Saturday Crew Is Early

Everyone was Movin' & Shakin' Wednesday Night

This week the crew showed up and I mean REALLY EARLY - like Wednesday night! That's right, I had a crew of six people show Wednesday evening ready to do whatever I needed. It was a great bunch from Two Rivers Marketing - the agency that both Leslie and I worked for. Making a star appearance were John K., Jill V., Jill L., Ryan J., Karen S., and Julie S. - yes there were a lot of 'J's that night.

I am making preparations for bringing up the semi full of my old house NEXT SATURDAY and I needed to create some space for all of the stuff. In walk the crew from 2RM and BAM!! we're clearing away junk and organizing other junk that needs to stay! They kind of looked at me like - '18 months of tearing and repairing and we're moving boxes and sweeping your porch'? Yep, needs to be done so that the big day of moving can happen.

Well three hours later the 3-season porch and garage were cleared and organized, all of the hardware for the 2nd floor doors were taken off and placed in baggies and a good portion of the paint was stripped off of the top of the bar (that was mistakenly painted by the painters - MAJOR OOPS). We won't go into how many four letters words I uttered, well it was really only one word multiple times.
Ryan J uses VERY toxic stripper/John and Jill work and Julie is...?

John moves a heavy door/Jill V removes a hinge


As the group was departing for their homes and warm beds that no doubt provided a little rest for their very sore backs, we discussed how a 'small' group of six could get so much done. Simply put that was 18 hours that it would have taken to do that work - not to mention the additional time just due to the fact that when working alone it always takes longer because of the efficiency of two sets of hands working on the same project. In one night a lot was accomplished that will allow for this up coming weekend to really be possible.
Jill L works on the door handle/John & Julie work together

Julie isn't so sure he's doing it correctly/The group (minus Karen)


Another first was reached this past weekend on Saturday. It was the first weekend that we didn't take off, but I worked alone on the house. Not really abig deal at all, just an interesting fact to consider. For more than 62 weeks I have had at least one other person helping me on my house and in most cases many people. In some cases it was nice to work quietly by myself, but reality sunk in and I realized how much I didn't get done with such a 'big' weekend on the horizon and it was a bit disheartening. Oh well, there is next weekend, it will come whether I'm ready or not and that's good from any perspective. I might even have a couch to sit on in a week or so. No more 5-gallon bucket seats or plastic lawn furniture. Although I might just keep some of that in the house so I don't have to clean as much until more of the painting and final touches are put on each room. we'll have to wait and see.

Regardless I hung a sheet of drywall in the landing of the 2nd floor, moved a couple of switch boxes that were sticking too far out from the drywall, cut a few holes for plumbing and got to hang with Buddy during Coke breaks. All in all it was a good day. Just me and my trusted dog who has been through the deepest valleys of life with me. Sometimes the quiet progress made along side an old trusted friend ain't so bad.

The Big Unveiling: Part II

The BIG SURPRISE!

Last week Tuesday (the 11th) a gift finally found its home in Ellie's room that had been waiting to be delivered for over a year. Shortly after the New Year of '07 I received a call from some of the folks at Meredith Corporation from the Parents Branding team. They had heard of my story through a few different channels and really felt compelled to help out in any way they could, but they didn't know how right away. The right opportunity presented itself and they gave me a call right away.

It turned out that they had just finished taking pictures of one of their newest products and didn't have anywhere to store it and would usually have put it up for internal sale for the employees. Considering my situation and that Ellie didn't have anything yet, they wanted to donate to Ellie when her room was ready. I thought that was a great gesture, one that caught me off guard and I about lost it. It's those 'girly' moments that Ellie will have that I usually feel the hurt the deepest. Those are the moments that 'Mom' is supposed to share with their daughters. Sure dad can have them too, but they were the moments that Leslie absolutely lived for and so looked forward to sharing with Gabrielle. Here were folks that saw a void in a part of life that I wouldn't necessarily know what or how to give my little girl and gave me that. They gave me more than just a toy, they gave me the thoughtful package that covered it all - all the pieces, all the correct designs that girls like things I don't know about - and all I needed to do was show up with my little angel and be willing to play. Amazing. So many people have worked so hard so that I can one day just show up and play - I still don't know how to take that gift sometimes without getting all mushy.

