Construction and Turnip Greens

Progress is being made!  Here is an update:

The doors on the front of the house have been installed. There will be screens so nasty bugs and critters won't make their way inside. I'm not sure when the faux stone is supposed to be installed but the look we have now is starting to grow on me. It has that white-trash, semi-complete, still-under-construction feel. Who doesn't love that?

I can't wait to sit in a rocking or lounge chair with a cold beer/margarita/glass of wine in my hand under this roof while enjoying the view.

It's not awful. (I won't disclose how many attempts with the "pano" effect it took to capture this shot.

Speaking of views...

It seems as though our builder has solved my big green box issue. I think I will have them push dirt up along the side of the box that faces the house and throw some seed on it. I could handle staring at a random hill in the middle of the meadow. Also, if you grew up around my family, you know we have an affinity for berms. 

Quick aside: I told Davis to tell my parents what he can see out of his window at the ranch. I was expecting him to say Scott's house, but instead, without hesitation or prompting, he said, "the big green box!" 

Alright, step inside with me.

The lights are in and the floors are uncovered. There will be hanging pendant lighting and ceiling fans, but the bead-board needs to go on the ceiling first. Don't rush us!

Speaking of the floors, these weird white spots have appeared and seem to be in the clear coat. I'm praying most of them can be buffed out, but if not, we will just buy more area rugs.

The kitchen cabinets have been installed.

Blue ranges are all the rage.

These are our stunning counter tops. I was originally planning to do something very basic and light in color to contrast with the cabinets and floors...then I saw these.

They are a leather finish which means they have texture to them. They will be sealed but not completely smooth. I think they will be perfect for a ranch house. Now that we have paid for them...they better be. These are supposed to be installed either at the end of this week or early next week.

Davis' wing:

The shower surrounds were being installed today.

The trim around the windows has already been installed in our bedroom. Just needs to be painted.

The same trim will be on every window.

Davis is planning what he wants to do with the landscaping.

He envisions a monster truck course, a race track, and a dirt pile for free play.

Those things can keep him entertained when he's not picking turnips from the field and eating them. Right after this he took a bite of the greens. Weirdo.

Classic American Family Fun

This year I asked Davis if he wanted a birthday party or if he wanted to go to Monster Jam instead. He said, "Go to Monster Jam for my party!" I have been wanting to take him for awhile and knew he would love it.

All morning he played Monster Jam by making his monster trucks drive over matchbox cars. I have to say the greatest part of the lead-up to the event was using it as a pawn for the day; "You need to eat lunch or we can't go to Monster Jam," "You need to take a nap or we can't go to Monster Jam," "You need to rub mommy's feet or we can't go to Monster Jam!" Pure Genius. Makes me want to have something fun planned every night.

This boy was seriously excited. He brought one of his monster trucks along in case they needed him to jump in, we got him some headphones, and were ready to dig deep to find that inner redneck that lives in our souls.

Safety is sexy.

(Not that my 3 year old is sexy....stop looking at him like that!)

The trucks came out and Davis was enamored. 

Have you ever seen headphones look so cute???

As we watched, my mind started to wander...as it often does. How does one get into the monster truck driving profession? What kind of driving background do they need to have? 

Is this something they dreamed about after attending Monster Jam as a 3 year old?

Then I looked to my left and decided, yes, that is exactly how it happens.

Are we looking at the future driver of the Grave Digger?

Davis was just as impressed by the heavy equipment that came out to flip the trucks back over. There was nothing that didn't appeal to this kid.

My only complaint is that it started at 7:00pm. By 8:30, Davis had enough and we left early. 

On our way to the car I asked him if he had fun and was answered with, "Yes! Now we have my party!" 

Looking back, I'm not so sure I explained his options very well. 

AMERICA!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

We ventured to the ranch last weekend to check on the status of the new house. I hadn't been up since we stained the concrete floors (did I post about that? I don't remember.) so it was exciting to see the progress. Our builder met us there to make some decisions on light switches, which way the shower doors should open, paint color, trim details, uses for the scrap douglas fir wood; you know, the important stuff.

So here we go:

This is the main room. I love the high ceilings and the windows. The front windows look exactly like the back. The kitchen will be on the back left of this photo, a large island in the middle, and a small dining table on the right. You can kind of see the doorway on the left that leads to the master and the mud room. There is another doorway directly across from it that leads to the other two bedrooms and bathroom. The front of this room will be the sitting area. The ceiling will be natural wood bead board. Should be very pretty.

