Temperature Drops, Trim Goes Up

This week it got cold and thankfully I had the heating turned on by the Heating company! Right now we have roughly 4 inches of snow on the ground and I refuse to shovel the drivevway yet. It supposed to get up to 40 tomorrow and I'm holding out for the snow to be melted rather than removed by my sore back. Sore back because we've been busy at it again this week, getting a few steps closer to moving in.

This past week the installers of trim and molding began installing the trim for the second floor for Meredith. They got most of the master suite, the extra bedroom and Ellie's room started and in some areas even completed. The rooms are really starting to morph into rooms that actually resemble livable spaces. Although everything is still primer white and natural wood, they are now starting to show their original charm that Leslie and I first saw as we walked through together over a year ago. The craftsmanship in the details is everything in this house and some of those things are beginning to be put back together.

The master bedroom mess/A man's breakfast!

The master bath windows/Directions for drywallers

More directions...


The crew I had last Saturday (17th?) did a great job in prepping for this week's work as well as moved along the progress pretty well. They began the installation of the sub-floor in the basement, Great GPA V.R. finished staining the first floor windows and varnishing everything with a first coat. The sub-floor on the third floor also got repaired on top of the stairs where the major water damage happened before I bought the place. It was also installed in the bedroom up there so that carpet can be installed at a later time. There's really only some minor fixes left and then it's ready. The crews have really been the right size for the jobs that are at hand. It is amazing that the Lord provides what I need to get the next step, even when I'm not always sure that that will be from one week to the next.

Today I worked with a small crew that consisted of myself, good friend Todd V., and Ron V.Ron continued the work in the basement while Todd and I tried to sort through the boards of the original woodwork. That is one daunting task of figuring out what was where and how it all cam apart 11 months ago. We found 90% of what we needed and the remaining 10% will probably need to be re-cut from the wood not being installed. That's eludes to a rather large bummer we came across on Friday, none of the window trim can be re-installed because the new windows are larger than the originals. So hopefully staining new wood won't put us too far back in the schedule of painting and then moving in.

Friday's 'crew' talks it over/

The mess of trim in the dining room/BUT there IS a map ;-)

Dave cuts some trim to fit/Mike measures another piece

Don talks the details w/ Mike/There's more waiting

Their machine waits for another day/As do the hand tools


Every night I go to the house to clean and straighten and do small jobs. It really is amazing at how quickly the house is once again moving ahead. It not only is 'looking more and more like a house' but it's really starting to build the excitement of living in my home. Hopefully that home is mostly ready for Christmas ;-)

A Year Ago This Week

Starting off, this week has seen a lot of changes and honestly I'm not really sure where this entry is going, so bear with me if I wander a bit. We had a small crew on Saturday but managed to get quite a bit done. I had Sean and Sarah and Gpa Vande Ree over on Saturday.

Sarah touched up the missed spots on the ceilings on the first floor while Grandpa stained more windows and then gave all stained windows a first coat of varnish to protect them from all of the dust that will be in the air. Essentially sealing them so later coats can be applied as the trim is reinstalled and it all can be finished in one swoop. It's amazing to see the details starting to come together and to see actual colors being applied throughout the house instead of stud-yellow or dust-cardboard-brown.

Sarah Paints the hall/Grandpa varnishes the windows

Go Grandpa, Go!


Sean and I spent the entire day taking things out and putting things in the house with a large telehandler. If you're not familiar with the construction world, a telehandler is a large forklift-like machine that has a telescoping arm that will reach to great heights. The machine I rented would reach to 36' and we needed every inch to reach the third floor.

We removed all SIX steam heat radiators which was a MAJOR event in of itself. The two that were in the third floor room weighed over 700 pounds each! Seriously, not real sure how I didn't blow out my back or Sean didn't have a blood vessel burst in his forehead. I had always thought part of the plan was to take them out, refinish them and replace them in the house (maybe one per floor) as a decorative item in the room. Now that they are out and I really don't want to test my back again, I'm at least considering, they may not make it back into the house. I'll take a look at how much it would cost to have them sand blasted and repainted vs. selling them online or to a salvage place and make a decision then. Jeni, the designer, is hoping that I don't put them back in. I might do so just so she'll have a design challenge ;-) We then lifted all of the trim boards for the second floor into what will be Ellie's room so that the installers could begin on Monday. That brings up another story of Meredith special interest magazines stepping in to design a few rooms for issues coming next Spring/Summer. I'll touch more on that later. We also lifted the last two windows up so they can be installed Friday. After that, my house will be sealed up with no drafts or flapping plastic!!! That hasn't been the case since January 13th! Finally, we hoisted the new bath tub for the master bathroom. That tub is HEAVY and HUGE! it's such an odd size that it took quite a bit of maneuvering and melon-scratching to get it in the air and through the window safely. The one thing I forgot to take out was the extra drywall, which at this point may prove to be an issue, but I'll deal with it later.

