Lighting a fire...

...under our asses. The roof is done (all but one little overhang in the backyard where they ran out of shingles-- they're coming to finish it later). I really, really, really prefer the grey color and the architectural texture.

And now, as Adam said, "It just makes the rest of our house look shittier." Time to get cracking!

Yesterday, we turned on the AC for the first time since we moved in. It wasn't so much hot, as muggy beyond belief. It's oppressive, the humidity we get down here, especially since we're in a river valley. And I've NEVER had central air conditioning in my entire life. Never even in a rental property. And I've never slept so comfortably.

Guess what's in front of MY house?

That's right. Shingles. And not the chicken pox kind! The roofers are supposed to begin this morning, though I know they had a helluva house to work on down the street. But with the supplies in such close proximity, I can almost taste the new look of our house.

The bad news? I mean, isn't there always some bad news? I had the opportunity to go to Lebanon through work next month. We were monitoring the situation there closely, and then things really just blew up...And then they got better...but they've put off a lot of the important issues for later discussion. I've decided that in light of the things still unresolved and all the family obligations, it wouldn't be particularly responsible of me to go, just in case. It's still a little unstable and there's definitely risks involved. When you consider whether your will is in order and updated before going somewhere you don't have to go, it certainly makes you think. Not that I shouldn't take care of this anyway. It just, well... made me think about how much responsibility I carry in my personal life.

I've decided not to go. I'm really fucking sad about this whole turn of events. I've wanted to go to the Middle East for forever. And I would've been paid to do it.

Never thought I'd have to weed the patio

It was a good weekend, but I can't say the things I accomplished warrant pictures, really. Doing regular house things like, oh say, cleaning. Laundry. Weeding the patio. Filling in the dog-dug holes in the backyard. Potting cat grass. Dishes. Cooking. Grocery shopping. These are things people are supposed to do all the time-- whether they're renovating or not-- right? I wouldn't really know. Spending every weekend on this little "project" meant we let our other house go to shit on a regular basis. I'm trying to keep up with things at this place now, while unpacking (still) and preparing for the final inspection. Sigh. Never enough time or money. I'm pretty sure that an abundance of one or the other of those things would solve the above dilemma.

The good news? The roofer stopped by yesterday and told us they had already pulled the permit for our house. YAY! But then again, this only brings us one step closer to making a trim decision. I'm starting to think perhaps a nice warm, deep gray? Or a gray/olive green-- Something like Sherwin Williams Ruskin Pewter or Green Bronze. I really wanted to do red-- like the picture a few posts below, but leaving all the vertical slats white-- but I'm getting a lot of negative feedback, albeit, some of it's from people like my mother who says, "I HATE all light colored houses with dark trim. So I won't like anything you show me. It looks country." She's a designer, who is perhaps a wee bit colorblind, but maybe I should rethink the red. I'm wondering if my overwhelming desire for a balance of color (as in, not all white) has led me a bit astray. I don't know. It's all a moot point until we get a roof, so. Hm.

Meanwhile, I tried some organic "no dig" granules in the yard and seeded over some of the bare spots. The granules were white pepper, thyme and peppermint oil. I also added some cayenne to the mix. First thing Simon did? He ate it. Apparently, unlike most dogs, he loves him some pepper. Next step is the designated digging area. Beyond that, I just keep sweeping the dirt back to its proper location every morning. Oh well.

I spoke too soon

I guess the quarter sized hail we had the other day actually did cause a little more damage. The HVAC inspector noticed some daylight coming through the roof yesterday. So I made Adam get up there and take care of it for me. I get vertigo, nausea. I can't get on and off the ladder at the top. Can't help but look down, and then it's all over for me. It's embarrassing.

But no worries-- we're supposed to be on the list to get our roof within the next week or two. The decking was plank, rather than plywood sheet, and some of the pieces that were broken by the hail have started to buckle, so whenever it happens, it needs to be soon.

