More Plumbing, 20 Cans of "Great Stuff" and A FUN Reveal

Yep,

that's right...

more plumbing.

The good news is that installation for all the 'outgoing' plumbing is complete.

The following photos are parts of the vent system in the attic...

I've known this man, Mr Mossi, since January, 1982 and he has yet to cease impressing me.
What he doesn't know, he figures out; he just does.
I can't begin to tell you how much I  love and appreciate that about him.

And then there was

this stuff.
Six bucks a can doesn't sound too bad,
UNLESS YOU NEED TWENTY CANS!
Sheesh, that was kind of a painful purchase for me to make.
I insulated around all the windows with it...

and then trimmed it...

and when I look at the trimmings all over the floor...

it nearly does me in thinkin' about how much of those six dollar cans times twenty was
WASTE.
AHRG...

But, are you ready for the
REALLY FUN
part of this post?

THE FUN REVEAL?

Yeah, sure you are!

I got a call from Patrick on Wednesday telling me that our
art glass window would be ready on Thursday.
I called Dean on my way to pick it up and was telling him how nervous I was about seeing it.
I was worried about whether I would like it or not.
That worry was because I had designed it, chosen the colors and the textures of the glass,
but had no idea how it would ultimately turn out.
When Patrick brought it out from it's padded, protective cubby
in his shop I nearly got teary eyed,
because...
I INSTANTLY LOVED IT!
I was SO thrilled that I really wanted to give Patrick a
GIANT HUG.
But I didn't.
He's kind of the stand-offish type, unlike myself, and I'm not sure
that would have gone over well.
Anyway,
without further adieu.....

Here is a photo of it, in different light, before Patrick put it in the frame...

What's really awesome is when the work lights are on in the house at night and
you're coming up Fruitland from the south, it just SHINES out at you.
We LOVE it.

I haven't been good at making notes at the end of each day about what we've done,
but the other things that come to mind are:

Dean and I went together to view a different Carrara marble slab;
the first one had a crack that I was concerned about.
I'd talked to Sherrie, our fabricator, about it and she decided that with that crack,
we actually didn't have enough square footage, as I'd suspected.
That was disappointing, because I really liked that particular slab - it was beautiful.
Sherrie selected another one for us, which we ended up liking just as well.

Also, I met with our cabinet guy again.
When I mentioned my recent 'whim' in regard to the species of wood I thought I
might like to use for our kitchen island, he gave me a puzzled look and
said that he's only done one job in the last four years with that particular wood.
When he told me that, my confidence in that whim only grew stronger.

That's all I've got for tonight.
Thanks for stopping by again.
We sure do appreciate your encouragement and enthusiasm.
Good night and God bless.

Plumbing

This week was all about plumbing -

drain pipes, to be exact.

It's definitely progress, but not really too exciting.

It takes a while to plan what needs to go where.

Assembly takes quite a chunk of time too,

 especially when you run into issues like drains that 

happen to fall directly on top of or very close to floor joists.

Yeah.

That's a pain. 

Here are a few photos of some of the work from this week.

And, hey, they're pipe pics, so don't expect much.

Okay?

The upstairs laundry room washing machine and floor drain. 

You can also see the closet flange (toilet) and sink drain

for the half-bath in the background.

I know...

exciting stuff.

I told you.

This is where the washing machine, laundry room floor drain, half-bath toilet, 

half bath sink and master shower all converge.

I've lost you now, haven't I.

Aaand the vent and drain for the basement kitchen(ette).

C'mon...

just one more.

Last, and certainly not least, the kitchen sink drain.

There's more, but I'll be merciful and spare you.

Mr Mossi is a pretty good plumber, butt I told him that

if he really wants to be legit, he should quit wearing a belt.
He said he could do without the wisecrack(s).

In other, slightly more exciting news...

I went and approved the granite slab for the perimeter counter tops for the kitchen.

I haven't decided yet on a slab for the island.