Back to the story. The woman from Meredith named Sondra told me that she understood that I was still looking at bare studs (I don't think she fully understood just HOW MANY I was looking at though) and the when I had Ellie's room ready she would love to deliver the gift in person. I thought that was amazing and absolutely agreed that it should be a special time away from even the 'reveal' of the room to Ellie. every couple of months Sondra would write and ask how things were progressing and if the room was ready or not. Ever patient, she would always respond to my 'not yet' with the usual, well it's still waiting for you whenever it works best.

Well last week I gave the much anticipated shout to Sondra that the room was ready, Ellie had already seen her room (and loved it as you know) and it was time for another surprise for Ellie. She was completely excited, but her schedule was crazy busy and might be a challenge to get the whole team there. I told her whatever she wanted to do for scheduling was great by me since she had waited so patiently for me. We set the date for the 11th at 4:00. I was to pick up Ellie from Daycare and head over.

Ellie and I headed over last Tuesday to see what new 'prise? Daddy' was waiting. We arrived and saw that Toye and Barry were there and had set everything up, but Sondra was not able to attend because of business. We ran upstairs and went into the room to see a huge shape covered with a blanket. Getting behind it, we pulled back the cover to reveal a HUGE doll house that had everything from a sink and bath tub to stairs and even patio furniture! Man, this house has more in it than my real house. Ellie squealed with excitement and couldn't stop asking ' play Daddy, Play with me?!' Needless to say it was a huge hit.
The unveiling begins.../Ready? Set..

Oooh IT'S A DOLL HOUSE/Look at all the cool pieces!

The gift in perfect presentation/Thank you Meredith Parents Branding


Ellie and I have spent quite a bit of time in her new room playing with all of her new toys. Thank you all for you generosity. I honestly can't say thank you enough. My little girl has never stopped smiling throughout this whole ordeal and a lot of it is because you all never stopped sharing your smiles with us.

The OTHER Uncle

Last week I had uncle Tim, this week it was uncle Al - the O'Bannon boys are doing the name proud! I know my dad would have given anything to be here to help with this project and it's great that the Lord has made it possible for the changes in everyones lives to actually spend MORE time together now that we ever have in the past. It's actually kind of cool that I am getting to know my uncles from an adult point of view instead of what most have is a child's point of view. I praise the Lord that they have changed their lives somewhat to 'loop through' Des Moines when they are close. It's just that in the past, life hasn't really allowed that to happen easily, I'm glad that it does now. I get to see 'my dad' more often now in these men as the O'Bannon male personality is very recognizable in each of them as I'm sure it is now in me. It feels good to connect with family and stay grounded in who I am and where I came from.

My uncle Al stopped in after calling Friday evening as he was about to 'pass through on the way back to MN'. Just like that I had a crew of two and the dry wall might just make it up onto the bulk heads Ron framed last week. Then Brittany and Russ called and said they could give me either the morning or the afternoon - I of course took the afternoon - so I could get materials! THEN out of the blue Lola showed up in the afternoon! It was crazy, on a day when I started with no one specifically committing I ended up with a great group that really accomplished a ton.
Russ & Lola talk/...while Britter works

Britter put on finishing touches/Lola shows off the filler mess

Under threat of the painters coming, I finish varnishing the ceiling


Al and Russ took on the bulk head drywall - after I re-wired the 2 can lights that had to move to accommodate the new ceiling height. Then I moved into the basement bathroom and hooked up the water and waste lines and cut a few pieces of drywall that Russ screwed in place. Upstairs Brittany was working away at finishing (almost) the remaining staining and varnishing of the fist floor in the dining room and stairway. She, Grandpa and Grandma VR had come up twice during the week and had varnished those two rooms and really make a dent in what was left. So Britt went to work on that and Lola showed up later and helped with whatever Brittany needed (tack clothing and hole filling I believe).

