Full Speed Ahead

We are back in business. They are forming like mad to make up for lost time and have the foundation wall pour scheduled for Monday. We'll provide some pictures then...

Ug. Mama Said There Would Be Days Like This...

The first snag. It had to happen sometime. Its too bad that we ran into it before we even got the foundations complete!

The drilled pier layout was a few inches off. It seems the layout guy miscalculated a wall thickness, which resulted in the misplacement of a line of drilled piers. The good news is that they are only 4 inches off, the bad news is that we've been staring at an empty hole for two days now as the engineer develops a proper fix. Its mid 70's all this week - great weather for making progress. Unfortunately progress will also have to wait for the engineer. Next week is calling for rain so its got to happen quickly!

April showers bring.... MUD!

We think the snow might be done, but now it's raining. We got about 12 inches of snow over the last day and a half. It will make for an interesting Monday for the workers.

It's quiet and snowing...

Since it rained all afternoon and early evening yesterdayand then started so snow, there is nothing going on at our house today. Hopefully the workers are resting up for a busy week next week!

Today's Excitement (so far)

I am quickly learning that there is always something with a construction project. Yesterday we had a gas leak underground which prompted a quick call to the Excel Big Wigs. It was a relatively easy fix and it solved the question of the mysterious gas smell that we've had for a while. When we went downstairs to re-light the pilot light on the water heater we found water in the pan. I thought that was OK, maybe just the overflow??? Good thing I'm not in charge, because apparently it isn't. Our "Cadillac" of water heaters has a flat tire! It's only three years old, so it's under warranty and Total Plumbing is out here for the day replacing it.
We are also drilling for the piers (foundation) today, so once again we have a big drill rig machine in our backyard and lots of noise. When they connected their hose to our house for some special concrete saw, they chose to use the hose bib that is broken (oops we forgot to mention that to our superintendent, Paul) and water quickly started pouring into the basement pantry room through the wall. It was a race to round up enough towels and I broke my cardinal rule of only using 'garage' towels for spills. We didn't have enough so I started using the guest towels - sorry guests!
More pictures to come...

We are Ready to Rumble!!!

We had our "Official" groundbreaking on Sunday, April 12th where Brendan and I shoveled the ceremonial dirt at the job site. How quickly things changed. On Monday, the excavation began, our east trees came down, the driveway and garage slab disappeared and a dirt hole appeared on the side of our house.

The dirt pile keeps growing and Owen claims he is King of the Hill!

We had our 4 west side Cottonwoods removed last week before there wasn't any room to get them down. Brendan spent the entire day working with our tree guys as they chainsawed, mulched, and craned the large trunks into the truck! Goodbye Cottonwoods and Tirehorse Swing!

J&B June - December, 2008

Happy New Year, Everyone --

My last post was Memorial Day, so I thought I would catch you up on everything since then. Most of it you already know, but here goes...

In June we went to visit Granny McKeldin in Baltimore, like we always do. She was in good spirits, and really enjoyed her time with Barbara. She went to dinner with us and had her favorite crabcakes, but otherwise they mostly stayed around the "home" catching up on family and friends. In our free time, Barbara and I took walks around the neighborhood, visited bookstores and Buckys, and enjoyed the wonderful June weather in Baltimore. I went to the Naval Academy a couple of times and golfed, which was a special treat for me.

When we returned, we had the rare pleasure of dog-sitting Jameson for a couple of weeks, and we spoiled him rotten. He had the run of the neighborhood and the football field, and was much less concerned about his well-being than we were. We couldn't imagine him tangling with a "rez-dog" or a snake, but he still stuck his nose down every prarie dog hole. When he wasn't sleeping or outside, he sat by the door looking for new friends.

Then Garret and Owen arrived, and we had them all for a couple of days. The kids had fun with Grammy, and we were sad to give all of them back to the parents.

Much to Barbara's dismay, she had to go back to work at the beginning of August, so August and September were same ol', same ol'. But then in October we went back to Denver because Barbara's week off coincided with the Air-Force - Navy game. Brendan, Garret and the Williamses went to the game with me, which was a lot of fun, and Navy won. When we got back to Crownpoint, the Bergs from Kelso arrived for the weekend, and we went to Chaco Canyon, where we had an unfortunate flat tire in the middle of nowhere. Then we went to El Morro and to Zuni. The Bergs also had the experience of going to a Navajo Rug Auction, but did not leave with a treasure.

Speaking of the rug auction, Grampa and Sig have now been to two of them, and they have the bug. So we anticipate seeing a lot more of them in Crownpoint in 2009.

Then came November and December, which were a whirlwind. We planned to go to Vancouver for Thanksgiving, and Denver for Christmas, with a short interlude for Brendan and I to attend the Army - Navy Game. Then Granny took seriously ill, and died just before Thanksgiving, so we also went back to Baltimore for services and the funeral. Brian and Brendan also went to the funeral, which was a great comfort for Barbara and me. We still managed to do everything that was planned, and finished off the year tired but happy.

I'm writing this on January 5th, where we are snowed in at Crownpoint. There has been over a foot of snow that has fallen in the last 2 days, school is cancelled again, so the Christmas holidays will last over 3 weeks. We are concerned that all of the school closures will cause Barbara to have to work into June to make up the days. Well, we will see.

All the best to everyone in 2009. We have a lot to be thankful for, and much more to look forward to.

We love you,

Barbara and John