Early Morning Meeting
Last night we arrived at our house to find most of a first floor. It was so exciting! Although the floor wasn’t completely finished, I kept putting Lil C in different areas and telling her "Now you’re in the kitchen," "Now you’re in the laundry room," "Now you’re in the family room." She giggled like crazy and thought that was great fun (Pictures of the progress to come this week!). You always know you’re on the right path when you get the "do it again Mommy" request.
The only thing we weren’t happy about was the placement of our Bilco steps down into the basement. On the plans, it says they are supposed to only stick out from the house 5 feet. In reality, they stick out 8.5 feet. They hadn’t taken into consideration the fact that we ordered an extra deep basement. There are only 11 feet on the side of our house until the next property AND it slopes big time down from the neighbor’s yard.
Mr. BBM and I spent much of last night trying to figure out how we would have to launch things down into the basement from a ramp starting in our neighbor’s yard. We also discussed a wet spot we found in the stone in our basement (the floor has not been poured yet-thank God for that). I won’t go into the details. I’ll just tell you that Mr. BBM discovered that the guys who are framing our house are also using a certain corner of our basement to pee-pee.
Not.
At.
All.
Cool.
So, we met with the Supervisor and Site Foreman early this morning. In case you were wondering what kind of person can think clearly at 7:45 a.m.??? Construction guys can.
The supervisor made some suggestions that I didn’t like. I countered with telling them we really need the area directly out from the Bilco entrance to be flat, not sloped like he proposed. So, he’s going to give us a retaining wall that slopes down on either side. I think it’s a good solution, not a perfect one, but one that will work. He also walked us around our lot and showed us how he’s going to grade it. We’re going to have a very nice flat backyard. I’m very happy about that.
As the framing crew listened to their music and kept working, I asked the supervisor if he minded if I brought up a more "delicate" issue. I asked him if he could please have a porta-potty placed in front of our house. There is one on the street, but it’s kind of a long walk. I understand the guys have to go, but you know, not in my basement. While I understand that they haven’t yet poured the foundation, I don’t want to go into my basement and think about man pee in the corner. I explained in vivid detail as to what we found and his reaction was very similar to mine.
"That’s not right," he said. "I’ll take care of that."
I then mentioned my concern that the guys would be angry I said something and therefore screw up my house. He told me not to worry about that. I wish I could post a picture of the supervisor, because if you could see what he looks like, you would totally believe that he’s taking care of it too. I truly have nothing to worry about. Even the framing guy who looks like one of the guys from ZZ Top will be afraid.
As we were leaving, he walked back over to the crew and gave them the business. Hopefully that will be the end of them doing their "business" in my basement.
***There are some new reviews up at The BBM Review. Check out the Noodleboro reviews for a chance to win one of the games yourself!
Accidents Happen
Filed under: Building the BBM House, Mental Strain for Mama
Tonight, while I was outside with Big I and my Mom, Lil C apparently asked my Dad (her beloved Pop-Pop) to take her to the bathroom. As I entered the house, I heard this:
"BBM, there’s been an accident" my dad sad.
"What do you mean Dad?" I asked as I cautiously approached the bathroom.
"Well, Lil C peed in her diaper. . .
and on the floor. . .
and on my arm. . . "
When I arrived in the bathroom, I saw a bewildered and naked from the waist down Lil C and an even more bewildered Pop-Pop.
"I thought that girls peed down" my dad said with obvious confusion.
"Well Dad, that’s going to depend on the angle at which they’re sitting on the toilet seat."
My Dad thought he was all that and then some, telling me what was up when I was in geometry class; but apparently the angle of a miniature heiney on a toilet is not his forte.
Speaking of misjudging things, it’s apparently in the genes. Last night, I took the girls over to check on the progress of the house. This week they added two support beams and pushed the dirt in around the foundation in the back of the home. The two homes that are being built down the street have their first floors and most of their first floor walls already. I’m guessing that’s in the very near future for us.
While getting one of several shots of the progress, I misjudged the condition of the dirt and ended up sinking several inches into what felt like quick sand. Standing still only made me sink in more; walking quickly only served to make me more unstable. Did I mention I was holding Lil C on one hip? By the time I made it out, my feet had taken a major mud bath and if not for my next-door neighbors to be and their hose, I would have had a very messy car. The mess was worth it though.
Proud Owners of a Footprint
On Monday we had stakes. On Tuesday we had the promising beginnings of a hole. On Thursday, we thought they were pretty much done digging.
We were pretty happy about it.
We were especially happy because there is a clause in our contract that says that if they have to bring out the big guns to get through major rock formations more than one day, then it happens at a cost to the buyers in the form of $1500 per day.
This lovely piece of rock is where our garage is located. I’m guessing there’s really no point in asking for a crawl space under the garage.
I thought that Mr. BBM was crazy when he said they were done, because "That hole is not deep enough! We ordered 9 ft. basement walls to accomodate my kobudo training!" Then I realized that Mr. BBM was probably right. Back against that wall of dirt and rock, we could have fit Mr. BBM twice, length-wise.