I also approved the slab of Carrara marble for our master bath.

I'm hoping we have enough of that left over to use in the basement bath.

And I finally initiated the order for the custom brick mould for our front door.

Aaaannnd...

a stone mason randomly stopped by and asked if we were going

 to do any stone on our exterior.

He gave us a pretty good quote.

I drove around and looked at some of his work.

He'll start as soon as we get our 4-way inspection done.

Hopefully that'll be in a month.

(that's a tall order, but a girl can always hope)

That's about it.

Thanks again for stoppin' by.

We sure do appreciate all your support and encouragement.

Good night and God bless.

One Photo and a "Ta-Done" List

I'm not feelin' it much today -

ya know...

 blogging ambition.

Mostly because I'm captivated by my current read,

"The Book Thief".

I just started it and want to finish it soon - 

before it disappears from the dollar theaters, anyway.

It'd also be nice to loan it asap to my friend, Lori; 

she's eighth on the waiting list for it at the library.

Here's what went down at The Bungalow this past week:

** fireblocking in the basement installed **

** installed brackets on gables braces as per engineering specs **

** nailed floor joists to load-bearing wall in basement **

** installed strongbacks on the gable bracing **

** put more clips on the over-build kickers **

** installed kickers on south end overbuild gable **

** sheathing on edge of deck to garage roof **

** sheetrock backing on main level and basement **

** ran drain and vent lines **

** reset basement tub (moved some studs) **

And here's the only photo I took this week...

Dean cutting ABS in the dining room.

In other news...

With new recommend in hand, we went to the temple on Friday and,

as always, it was a welcome respite from all our cares.

Also this week,

Dean and I both took

this online test.

 His score was 30.

Mine was 33.

It's a wonder we can accomplish anything,

especially tearing down and rebuilding a house.

And our children now know that they can rightfully blame their parents.

Thanks for stopping by.
Goodnight and God Bless.

Tales a la Trailer Life: The New Mattress Cover

We needed a new mattress cover.

The corners of our old one had pretty much become non-existent.

So, I bought a new one.

"What's that got to do with anything?", you ask.

Well,

I'll tell ya.

I bought THE MOST LUXURIOUS ONE available at 

Bed, Bath and Beyond.

I'm normally pretty conservative when it comes to purchases.

My justification was as follows:

1) I had a 20% coupon.

.

2) I LIVE IN A TRAILER; 

therefore, I DESERVE IT.

It is wonderfully, amazingly, beautifully 
COMFY & COZY!

There is a bit of a problem with it, though...


DANG, it's hard to get outta bed now.

A Shoe In Our Bed and I Spoke Too Soon

So, I don't think I've told you about the shoe in our bed yet.

In the middle of a night back in December while I was mostly asleep,
 but in that stupor of twilight that renders one barely aware, 

I'd shifted or turned  next to my sleeping husband
and was puzzled when my right hand fumbled across a shoe. 

I distinctly recall thinking,
"Huh? Why is there a shoe in our bed?! How odd." 

As I attempted to pick up the thick, leathery shoe
I realized that it wasn't a shoe.

It was Dean's hand!

His thick, tough, work-worn, calloused, completely relaxed hand.

The man has worked so very hard.

He's always been a hard worker.

His hands have rarely been idle in the 33 years I've known him.

They've never been soft - forever showing signs of being busy and well used,

They've been more heavily occupied this past year than I think they ever have.
I am very thankful for those good, hard working hands of his
even if they do feel like an old shoe in our bed.

So, last week here at
Retro Bungalow...