After I have gotten back from the store with more plumbing supplies, I turned on the water and waited...nothing at first. Then I got good new and bad news. The good was that I now know that my floors drain to the main drain in the utility room - the bad news I had a good sized leak. The only up side was that I only had one sheet of drywall to remove to fix the problem. It seems that 'someone' didn't crimp the collar on the pipe leading to the fixture. Oh well, easily fixed. Next on the list was then to clean up after everyone so that the painters could start priming the basement woodwork on Monday. Man I knew starting the day it was a mess, but holy cow was there a ton of crap everywhere. It took me most of the afternoon on Sunday to put things away, hang two more sheets of drywall to finish out the basement bathroom and sweep. It was a great weekend of accomplishment and I can hopefully once again start to concentrate on the 2nd floor bathroom plumbing - that means a shower in the near future!! I mean I take showers now, just not at my house. ;-)

Four Man Crew

The 'Three Ass Bath'

It's been a while, but we had a great men-only crew of that set fire to the list of the to-dos, that also had plenty of 'stories' that impeded some of the days 'progress'. I just kidding, the stories just made the grunting and old bone creaking more palatable. I had my uncle Tim (who recently moved back to within 4 hours of Des Moines - good stuff), my brother (who lives almost exactly 4 hours from Des Moines now) and Ron V all arriving before the usual 10:00 - allowing us to get a few extra precious minutes in.

You know what, god provides just what you need when you need it. It may not always be to your timing or liking, but that's because He knows what you NEED, the rest is what you want. Anyway, I have had some 'challenges' with the HVAC (like the last 3 months it's been a coin toss every morning on whether my house would be 52 or 64 - but never 70) and with all the props to the installers they've always stayed to find the fix. It's been rough, but they (I think) have found the answer and I hope it takes care of itself and the electricity bills go down. Homey can't continue to pay $650/mo.! BACK to Saturday, because to the need to redo about 30% of the duct work, the bulkheads needing 'adjustment', so my framing guru Ron took that on with the part-time help from uncle Tim.
The newly 'adjusted' air ducts/Ron pres for new framing

But first makes the old framing square/The basement bath

Sean doesn't always believe me/Time makes sure the time is right



Because the bathroom situation is still in the air, we needed to prep the basement bathroom for the existing toilet and sink - that means finishing the drain and supply lines and hopefully hooking those up. Then laying the backer board for the tile floor for the correct toilet height and wiring. Well Sean and Tim stayed on that as best as possible considering for once I forgot a few supplies and played runner in between hooking up the outlets in the bar area and helping the the dining room. They yanked the sink out of the first floor bath but left the toilet as I couldn't hook up the water supply because there were no more PEX o-rings in the city of Des Moines. After searching 6 different stores - the Lowes in Altoona was the only other store to carry them, actually be open on a Saturday and still had 4 bags of 10 in stock - I bought 2! Needless to say everyone was long gone for the week by the time I had gotten back. Thank you VERY much gentlemen - you really took the weight off my shoulders when it was really starting to build. Little did I know that more was on the way.
Lunch is where all stories are welcome/And so is Buddy these days

We talk through the to do list/Tim cuts some drain pipe

Photo Shoot and the Ladies

The work of many months and many hands

This week was a ginormous week for the O'Bannon home - the first photo shoot took place on Thursday and Friday! This concludes the work on the kitchen! I find it very ironic that the kitchen was the first to be completed because it was such an albatross for me in some many ways. The great thing is that it is done (minus some details like staining some trim work and putting on a knob or two on cabinets) and I can now cook dinner for Ellie. I'll be happy to take suggestions and/or recipes for our first meal.

