, and the floors are refinished. We'll see how this week goes.

4. In the kitchen, we need to rework the sink drain, put shut off valves on the water supply lines under the sink, run a hot water supply line to the dishwasher, run a water line (hard water) for the icemaker, set the sink base cabinet in its final resting place, make a template for the granite, replace a window, refinish the floors, paint the cabinets, walls, and bead board, and cook a brisket. As you can tell, we're getting close -------NOT! But we are making progress. Getting the plumbing done in there will knock of 4 of those items.