Whirlwind of a week

As Stu alluded to in his earlier post, this last week was a whirlwind of activity. The house was buzzing with activity. At one point I counted...

2 plumbers
2 electricians
3 carpenters
1 HVAC guy
2 cleaners
3 cabinet people and
1 project manager in a pear tree!

...all working in the house at one time!!! I'm surprised that there were no punches thrown. ;-)

It really is amazing how much they got done this week: hooking up the electrical panel, installing all the lights, laying carpet, finishing floors, installing railings and closet shelves, installing cabinet and door hardware, installing the front door and finishing up cabinetry...plus other stuff I'm sure I didn't notice yet. With everyone practically tripping over each other, I started to wonder why all this stuff was left to the last week. Oh well...

With all this activity, Stuart and I made multiple trips to the house. In fact, on Wednesday I made three trips in one day trying to sort out the puzzle of our cabinet hardware. As fate would have it, I was home that day with Evan because both kids had come home from school on Tuesday with lice. Lucky us! Cailin was OK to go back to school, but Evan's daycare requires that he stay home for 24 hours. So, Evan and I schlepped over to the house three times in one day...and he was GREAT! I was really proud of how patient he was.

Actually, I have been tremendously proud and thankful for how patient both kids have been with this whole process.

We have dragged them along on countless trips to pick out appliances, faucets, cabinet hardware, doorbells, etc. and we haven't been kicked out of a store yet. :-) They have also tagged along to construction meetings and discussions with our architect. Cailin always has a good question to ask or a pretty wise observation to make for someone with just 7 years under her belt. And most of all, they have put up with two parents who are often tired, stressed out and generally preoccupied with "house stuff". I don't think we could ask for better kids.

So, with just a few weeks before we move in, we keep plugging away at our "to do" list while trying to maintain that delicate balance between building a house, being good parents, doing good work, and staying married. It's not easy, but someone we've managed to not completely lose our minds...at least not yet!