There is plastic down on the floors for protection, so don't think I just did a terrible job staining them.

This is the guest bathroom. We decided to only do stand up showers in this house as opposed to a tub. To the left of the shower there will be shelves where I plan to have baskets with toilet paper, towels, soaps, etc. The shower will have seamless cultured marble walls, a mosaic floor, and a frameless glass door.

This is Davis' room. I let him look at both rooms and choose his favorite. This was dangerous because I really wanted him to have this room, but luckily he agreed with me. His room is at the front of the house and since we will spend most of our time on the back porch, I didn't want him near the noise. His bedroom as well as the back room have small walk-in closets. 

This is Davis' view. He looks out on to the meadow. He also has a perfect view of my favorite part of the house. Look close....do you see it? That's right, he can stare at the big green box all day! What a lucky boy. His favorite part of the view is that he can see the hunter's cabin where Scott lives. Scott is his favorite.

This is the back bedroom. It is exactly like the front room minus the beautiful view of the big green box. Too bad.

This is the mud room. So we took a walk across the main room and are now on the left side of the house. This room was #1 on my must-have list. Next to the door will be a stacked washer and dryer, the section in the middle will have a bench with cubbies and a shelf with hooks so the men can take off their dirty boots and clothes. I will be policing this policy and punishing violators to the fullest extent of the law. The section nearest us will have pantry shelves.

On to the master. Lots of windows that look out on to the meadow. We have a less direct view of the big green box, but can still see it so all is right in the world. 

Our walk-in closet is to the right and our bathroom is straight ahead.

Here is our bathroom. So messy. This shower will be exactly like the guest shower but bigger. 

The back porch. I love love love the douglas fir beams. They are staying just like that. There will be metal plates to cover the nails, but aside from that, they will be natural. We have extra pieces of this wood and so we are building a huge table for out here and a smaller table for inside. The top will be the douglas fir and the legs and structure will be plumbing pipes. Very rustic. Also, some of this wood will be used for the two floating shelves I will have in the kitchen.

We extended the slab to have an uncovered area so Steve can build a fire pit and I can have an area to sunbathe. Sweet serenity. After construction is finished, we are going to stain the porches so they will match the inside of the house.

This is the front. This porch is smaller, so I plan to just have a couple rocking chairs out here. The outside of the house is going to be painted a taupe-y color with white trim. Also, the surface of the house under the porch will have faux stone siding.

PS. That. Sky.

I couldn't help myself and had to go out to the big green box and take a picture. I'm so glad it is off to the side of the house like I was told. #liars

Well, that's it for now. They painted the inside this past week and the plumbing and lighting and trim are being installed this week. Kitchen cabinets should be finished in the next couple weeks and so I need to go pick a granite color. Soon it will be time to start furnishing and decorating. 

I'll keep you posted.

I'm sorry in advance.

When I went to Wal-Mart to buy a noise machine to help with the train incident mentioned here, a man in a wheelchair called me over as I got out of the car. Initially, I thought he was going to ask for money, and after living in Chicago, I NEVER give money to panhandlers. To my great surprise, instead of asking for money, he said, "Would you mind picking me up some food? I live outside and would really love a bag of grapes or something." I told him I would absolutely do that for him.

As I walked through the store, my mind was filling with all of the other things I should also get him. Knowing that he is in a wheelchair and doesn't have a fridge or pantry, I decided it would be best to limit my purchases to just a couple things. 

When I left the store and walked back to my car, the man was nowhere to be found and was very disappointed. I was putting his food in my car when I heard someone yelling, "I'm right here ma'am! The manager ran me off." Never mind all of the creeps inside who aren't buying a thing, let's run off the needy man in the parking lot who is politely asking for food and not harassing a single person. I gave him his bag and he was so appreciative. 

This whole situation really touched me. I have offered food to panhandlers before only for them to turn it down claiming dietary restrictions or that they simply "didn't like it." Living in Chicago, I lived at a 5-points intersection where the same panhandlers would sit on their respective corner every single day, most of them with some sort of an ailment. One night, I heard a lot of commotion and saw one of the corner's regulars, who had a bum leg, drunk and fighting with two guys in a BMW only to have his son run out from the house ACROSS THE STREET and drag him home.  Oh yeah, his limp appeared to have been cured too. I could go on and on with stories of terrible encounters with Chicago panhandlers (this was just a more tame tale).

