Remodel. Day 7.

With the miserable wet weather, and the lake under the house (did I mention that we're built on heavy packed clay, and when it rains, we get an 'indoor pool' in the crawl space?), Maurice and Louis thought that the floor would benefit from a few days of 'wood acclimation', so once they'd put the sub-floor in, and had made sure that the new oak would flow seamlessly from the old oak, they went off and did someone else's floors for a few days (I guess. They could've been on a world cruise, or rebuilding drag racers, or teaching Calculus at the local community college. All I know is that there was a bit of a break while the lagoon under the house dried up)

But the last few days have been bright and sunny (my condolences to those of you who have been suffering through spring snow), and Remodel Day Seven dawned with hope and promise.

Maurice and Louis (You'd think they were French from hearing their names, but you'd be wrong) arrived after I'd taken the kids to school (in the dim light - oh, Daylight Savings has once again kicked me in the butt), and started right in, hammering and sawing, with the front door wide open.

I made them a pot of coffee, and I was quite amazed at how much floor they could motor through while I put all of Ken's ironing to bed (oh, and I may have watched too much Perry Mason and a few JAG episodes, too) I was under the gun a bit. Because the hope was that the front room would be finished today, and then tomorrow would require that we move EVERYTHING out of the family room and laundry room in preparation for the TILE!

PG&E showed up around 1pm, wondering what exactly it was that I had wanted to do that had made me purchase an Electrical Panel Permit at the city office.

Um, I'm sorry, dudes, I have NO IDEA what I'm doing in the electrical panel. That's why I hired an electrician. But we had a nice chat, and I discovered that the permitting and RULES! RULES! RULES! at City Hall are even MORE onerous a few cities to the north.

And then Our Contractor showed up with the beloved building permit. So we don't have to worry about some petty Cease And Desist order coming out of left field. I have put the permit up, taped to the inside of the front window, so anyone can see it from the street, and know that we are doing Everything By The Book.

(But, as an aside, we will NOT be doing the dumpster by the book. Contractor phoned me on Friday, and I could hear the 'OMGWTFBBQ' in his voice. Apparently, just for the PRIVILEGE of having a dumpster parked in front of our house, the City would require us to purchase a permit. "No biggie," I said. "We need a permit, you should get a permit." He laughed a nervous little laugh, "A SIX HUNDRED DOLLAR permit?" he asked...

Er... let's check on alternatives to getting a dumpster!

But... happy thoughts! Happy thoughts!

I am happy to announce, the oak is done. The beautiful little oak heating vents are installed and looking lovely, and it's time for the nail-biting to commence, as we discover WHAT is under the carpet in the family room, first thing tomorrow morning. We're expecting the tile to be delivered on Thursday or Friday.

But in order for that to happen, I'll have to shut down here. The computer desk needs to go up to Kelly's room, and all the furniture needs to migrate out onto the unfinished oak.

Kids! Keep the food out of the front room, under penalty of Grave Bodily Harm!