Four Generations of Brockmans - starring Lily
Mom and two sons on Mothers' DayLily in her first "church" clothes - also on Mothers' Day
Phase 2 Rooms - Green for Guest BR and Gold for Office
Phase 2 Room Windows sans trim
If you were a Gremlin under the house, would you mess with this guy?
Inspecting the tape and float jobPainting the Phase 2 Office
Dad and Virginia stayed with usUncle Cliff stopped by after being released from the hospital
Duane and Nancy visited and really liked the pocket doors
HIGHLIGHTS:
Has it really been nearly 5 weeks since we last blogged? That means that we have a lot to catch up on.
Contrary to some belief, we do have a life. (OK, now 'fess up. How many of you have had the thought that anyone who spends so much time with sheetrock, taping and floating, painting, crawling under the house, and cats really does need to get a life?) The last month has been full of other components of life along with continued progress on the house.
Let's start with the non-house things.
1. Our grandaughter, Lily, continues to be just perfect. She eats, sleeps, makes diapers, reads Chaucer, and then repeats. Next week she starts on mathematics and the Pentateuch. Needless to say, she has already brought love and joy into many of our lives. Proud parents Buck and Katy are getting the hang of this parenting thing. So far, Lily hasn't asked for money or to use the car. Those things will come soon enough. (For you blogaholics, you can keep up with Lily's progress at http://www.lilybelle-ofthevalley.blogspot.com/ . My, my, how the technology of having and being a baby has changed. If I had had a blog when I was a baby, I probably would have gotten a vaccination or out patient surgery.)
2. Our being in San Antonio has been a blessing for helping with relatives who come to SA for medical needs. May has been "Uncle Month." Recently, Uncle Joe (who you have seen several times on the blog) spent 2 days and a night in the hospital here with some heart issues. He got a stent in one of his arteries and has been feeling better ever since. The week after Uncle Joe was here, another uncle, Clifton, was in a serious auto accident in Del Rio. Another driver ran in to him from behind and totaled his car. After being cut out of his vehicle, Uncle Cliff was taken to the local hospital and subsequently flown to Brooks Army Medical Center in San Antonio. X-rays, sonograms, catscans did not indicate any permanent damage but he was in great pain from the accident. He sustained a significant case of whiplash that is requiring the use of a neck brace for the next few weeks. When we drove him back to Del Rio, it gave us the opportunity to visit other relatives. This week has been a slow week for hospitalizations of family members. But if needed, we are here. That is part of being in a good family.
3. We are thrilled because our middle son, Andy and his bride, Bethany, are moving to the Rio Grande Valley, aka South Texas for those of you who don't get choked up when the word "Alamo" is mentioned. Andy began 2 weeks of on-site training this week and is scheduled to go to Brunswick, GA for several months of training. Bethany is staying behind until the earlier of Andy finishing training in GA or their house selling. If you know of anyone looking for a good house in Pontiac, MI, let us know.
4. OSHA Babe enjoyed Mother's Day with two of her sons in town. She did get a phone call from Jay, our son in Puerto Rico. You can tell from the picture above that she still enjoys her role as Mom.
5. Dad and his wife, Virginia, spent a night with us this week. They thought that it was time to see the new great grand daughter. The first picture above is what we call a "4 Generation" picture. Lily joins 3rd cousins Sean and Maddie to make Dad the proud great grandfather of 3 little ones.
6. We have been cheering for the Spurs as the NBA playoffs continue. Not only are they the hometown favorites, but there is another reason to cheer them on to victory - FREE COFFEE. Valero gives free coffee from 6AM to 10AM after every Spurs playoff victory. OB and I are pumped for this but I'm not sure if it is more for the caffiene or for the Spurs. GO SPURS, GO!
7. Visitors keep coming and we love it. Duane and Nancy, friends from church, stopped by today and enjoyed seeing what has been done. Also pictured above are Dad and Virginia as well as Uncle Cliff.
So, what progress has been made on the house? Well --
1. The Phase 2 rooms have been rewired, sheetrocked, taped, floated, textured, primed and painted. (You will recall that the plan for those two rooms is for one to be a guest bedroom and the other to be the computer room/office.) Several of the pictures above show work on the rooms during various stages. I did make several trips under the house pulling cable TV wiring and rewiring the electrical circuits. The picture of me under the house with the headlamp on is actually more glamorous than that work really is.
2. We finally got the granite chosen for bathroom vanity. A man came by yesterday to measure and make a template. Hopefully, we will have the slab and backsplash installed within 2 weeks. It will be nice to finally have a lavatory in the master bathroom.
3. Andy helped put the handrail up for the stairs. It is nice to be able to work on small details like that.
4. The ceiling in the Butler's Pantry is finally complete. It is quite an improvement over the gaping hole that was there when we moved into the house.
NEXT STEPS:
1. In the Phase 2 rooms, we need to put up the baseboards, trim the windows and doors, and get the floors refinished. Hopefully, the carpenter who has been helping will be available after Memorial Day and we can get this done. I hope to have the trim scraped, sanded, primed and painted before he gets here so that the painting does not have to be done after the trim is up.
2. We continue to have several windows and doors that need to be scraped, sanded, and refinished. It is a lot of work but the finished product sure looks good.
3. A Storage Area out back is still on the drawing board but probably still over a month away from starting.