When we realized it was totally flattened out, we figured we’d be getting a footprint soon.
Then we discovered these rocks in what will be in our backyard. . .
. . . and we were even more happy that they were finished digging and that we didn’t have to pay anything extra to have a kobudo-worthy basement.
Today, we arrived to find this. . .
We officially have our footprint.
It feels good to have something in concrete.
Stay tuned, because next week, we’ll have some walls!
Thankful, Hectic, Proud
Filed under: Building the BBM House, Mental Strain for Mama, Moving
This morning, a friend took both of the girls to play with her four daughters so I could have a couple hours to pack in peace (i.e. pack up all the things the girls don’t want me to pack). Is she fantastic or what? In the middle of my morning, I got a call from the showing center. I used to crave calls from the showing center, but when they called this time, I was first confused and then completely thrown off my game plan.
It was 11 a.m. when the phone rang and the person on the other line, who had set up many of our showings during those grueling months on the market, told me that the appraiser wanted to come at noon TODAY! I sighed with disgust as I looked around at my house. Newspapers were everywhere so that I didn’t have to keep walking up and down the stairs to get more to wrap things in, empty boxes covered an entire wall, full boxes were littered throughout the house and you may remember that I have been on a cleaning strike since last week. I’ve shown fantastic follow-through with that pledge.
I figured it was better to just get it over with while the girls were out of the house, so I said yes. Then I turned into the Tazmanian devil and spun my way around the house, picking up dirty clothes, folding the pile that needed to be folded, making beds, wiping off counters and begging Mr. BBM to please, for the love of God, use part of your lunch break to run the vacuum.
Instead of arriving at noon, she came at 11:30. I think I would have told her off if she wasn’t so overly apologetic and sweet. I continued to pack while she went from room to room, taking measurements and pictures. When she was finished upstairs, she found me downstairs in the family room and asked me if I had a professional decorator work on the house. Dumbfounded, I told her no. "Well, are you an interior decorator by trade?" I think I may have snorted with laughter, as I told her "I wish." She then said, "Well then I hate you. I seriously hate people like you, because you didn’t have to hire anyone and this place is gorgeous. It looks like a model home. You’re amazing at picking colors."
Her comments had me on my heels and I almost fell into another box of "misc toys." I thanked her and then followed her around fishing for more compliments. I told her that her compliments meant the world to me because I am currently second-guessing everything I’m choosing for the new house.
Want the truth? I think she was buttering me up so she can come in with some out in left field low appraisal that’s going to wreck my life. I’m all for thinking positive, but that’s just too much good all in one day right there.
I got a ton of packing done, despite all the interruptions, and figured I’d take the girls to the pool this afternoon. Lil C wanted to hang out in the baby pool, so I sat there and watched her demurely make her rounds, surrounded by her little float. When she noticed another little boy who was probably newly two, she approached him and told him her name. He ignored her and walked away. She seemed irritated.
A few minutes later, the little boy walked over to Lil C and started splashing her. As the water droplets landed on her hair and face, she clenched up her little arms in disgust and turned her back to him to weather the rest of the storm. When he was finished, she turned around, clenched her fists and raised her arms and said, "I VANT YOU TO STOP SPLASHING ME RIGHT NOW!"
He looked at her with fear, turned on his heel and went quickly back to his side of the pool. He didn’t bother her the rest of the day. After listening to Big I ask me to take care of her problems for her since she’s been born, I can’t even tell you how my heart soared with pride when Lil C took care of business on her own! That munchkin is two years old and she completely stood up for herself, without whining, without crying, and most importantly, without asking me to get involved. It was simply awesome.
Later tonight, we went to check out the progress on the house. The hole is deeper and the girls were having a blast running around in it and asking which room they were in now. When I first put Lil C down in the hole, she looked up at me and asked, "Where’s the hole Mommy?" It was fairly obvious we were many feet below the normal ground level. Then, she looked down and saw a little area where the dirt was pushed away. It looked like a small rock had been removed, leaving a little gutted out area in its place. "There’s the hole!" she yelled.
After a couple more minutes wandering around the dirt, she murmured to her sister, "this is fun." As we were about to leave, one of our new neighbors rode his bike up with his sons to say hello. He was super nice and he let us know that everyone on the street hangs out, drinking beer and cocktails while the kids run around and play behind the houses in the park. I’ve never been happier about the lot we chose.
Next week, our realtor is taking us to a pig roast as his guests at the local pool. Our realtor will live just down the street from us, so he offered to take us and introduce us to all the neighbors. I just hope no one splashes Lil C. Things could get ugly.
The Bulldozer Man Can Work It
I realize that posting three times in one day is a bit obnoxious. I just can’t help myself though. I think that the bulldozer man saw me applauding him on the street and decided to really work it.
Work it, bulldozer man. At this rate, I’ll have a basement by next week! Do you think they’ll let me store some stuff in there once it’s concrete?
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