And then we can get started on our new color scheme. I went to Lowe's last night and picked out, seriously, hundreds and hundreds of paint chips-- all the reds, greyish or olivey greens, and grays. I know they must hate me there, taking so many, but color corrected booths are the stupidest things I've ever seen. At any rate, I think we're now looking at a deep red with a very mid-tone gray (bordering on taupe, but more neutral) in addition to the existing white to accent the architectural features of the trim.

Can't decide much until the roof is on, but isn't it fun to dream?

or this?

The color keeps looking all wrong once I get it into blogger. It's a deep plummy red-- not purple, not brown, not burgundy. And not washed out grayish looking.

Regardless, the house just shouldn't be white. I just don't know if I'm mentally prepared to paint it another color.

40,000 Roofs

That's the number of new roofs being installed in Fort Smith. At least, that's what I overheard at Lowe's. Man. That's a lotta shingles.

We have picked out what we're going with. We decided on gray-- Owens Corning Oakridge Architectural shingles, to be exact, in Estate Grey. Well, we thought gray, as opposed to our current green 3-tab roof, would give us some more options in terms of trim color. Green basically left us with variations on green and red-- festive at Christmas, but I'd like something a little less seasonal all year-round, I think.

So of course, I couldn't resist some Photoshop time. I've done the trim with a gray/blue and with a plummy color...Next question will be, do we paint the rest of the trim one of these colors, too? And do we leave the house white? I think we leave it white but, I don't know!



That's a gable vent-- I just drew in a quick one; I start to lose my patience.

ALSO! I will gladly accept any other suggestions for trim colors and combinations-- all the help we can get!!!

HAha!*

Yesterday I called the city's building safety office and asked them if my file had "PROBLEM CHILD" stamped across the top in big red letters. He said that it didn't. But he laughed. I think maybe it does.

Remember back last fall when we got the CH/A installed? Yeah? You don't? Me neither. It was a long time ago. Well we finally got that attic trap door finished and were ready to get the mechanical inspection done. I called the inspector and he told me that the contractor who installed the thing has to call and schedule the appointment. I SWEAR TO something that I could not remember the name of the people who did it. They are so far out of the equation. So I'll have to call them to get that taken care of, wrap up the rest of the "repairs" and get the final. Then we have to get ANOTHER permit for the roof. Sigh. I was so ready to have the monkey off my back.

We've made a few more strides in the push toward a final inspection: tada! baseboards.


Adam rounded over the tops with the router. Easy peasey. Easy for me to say. Adam also primed all the backsplash panels and we started gluing them together this weekend with good old liquid nail and PL construction adhesive. He also painted the door jambs and the pantry door and got all the wet insulation out of the attic. Damn! He gets all the good jobs.

Meanwhile, still no word from the insurance people, but there's a lot of ground for them to cover. Everybody on the north end of town is gonna need a new roof. Everybody. My mom only lost one window, but they told her that her 10 year old roof is bruised-- not punctured, just bruised-- and she needs a new one. Everybody needs a new roof. We thought we had everything patched enough for last week's rain...


Hmmm. So we had to suck it up and do this (where "we"= Adam):


I know you can see that little blue spot. It's supposed to rain all week. Here's to hoping...

*(said in the voice of Nelson, of course)

Fingers crossed

Touch wood, lucky penny, shooting star, 11:11...I don't want to take any chances.

After almost one full week of drying out, tomorrow's forecast calls for rain-- possible severe thunderstorms. We've done some temporary patching to the roof, so I'm hoping for less rain on the inside of the house this time around.

The insurance people say that our interior damage puts us higher on the list, but there's still no telling when they'll get to us.

So no walking under ladders, guys-- I already had a black cat cross my path today...

(Just got a call saying it could be 4 weeks before anyone gets out to our house. Ugh. Any suggestions for making a big ugly hole in the ceiling look pretty? Lace? Dried flowers? Hole treatments? Help a girl out.)