There were several newspaper articles about how panhandlers would take the train in to the city from their homes in the suburbs and earn over 6 figures a year preying on the tourists. Then two days ago, I read a story about a pregnant woman in California with her young son who would panhandle and then get in their new Mercedes counting their money as they moved on to another corner. 

I don't believe that all panhandlers are frauds, but unfortunately most seem to be. Houston seems to have just as many as Chicago did. They are at practically every intersection. Under I-10 by my house, you will see the same people there for about a week or so, and then a new crop will show up. Rumor has it that a group in town will hire people from the homeless shelter to stand on the corner and then take a cut of their earnings at the end of the day. 

I don't really know where I am going with this post. My original idea was to crack a joke about how the man at Wal-Mart was a genius and that maybe I should start grocery shopping that way (it just might get weird when I request things like a 20 lb turkey), but this has obviously taken a turn. 

During this sudden cold front, all I can think about is that man. I hope he has somewhere warm to sleep. I hope he is a good, honest man who is just down on his luck and will find help soon. Mostly, I just hope I haven't been conned once again so I can restore a little faith in humanity.

Thanks for indulging me. Sorry this wasn't funny.

Sincerely, 

Debbie Downer

Chugga, Chugga, Shut the Hell Up!

I need to know who I should contact to file a formal complaint. Lately, the trains that run about a mile from our house have decided it is necessary to blow their whistles as loud and as much as possible beginning at 2am and continuing until close to 5am.

WHY?!?!?!?!?!?!

For the life of me, I can't figure out why this is necessary. Here are some of my top theories:

1. There is a nightly parade from 2-5 each night, and they have to clear the tracks.

2. The Caribou scenario from Polar Express is taking place.

3. The conductor is having trouble in his marriage and needs some attention.

4. The people who work the night shift have requested a wake-up call.

5. Obama has made an executive order demanding this practice.

6. They hate me.

I bought a sound machine for Davis' room because the first night he woke up 2 or 3 times. Guess how happy that made me. Mama needs her sleep!

So, if you know someone with the railroad commission, please forward me their contact information so I can draft a strongly worded letter. The long and short of the letter will be, "Shut the F#$k up! If someone or something is dumb enough to be on train tracks at 2am and can't see you coming, they deserve what they get. We can call it natural selection!"   

Trick-or-Treat

Halloween was quite the event in the Callaway house this year. Davis decided he HAD to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Not only a ninja turtle, but the Pur-po one. He and I had never once even talked about TMNT, so I have zero idea where he learned about them. Probably school...that's what I blame for everything now.

Since Davis had never watched TMNT, I let him tune into the cartoon and quickly decided it is far too violent for a 2.5 year old. I might be ready to let him watch it again in about 5 years. 

I didn't see much harm in letting him dress as a turtle though so I turned to my BFF, Amazon Prime, and found a costume, t-shirts for Steve and I, and plastic versions of each turtle's weapon (again, maybe not the best idea).

Leading up to Halloween, Davis wanted to play with the weapons and immediately started beating the crap out of us, the furniture, and the walls. Those were quickly confiscated for fear that he would seriously injure the nanny. She is such a push-over when it comes to him, that she would probably just sit there and take the abuse too.

Sizing for this costume was a little challenging. The toddler size came in 2T-4T, and Davis is barely a 2T. I went ahead and ordered the infant size so he wouldn't have extra fabric dragging on the ground and inevitably tripping him, and an extreme moose-knuckle resulted. 

You can't get the full effect in this picture, but it gives you a little taste.

I think if Halloween had been even a week later, we would have had to do some serious adjustments to the costume.

He had 2 Halloween parties at school where he wore his costume and then trick-or-treating on the big day. It was so nice to actually get our money out of it this year. 

He had such a blast trick-or-treating with his friends! If only we could get him to control is bow staff.

His pace was a bit slow, as usual, but I think he got more candy than any other kid. This little con-artist made a habit of pouting at the door after he was given candy until his mark (the homeowner) gave him more candy. Thanks for reinforcing bad behavior guys! 

Near the end of the night, he started to fade a bit and we still had about 6 more houses, so we dipped into his spoils and he quickly bounced back. 

Speaking of bouncing back...that's what I'm going to work on next since I can't control myself around all of this Halloween candy.