I lift the pallet to the 3rd floor/Grandpa watches closely

Sean & I STRUGGLE to move ONE register/THe Tub goes in the 2nd floor

Sean guides in the tub/I try not to hit the house

Sean thinks I got too close to the wall


This week was also the anniversary of the crash. I have a lot of things swirling in my head that I'm not sure will come out intelligently or is appropriate or even are things you care about, but I'll say them anyway.

The local news station taped a story and was aired on Monday evening locally and Tuesday evening elsewhere. The affiliate stations aired it in the Chicago/South Bend area for sure, don't know about other areas. If you haven't seen it, check it out here http://www.kcci.com/video/index.html. It's listed as 'Two Rivers Plane Crash First Anniversary' on the right in the navigation. I thought it was really well done and was really surprised at how much they had me on considering the other people are better looking, although Ellie is pretty darn cute!

How I know it aired in IN is because I took Tuesday off from work and drove to the crash site. I visited with the farmer and his wife who own the land. As you can imagine, when I was there last year I didn't really get to know them and wanted to see how this had affected them and how they were doing with it. Beyond the financial impact which really is of little concern in the larger picture, they were deeply affected by this and have since invested a great amount of time and money into creating a memorial at the crash site that is 200' due East of where the plane crashed. It was one of the most beautiful memorials I have seen and was done with great taste and thoughtfulness. Dale and his wife are faith-based people who are easy to talk to and who are hurting with every member of the families that lost a loved one that cold November night a year ago. While differently, they feel the pain of how immediate loss can be absolutely devastating. I talked with them for a few hours and went on my way to South Bend to stay with a friend's family for the night.

Front reads 'May this always be a place of rest for souls on their journey to heaven'

The back lists all who perished/A reminder of hope

Leslie N. O'Bannon 6/1/79-11/13/06

The temporary marker of the actual crash site


I didn't really know what to expect in my trip to IN and I'm not sure I really know yet the full effect it had on me. I know that I followed through on a promise I made a year ago when I visited the first time and that was to see the sunset on the night of the anniversary. It was amazing to see the hand of the Lord once again create an amazing display of color, serenity and calmness. I talked with the Lord and asked what He wants from all of this. There wasn't an immediate response other than the peaceful chirping of the birds, the stillness of the cool night and the calm settling in my heart.

There have been many great moments in the past year, there have have been many very tough moments. Through them all I have felt the Lord holding me up. Literally, I have often 'felt' the strength keeping me upright when I shouldn't have been able to stand, I have thought and said the words that I couldn't have thought, I have given hugs when I really needed to receive hugs. I don't know exactly what it is the Lord wants with me or this situation, and I have said this to a few people, but I feel that He wants this to have a great impact. On what, on whom, for how long I have no idea I just know that I have to trust that He won't let me go, He will continue to hold me up and give me the words that will continue to connect people together. I'm not really sure what I'd do if He didn't. Which leaves me no other option - I must trust Him, I must continue forward, the alternative is not an alternative.

More than you know, you have helped me to see this. You have prayed, given me your hours of service, given me countless hugs when I've needed them, given my words of encouragement. You have prayed when I didn't know it and you have prayed when I asked and you prayed with me. You have showed me the love of the Lord and I thank you. If I have shown the love of the Lord, it is because I have reflected that which is given to me. I still have a tough time trying to comprehend that love that has been given to me and not completely feel humbled by it. There have been a few times when folks have said that I'm amazingly strong, honestly I am only because the people around me have been fighting with me and lifting me up. You have been the hand of the Lord that continues to push me forward and keep me on the path that I'm traveling. You have helped me in more ways than I can list. Thank you for standing beside me in this extremely difficult time in my life. I could never have gotten here without you and I will continue to need you in the future. Less and less as the days go by, and hopefully there will be a time when you can lean on me. Thank you friend, I am forever be indebted.

