House pics

The blue tarp is covering the subfloor on the addition - another step forward taken while Matt was out of town.

Matt ripping and tearing.

Kathy kicking up dust and Walker hightailing it out of the storm.

Happy Homesteaders.

Una and the Tree

Una had an unplanned adventure on Sunday. Matt and I were working in the Sister House and had the door open to the shed. The cats were wandering in and out, munching on grass and whatnot. Tom and Kathy arrived and let Walker (their black lab) out of the truck at the end of the driveway so he could run. First thing is saw? Una. He ran straight for her and she ducked behind the shed. Walker got there first and got a swipe for his troubles before Una hightailed it up the nearest tree. I don't think she has ever climbed a tree before and she seemed happy to stay up there for a while.

Per my usual self I was completely unstrung. I tried to be grown-up about it so that Tom and Kathy wouldn't see what a besotted idiot I truly am when it comes to Una but after she started mewing and looking panicked and the hail started slamming down from the clouds I demanded that Matt get the ladder and fetch her. She was about 20 feet up a snarly tree and we had trouble getting the ladder up to her. Matt was able to grab her and get her halfway down the ladder, getting a nasty scratch on the chest for his efforts. I took her down the remaining distance and got clawed up on the wrist. I don't mind though. I am happy she is back safe and sound. We all joked later about the stories she would tell the other cats in our absence. "So the dog came straight at me and I gave him what's what. Then after he left in shame I climbed the tree to survey my surroundings for more dogs to defeat." Ha ha ha.

Doledrums

Kudos to Tait for snapping me out of my posting funk.

I haven't been very forthcoming on the blog about how often Matt is out of town. Over the last 2 months I would guess he hasn't been home more than a total of eight days. Add that to stagnant house news and endless rain (save your comments stating the obvious - I KNOW I live in the Northwest. I am just adjusting) and I ended up feeling rather despondent. The last thing I wanted to do was recount all the ways I was feeling depressed.

Anyhoo - things are on the upswing. Matt is home, for a while at least. Yesterday Tom, Kathy, Matt and I knocked the snot out of the house, tearing down walls, vacuuming up spider egg sacs and pulling nails from boards. And the forecast for this coming week shows that there is the possibility of sun.

While Matt was away I found myself unexpectedly put to use at the Post Office. I am scheduled to work every Saturday but ended up working 4 and 5 days a week while he was in Los Angeles. Here is a picture I took of some friends on my route.

Una is (in)famous

Una's picture is up on Stuff on My Cat. Most visitors to this blog will have already seen the pic but I am sharing my excitement anyway. They put a new picture up every hour so if you want to see Una you will have to scroll down and perhaps click on previous posts. She is the one under the lamp.

Yay!

North Ogdenites Holla

(With Deepest Apologies to the Families Conrow & Jensen and all non-Ogden Friends)

You may remember a few months ago I was losing my mind. This was before I accepted that I am not master of the universe and there are some things my strength of will cannot conquer. I was talking with my mom on the phone and she must have heard the tremor of lunacy in my voice. A few days later a certified letter arrived with a check and a note demanding that it be used for an escape trip home - for goodness sake. I was finally able to take that trip during the first week of March.

Anyone from North Ogden should be able to immediately recognize the sign above. It is the marquee at Kirt's drive-in on Washington Blvd. My 16th birthday was announced to the world on that marquee and it seems the sign was not quite done with me. The owner of the drive-in is a friend of the family and he happened to call my parents right before I came into town. He decided to let the world in on my covert op. Now I will have to kill him.

The trip was very low key. Mostly just visiting with my mom, dad, Kim and Angie. I was also able to see an old friend from school (PreK-12!!!) and catch up on 20 years of history. Totally Awesome! (to revisit a phrase from back in the day). Since the trip was on my mom's dime I devoted all the time to the Tesch family and shamefully neglected the Conrows and Jensens. Sorry guys. Next time.

I know the secret

I now know the secret to making progress on the house. It is important that Matt and I not be present. Matt missed the foundation pour and we both missed a major milestone on Saturday. The house was dropped down onto the foundation. Matt was (and still is) in Los Angeles and I was delivering mail while it all went down. Thankfully Tom was there to help the workers and Kathy was there take some pictures.

I am wonder if progress will speed up the farther we get from home. What if we book a 2 week trip to Australia? Will we return to a finished house?Here the house is almost down. When it was just above the foundation they could see that it was off center about one inch. Tom used the CAT to push the house back on center.

Tom, inspecting something.

The house had been supported by 4 I-beams as it hovered 5 feet above ground for the last 4 months. Once the house was set down they used the CAT to pull the I-beams out.

Almost clear.

Paul, Ted & Jim - the merry band of rapscallions responsible for the house move and drop. You may remember the drama of the move and the death of our mover, Wayne. Paul and Jim are Wayne's sons who have taken over the company.