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. ;-)