Oh Yeah BABY!!

I am SOOO EXCITED! Check this out:



That's our new water service!!! Well, the hole anyway!! I am so excited and can't believe how fast things are starting to move! I haven't written in a week (since we found Stella's stash) and already so much has been ADDED to the house!!! We now have all the ductwork (Nathan just informed me that is one word -- oh the things you learn as the wife of a rehabber), the electricians are in the house today, installing the new electrical service, the plumber is scheduled to start tomorrow, and we got a great quote back for our windows!! This day is great!

I just wanted to also say thanks to our families. Without you guys, this would not even be close to possible. Thanks for your hardwork, time, patience, the loans, and the support we need to help us get through this. You guys are the best!

NO SHIT?!?!

YAHOOO!!!! The coolest thing just happened!!! So Nathan bought lunch for Wally and Jimmy Dean's cousin Bob Evans (our HVAC guys...I kid you not, the guy's name is Bob Evans and his cousin really is a Jimmy Dean -- James Dean Somethingorother) whose last day is today. They were sitting downstairs and Wally (the nicest guy EVER!!!) was staring at an old rag in the ceiling. "Man, you better get that down, I bet it's money," he joked with Nathan. Nathan jokes back that the only things we've found in the ceiling (after much excitement and hope for more might I add) are an old, dirty pair of pantyhose, and an old washboard. Well...what was in the dirty old rag? $1200 bucks! SWEET HOLY HELL! We gave Wally a finders fee of 200 bucks, but I feel like we should have given him more!! Yeah for Wally!!

The killer is that Nathan and I have removed EVERY ceiling in the house. Nathan knows that house better than anyone could imagine! The house has been gutted mind you! Infact, the rag was 6 inches from a header Nathan and installed not more than a month ago. My head was RIGHT THERE!!! Never even took a gander!

Anyway, we figured it was Stella's stash. She must have put it under the floorboard as savings. Yeah for Stella! I always knew I would have liked her if I met her!

Stripping is my life!

Stripping is my life. Not really now, but it will be. We walked through our house last night and decided that the only way we were to get everything done in our estimated time frame of 6 months, (please oh please God let us get in there on time) we would need to create a calendar and stick to it. After assessing all woodwork to be stripped, I glanced down at our list and saw that in the 23 weeks left, we have over 26 doors, windows, and large baseboards left to strip. Broken down, that means we will be stripping woodwork for the next 6 months. Straight. Don't call, don't write, don't email...we will be stripping. Thanksgiving, we will be stripping. Christmas, we will be stripping. New Years, Groundhogs day, January 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., we will be stripping.

It's actually sort of exciting to think about. I have decided that it is a good thing! In fact, a great thing! If I can just focus on our schedule (this week will be one of the living room windows), than before we know it, 6 months will have passed, and our house will be our home! It gives me something to focus on, to see it as one thing at a time rather than all of this at once! Hooray for stripping woodwork!