The crew that shot the kitchen were great and really did a fantastic job of making my kitchen look like 'something out of a magazine'. Yes that sounds funny because it's obvious, but really, I never thought anything of mine would ever be in a magazine, let a lone one that thousands of people would see. I am in the world of advertising and marketing and it still amazes me how much things are made for appearance and how with the right kinds of talent and knowledge things can be transformed so dramatically. I have said this before, but Jeni the designer made my kitchen into on that is a 'wow' kitchen. I was just focused on making it really functional and it would probably have been 'nice' but Jeni and her team of professionals are truly amazing. Thank you Jeni, thank you Meredith, thank you all of the manufacturers who donated and helped create a room in my home that I will love to use for many, many years to come. I will keep everyone in suspense regarding the final images because I want you to go out and buy the magazine. Heck buy three and give them away to your friends! As far as I know the article will be in the Summer '08 Kitchen Makeovers which should hit the shelves on or around June 17th.
Photographer gives direction/Then takes a peek

The group talks about the next shot/Jennifer E cleans a bit

Jennifer gets into the cracks/Jeni and photogragher talk over final shots

The mess that make the beauty shots possible


Saturday was a relaxed work day. Brittany and Caryn surprised me by popping in to help shortly after Shana did the same. I spent most of the day using stripper to pull off the paint on the door jams going into the basement and the two strips of moulding that go in the entryway. Shana finished the sanding of the stairway but then was off to watch her boys. Brittany tack-clothed the entire entryway including the stairs and filled holes with putty. Caryn meanwhile was also filling holes and sanding the dining room and got 98% done which was great because I really want to be done with all of the dust. Getting the varnish up in the last two rooms would be awesome because it seals that dirt and dust and there's no more creating dust (besides that which will be created when we finish the 2nd floor bathrooms). I just want to be done with the first floor and maybe move my stuff in. It would be great to live in my entire house and not just my master bedroom. Listen to me - whine, whine, whine. I am thankful to be IN my house. Living in the dust though does wear on me and it's an every-moment reminder that I have a lot of things waiting to be completed.
Caryn tells Buddy to move/Then gets after a tight spot

Britter looks for dusty spots/I watch for paint leftovers

Working side-by-side let's Brit and I talk


The coolest thing of the day though was the conversation. It was great to have family around and talk while we worked. Growing up that's how the O'Bannons kept the lines of communication open. We'd work outside on the yard or the house or whatever and we'd always pass the time with talking. Some of us could multitask better than others - Elisha was a big talker - but we would get things accomplished and we had fun doing it. Saturday was like that too, but with Leslie's family and Shana. There have been some very odd moments in the past few months within the family and I think Saturday was a great day because conversation flowed easily, the topics ranged from color palettes to kids to dusty floors to Leslie to the future all without too much of a pause or awkwardness. Communication is so much of my make up (if you've ever spent 5 minutes with me you'll know that 4 1/2 minutes of that someone is talking) that I really need the people around me to talk and to address whatever's in front of them. I do this whether people are ready for it or not - which sometimes creates weird moments - but I expect those around me to do the same. If you're not able to address life you'll always get run over by it. Saturday we talked a lot about life but more importantly we addressed some uncomfortableness that needed to be talked through. I am just starting that trek into the future where tough moments creep in and so far I've faced every one head on every time. It makes me really feel great that the people I love are willing to do the same. Thank you ladies for spending your Saturday with me and talking, I look forward to our next discussion.

Destruction In Socks!

A repaired Dining Room ceiling

A gracious crew worked last Saturday in their tube socks - thank you. It's a new rule of the house - please be respectful of the VERY expensive refinished floors and take your shoes off at the door, even to tear our drywall. I'll tell you that the nails and screws get picked up pretty quickly ;-) Actually, it was some minor work and we'll get to that.

