Plateau Becoming The Great Plains?

TUESDAY'S CREW tore it up for me!
A huge shout to (back L-R) Kevin & Becky R., Ashley & Tyson W., Cody T., (front ) Ken and Jill V., Elizabeth P. (not pictured Matt & Laurie W.)!

Saturday
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Today was a good but tough day. I only had my sister Mary until 11:00 and then Jane M. help with the house. Today was also the intrastate rivalry of football - Iowa Hawkeye vs. Iowa State Cyclones, which I'm sure had some influence on attendance as well as the weather was perfect for folks to be starting their own yard winterizing. While it started out chilly (43) it warmed up nicely to be a great day (around the mid 50s I think). We had fantastic food once again (chilly that absolutely hit the spot!) unfortunately it was just the three of us that ate it.

As we were eating we discussed how the inspection of the electrical finally got approved yesterday and how that hopefully will move the project forward. Then I reminisced about the movie called "The Money Pit" with Tom Hanks about this house he bought with Shelley Long that ended up falling apart and then needed a contractor to fix everything. The master stairway fell as Tom was bringing up the stove-heated pot of water for his bath on the second floor. After risking life and limb to get up the stairs, he pours the water into the tub and as the last drop spills from the pot, the whole tub falls through the floor, etc., etc. The story being related to me not because of the pitfalls, but because every time something new would happen and they'd ask how long until things would be fixed, the contractor would always reply "ohhh, two weeks. (smile)" I can totally relate to that. It seems as though I've been saying we're THIS close to hanging drywall and that it'll start in TWO WEEKS. Inevitably there is something that pops up that requires two-three more days of work that needs to happen before I can get the inspectors in. Then they come back with a list of things to do that takes 3-4 days, etc. As Cheryl E. had mentioned at lunch today, 'sometimes you hit a plateau." "Yeah," I say, "but it sometimes seems this plateau is turning into the Great Plains." We all kind of chuckle, but then not. Just gotta hope that things continue to go well and the weather remains good so that we can continue to work every night and keep pushing as best we can.

Today Mary came back to finish the furring of all of the studs on the third floor. That is now complete so I can officially begin installing insulation on the 3rd floor. That's major progress because that allows me to get ahead a little so that when the final plumbing rough-in (RI) inspection is done, then a group can start hanging drywall right behind that while others continue installing insulation. It keeps things staggered so that progress can be made.

Speaking of the plumbing inspection, the plumber came over Friday and installed 2/3 of a new cast iron main drain and some other items. After doing his work he gave me a call and said he'd stop by today. Stop by he did, unfortunately it was to deliver his own little list of todos that I need to complete before having an inspection this Friday. The good news is that the plumbing inspector seems to be a bit more relaxed than the electrical, but still has a number of small things that need attention. although I was feeling good about my progress, I got another list of must-dos that Jane and I only started into today by framing out the cast iron pipe in the basement and also connecting the 2nd floor existing bath/shower drain pipe to it. That may sound simple, but it took us all afternoon to get the correct fall and cutouts in the studs. We accomplished quite a bit today even though the group was small in numbers.

I will now spend the remainder of this week getting that to do list done before Friday.

Tuesday
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Skipping to Tuesday evening, I've just finished working with another small group from church that volunteered for work that more than made up for the shortage on Saturday. As it turns out, having the extra day or two helped me to be better prepared for tonight's group to get most of the aforementioned plumbing todo list completed. HA! The Lord truly knows what he's doing and I need to relax and trust Him. It's a blessing that the group came tonight instead of Saturday as we finished more than 3/4 of the plumbing list as well as started a few other projects in the basement like some additional wiring, boxing in the heat ducts and running water lines for the outside spigots. Had I not had the additional time, I would not have had the materials needed to do the work and the Lord knew that. I just need to relax.

It just gets a bit trying some times because I'm getting a bit anxious by not being a long term routine. I so badly would love to be in a house that feels like home, that I can walk in and throw down the work bag, hug Ellie and start in on making dinner and relaxing for the evening with her by playing 'food' or reading books. I know it's just around the corner, but it on days like Saturday, it feels like a millennium away. Having fantastic friends and family have once again shown me that I need to trust the Lord and that he always provides in time of need.

Speaking of need, I could REALLY use 20-25 people this and next weekend for sure to start the insulation and hanging of drywall! If you haven't gotten Matt's email asking for volunteers this weekend, please try to fit me into your schedule as I've finally gotten to the edge of the plateau and I feel like I'm starting to climbing again.

Because I can't just let one of the (if not THE) biggest cheaters in our time go into the HOF without some sort of message - click here..