Monday:

Our roofer made good progress.
I happened to be home, in the trailer, during the afternoon hours when
Austin, one of the roofers, knocked on the trailer door.
I answered and he told me he had 'bad news'.
He'd broken one of our windows.
He and I went to assess the damages.
 I assured him it'd be be okay and told him how bad I felt for him.
He's a nice young man, it was an honest accident and he'll make good on it.
I do wish though that he'd have something for his breakfast every morning
besides a 'Bladder Buster' Mt Dew and a cigarette;
I'd take that in restitution.
Also on Monday,
Dean framed the little wall at the end of the basement bathtub.
I had him frame it with a little 'window' and I'll order reeded glass for it
like the reeded glass I had put in the hopper window that's in that bathroom.
I thought that was a fun idea.
This is what I mean by 
"I spoke too soon".
A post or two ago I'd written that the framing was complete.
Seems like framing NEVER ends.
He also trimmed some sheathing on the NE edge of the roof that the roofers
called to his attention and he cut back a section of fascia on the
front elevated section of the roof where it ties into the front porch.
And he restrung the party lights.
They're Dave's strands of work lights, but I call 'em the party lights.
Upstairs and downstairs are both nicely lit and all we have to do
is plug 'em in just inside the door into the house from the garage.

Tuesday:

By the end of the day the roofers had finished!
That was fast.
I paid them just this afternoon and was very pleased that
the bill was $500 less than their estimate.
That's ALWAYS good news.
Our master bath garden tub was delivered a day early and
Dean framed the deck for it.
Of course, I climbed in to 'try it on' and dreamed of the day I'll fill it to the brim
with steaming water and mounds and mounds of bubbles.
I can hardly wait.

Wednesday:

Our garage doors were delivered and the larger one was installed.
The smaller one will have to wait because the trailer tongue sticks out past the opening.
They'll come back when we're ready and install the openers too.
It's nice to have the garage mostly enclosed now.
Our fireplace guy, Dave, came out for one last inspection before he orders our fireplaces.
And I went to Precision Granite to shop around their slab yard.

Here you can see not only the garage door, but the fully shingled roof too.


Thursday:

I met with Patrick one last time to review and approve the drawing
for our custom leaded glass window.
I'm both excited and nervous about my design, color and glass selection because
it's the type of thing that you don't really know how it's going to
turn out until the point of no return.
It should be ready in a few weeks.
Dean repaired the 4-wheel drive on our old truck and then he and Ry
had a great evening together doing ward missionary visits.

Friday:

I drove to Salt Lake in the afternoon, did a little shopping and then
picked Dean up from work so we could go to the temple.
We made it in plenty of time to catch the 5:00 session in Bountiful.
When the brother at the entrance scanned my recommend
he looked up at me and said,
"I'm sorry Sister Mossi, but your recommend expired on November 30th."
I was stunned.
In the nearly 32 years that I've been a temple recommend holder,
that has never happened to me.
I've been so distracted.
And I've often felt over these past several months that I've lost balance in my life.
An awful thought almost instantaneously came to me upon being denied entrance into
The House of The Lord...
"What if I were standing at the threshold of the Celestial Kingdom and denied entrance?
I've got to be more vigilant. I must try harder.
I should not be so caught up in the details of mortal, day to day distractions,
and neglect the paramount matters of eternity.
It's an awful feeling, being turned away from the temple.
Yesterday, before leaving after church meetings were over,
I had my new recommend in hand, signed by both the Bishop and Stake President.

Saturday:

I swept and swept in the basement and organized tools and lumber and such.
Dean built the platforms for the two fireplaces, worked on the bracing for
 the north and south gables and a myriad of other miscellaneous items.
He was busy all day long with various little, but important details before
we move on to plumbing.

The platform for the upstairs fireplace isn't much because the hearth will be even with the flooring.

The platform for the basement fireplace is raised 14 inches. It won't have a hearth.

That night we met most of our children at the 2nd Street Burger King for dinner.
This is a recent, annual tradition that takes place on or near the passing of Grandma Rose,
Dean's mom.
She LOVED herself a Whopper and that location is where she always
went for her "fix" and where she would treat our children to lunch on occasion.
Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce -
that's really, truly how she liked her burgers.
We miss her.

Until next week...
Good night and God Bless.