First a huge thank you to Shana, Kirby, Ron, Lola and Ryan for giving up your Saturday to help me. I still sometimes shudder at the thought of people giving up one of their most prized possessions - their time - to help me get into this house. I know that without your generosity I would be completely lost, frustrated and most likely homeless.

Anyway this weekend we tore out a bit of drywall that I damaged during the removal of the 2nd floor bathroom walls. When there are 1"-thick concrete walls to be removed, that's a job for nothing less than a sledge hammer and that of course leads to 1/2" drywall on the other side being damaged. I think I did a pretty decent job in not completely destroying the drywall, but nonetheless it still needed to be repaired - and by that I mean removed and replaced. So maybe I didn't do as great a job as I think - at least I had fun swinging the sledgehammer after many months of not being able to break stuff. Ron and Kirby delicately cut and removed drywall from the hallway wall and then went into the basement to do the same so the HVAC guys can redo some of their work so I have sufficient heat on the 1st floor and basement.
Ron CAREFULLY moves the switch wires/Kirby advises

Kirby removes small pieces/The finished work

Still needs a floor, some walls, a ceiling.../But electrical works!


So while Kirby and Ron were creating dust, the rest of the group was stripping paint (Lola), moving around a lot of old stuff to make room for more stuff (and maybe a truck) in the garage. Lola had the dubious job of breathing fumes of paint stripper trying to prepare the door jams going into the basement so they can be painted. Ryan and myself moved things around in the garage, threw away lots of unnecessary (until I need it a month from now) lumber and misc building materials. We moved things from the center of the garage floor to better wall spaces so that hopefully I can actually park in my own garage. It's a dream I have to one day park in my own garage, but it's one I think can be possible in say eight months...I hope I'm kidding. we also threw away all of the boxes and such from the kitchen appliances that were installed in preparation for this week's photo shoot! It's finally here folks - the kitchen will be complete by the end of the week! I hope to take a few photos of the madness so you can see what goes into making something that looks ordinary into something that inspires millions of people to better their own home. I still can't believe that this house will touch so many people's lives and hopefully inspire them to better their own living spaces. Never in a million years did I ever think that anything of mine would ever do that. The cool part is what what I mostly did no one can ever see - the planning, the plumbing, the floors - things that make it all work and someone else made it inspiring. I think I like that idea, being behind the scenes but still an integral part of a greater good. I think that could be a whole separate blog entry that maybe I'll touch on sometime later.
Lola gets into the details/Removing paint is never fun

Ryan reads the hazard label/As I use bare hands with the stripper



Moving on, Ron and I did something that has been needing to be completed since before Thanksgiving - we recycled a truckload of cardboard that was in the back of Babe the Truck. I really needed the truck a few times to haul somethings, but it was always full, so we drove her over to the recycling yard and gave away a ton (almost literally) of boxes. It felt good that some things of this house are reused, and when it's possible recycled.Off the top of my head I can think of the pop cans, (duh) all of the cardboard that protected the floors during the entire destruction phase, I have given away the old steam registers, the old tub from the other Drake area house, the wood flooring was all repaired by salvaged wood, the entire first floor woodwork is original, it just goes on and on. It's good to not just use all new, although I have definitely put a lot of new into the house I'm trying to keep the old too.

Shana helped clean, move things in the garage and wathed EllieBird in her room. I thought I'd share some of the photos from their play date. she's growing SO fast and I so badly look forward to living in this house with her and playing with her in the yard, in the basement, in her room. I look forward to making her dinner at night and watching cartoons with her on Saturdays. Your prayers and help have made all of that start to become a reality.
Little EllieBird smiles pretty/Then shoes off her shiny shoes

See, the sparkle!/Oh I'm sure they will grow way to fast...

A half smile/...and then a good story

C'mon Buddy, pose for the camera/I will not..

Okay, here's stately/You happy? I'm done.


It was a great week and I'm excited for the photo shoot so that will be over with and we can finally have a home-cooked meal after 16 months of eating out.