House Update

We went by the house this morning. We had to meet someone for an estimate on a security system. It was a good excuse to go to the house and check out what's been going on.

The view fence is up. The back fence is cinder block on the bottom (about 3 rows or it) and then the black view fence on top. It looks nice. It's not going to mar the view one bit. It's going to be so nice going out there in the evening and watch the sunset over the mountains. Thankfully there are no houses right behind us. We've got some common area back there. Then there's the sidewalk. Then there's the road. Then another sidewalk. Then the houses. I guess it's a good 50 to 60 feet before we have any structure that'll hamper our view. Turns out that we can see down another road from our backyard. We can actually see the freeway about 4 miles away. Then we can see way more east past the freeway. Lots of greenery (for where we live).

The carpet has been installed. It's all up the stairs and in the bedrooms and loft. I was surprised (but I guess I shouldn't be) that they've got plastic sheeting on top of the carpets. The plumbing fixtures are all in the bathrooms (but not in the kitchen). The toilets have also been installed. The master bath shower base has been put in place, as well as the finishing tiles on the floor next to the shower. All we need in there is the shower enclosure! All the exterior lights have been put in place. The fence on the one side of our house is getting finished up too. The one thing that still needs to be finished up is the backsplash. They've got most of it up but it still needs the grout. Looks like they're putting together the punch list of finishing things that need to be done. We saw lots of additional texturing being put on the walls. Because of the clean-up of the walls, there's going to be lots of touch-ups with paint.

What's funny is that we got to talking to one of our neighbors. The ones who are in the same model house but down the cul-de-sac. They were visiting their house to check out the progress. We were still in ours when the wife (Mrs. P) came over to give us back the master key (our houses are now being locked because we've got appliances and we're almost complete).

Mrs P: Can I take a quick peek to see what you did?

Me: Sure!

[looking puzzled at the living/dining room]

Mrs P: They covered the carpet?

Me: No. That's actually wood.

[Glancing towards the den]

Mrs P: Then that's wood too?

Me: Yes. My husband wanted this area to look more formal.

[walking into the back area]

Mrs P: We chose this banister too.

Me: Yeah, I really liked the unpainted look. We thought it was the prettiest.

Mrs P: Us too!

[looking into the kitchen]

Mrs P: We chose these appliances too!

Me: [sheepishly] We still have to buy a refrigerator. We didn't want to buy it from them.

Mrs P: Us too! Now all we have to do is figure our HOW to work that microwave!

[laughing together]

Mrs P: You chose granite too?

Me: Actually, my hubby picked pretty much everything but the carpet. What color granite did you get?

Mrs P: Venezian Gold.

Me: That one is really pretty. It goes well with the cabinets and the wall color.

Mrs P: That backsplash!

Me: Yup. Another thing the hubby decided.

Mrs P: We didn't get the decorative backsplash.

Me: So you got the granite on the wall, right?

Mrs P: Yes.

Me: Our friend did that. Then he and his neighbor put in this fantastic backsplash later on.

Mrs P: We're hoping to do that.

Me: Yeah. We're not handy, so we got the professionals to do it.

[moving into the family room]

Mrs P: We chose that style fireplace also. But we've got the half wall up in the loft.

Me: That was the only style fireplace I liked. I didn't want the raised hearth. Not with my little guy.

Mrs P: Now is that a gas fireplace?

Me: Yeah, it's gas.

Mrs P: But where's the stub?

Me: Oh. It's on the side.

Mrs P: What?

[walking over to the fireplace]

Me: See? We had them put it there on the side of the wall instead of through the front.

Mrs P: Oh no!

Me: What?

Mrs P: Well, in our house we have it through the front. Through the tile.

Me: Really?

Mrs P: If we'd known we could stick it through the side, we would have.

Me: Well, we just told Mark when we did our frame walk-through that's how we wanted it. They had it coming out the front and we asked him to change it.

Mrs P: My husband is going to be upset. He hates the fact that it's through the front...well, my guys are waiting in the car. I'd better go. I'll see you soon!

I'm about to go upstairs to find my hubs and the kids when Mr. P walks in.

Me: HI!

Mr. P: I just had to come in and see it.

Me: Oh.

[he walk to the fireplace]

Mr. P: Dang it.

[looks at me]

Mr. P: I can't believe they didn't ask us if we wanted to put the stub on the side.

[me trying to look sympathetic]

Mr. P: Well, there's nothing we can do now. We'll see you in a couple weeks if we don't see you sooner. (we're all moving in by the end of this month)

Me: Okay. Bye!

I know that fireplace gas stub thing is going to irk this nice man. The fact that we were able to get ours more discretely placed -- away from kidling curiosity. You see, they've got FOUR boys. I'm sure one of them is going to investigate that little gas stub. But it was nice to finally meet Mr. P's wife and a few of their kids. Turns out that next door to the P family is a family with a couple girls. Woohoo! Hopefully some nice girls that my Princess can play with.

Here's the fireplace. Their stub is through the 3rd tile on the right side.

Here is a shot of our bathroom fixture.

Here's the crazy microwave we've got.

And finally...the amazing backsplash my hubby chose.