-- John

White on White

Well right off I have to apologize for not remembering the memory card for the camera to take pictures on Saturday of the painting crew. Kind of ironic when you think about it. Anyway I had a great crew of 11 that showed up ready to rock and roll about 9:30/10:00. In the group were veterans Elisha, Ryan V., Heidi N., Shana D., Ron & Kirby V., Russ & Caryn VH., and newcomers Mike & Carol S.

The group tore into finishing the priming in the basement and did a great job knocking that out to keep the whole house on the same page. So many times I've run across the comment of "oh that can be done later.." It really can't because I see it as a priority because as soon as the crews leave for the first three floors, they leave for good. It's a tough thing, but the basement is just as important a part of the living space as the first floor is. The first floor will be used by guests and is more formal, where as the basement is still for guests, but it's less formal and allows me a space to work out and relax and an area for Ellie to play with friends without the stress of breaking things. That's not to say that the bar has to go in first (although I'm sure the work crews wouldn't mind benefiting from that) but the fitness room and play area really mean a lot to Ellie and me moving forward.

So the basement primed, everyone moved back to the third and second floors to paint the ceilings. It took a little bit for everyone to get on the same page to paint the same way and using 5-gallon buckets instead of trays, but it all fell into line. Soon enough we were cruising along, listening to the Iowa Hawkeyes catch up and eventually beat the Northwestern Wildcats. Cruising along I jumped outside to help Russ spread straw on the newly seeded yard to help get a head start on grass before winter setts in. We were setting up a temporary fence when Elisha came out to ask that I come and see the work in the house. Seems that the paint isn't covering as well as it should. Looks like there's going to need to be a second coat. Great. Looks like painting is going to take longer than expected - just like everything else. oh well, just keep pushing I suppose.

Over lunch the discussion sort of turned to how 'quickly all of this has come together'. Which then got me to thinking about major dates of turning points along the way. Painting the walls is of course one of them, but then I tried to go back and recall others,. Here are a few that I can remember or point specifically to:
Jan. 6th - Signed the papers of ownership & Laid out cardboard
Jan.13th - Hammers sent a flyin' - clouds of nasty follow - for months
Feb. 24th - Main support beam in the Master Bedroom is installed - raising the ceiling 2"
Mar. 24th - Kitchen 'nook' walls 'taken down' Matt S. whines a lot about almost dieing
Mar. 31st - Raise the breakfast nook from it's foundation
Apr. 7-11th - The backyard is cleared of trees
May 12th - Breakfast nook header fixed! One large kitchen now!
May 19th - Kitchen foundation rebuilt
Jun. 2nd - I break my hand, 1st sheet of drywall goes up in wash room , it's a while befor the rest goes in
Jul. 7th - The crew surprises me with a new play area for Ellie
Aug. 25th - Planting of the flower beds by a HUGE crews goes well - then I water a lot
Sept. 10th - Start installing insulation
Sept. 29th - starting installing drywall on 3rd floor - then waited some more
Oct. 6th - Completed insulation and sealing exterior walls
Oct. 11th - Final approval on the Plumbing!
Oct. 12th - Drywallers come and hang the house in TWO days
Oct. 20th - Drywall finishers are done, we start priming
Nov. 3rd - Started painting final colors - ceilings white

Wow, put in that context the year was packed with success and it went way too quickly! Here we sit in November, almost a year from the accident and SO much has been taken, SO much given and SO much to look forward to. It's almost too much to think about in just a few minutes.

It was kind of interesting to talk through some of those dates. I know there are others like when the wiring and plumbing were finished and the day the lawn irrigation was installed and the day that the crew from Pella came up an totally rebuilt my back yard and the list could go on and on. The greatest thing about all of that is I couldn't have done it without the grace of God providing the people, their talents, the materials, the great weather (except the COLD Saturdays from Jan. through March), the knowledge shared and the many laughs and hard times shared by all in the house and those reading this blog. It has proven to shape and mold me as a person. It's given me perspective and opinions, appreciation for detail and gratitude of generosity. It's kept me humble and grounded while continuing to uplift and inspire me. Some people have said that I inspire them, I'm not sure that I always see that but I'm happy that others are receiving blessings as well. Many years from now I'm sure I will look back on this and say with conviction that this was a life-altering experience, I hope that when that time comes I chose the correct path to walk and that the people who are touching my life now remain connected to me then. In the end my faith has sustained me but the love and kindness of from the people around me have made me stronger and confident that all is not lost and that even out of very hard times great things can be created.