Building the White House: Can we just build a boardroom if we're going to be having all these meetings?

I never thought that many people would fit up on the top of that hill of ours. Workers were crawling all over the place yesterday -- roofers, framers, electricians, the cabinetmaker, us, the contractor. If ever we had an inclination to live inside a drum, Wednesday obliterated that idea. The hammering...the sawing. But we are well on our way to a new homestead.

On Tuesday, Indy, Noel and I met with John (the electrician) to talk lights, televisions, speakers, outlets for my hairdryer. It was smooth and uneventful. We then met up with David our materials-man, who so far has been responsible for ordering doors, windows, lumber (and the one who's responsible for those big bills we keep getting -- no more, please), and took measurements for the rock fascia that will make our home so PRETTY! Oh, our day was only getting started. We stopped by the paint store to collect more swatches for exterior colors, which we've narrowed down to about five. Since Indy doubles as our painter/trim-guy extraordinaire, we get to pick a few sample colors for him to paint on the house then we choose a color once we have actually seen it on a small area of the house. Then, because Indy crushed our souls with another bill, we swung by the bank to collect some dough. Show me the money!

Noel on the phone with Jessica, our other banker...this could explain why he has that "Oops, I crapped my pants" look.

(Please tell me you all remember that classic SNL skit.)

Wednesday morning we were back at the homestead meeting with Indy and Henry, the cabinet maker. We have appointments with the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker next week. Noel and I have discussed cabinets at length during this process and have a really good idea of what we want. However, the shape of the kitchen island had been giving us a fit. The three stooges and myself put our brains together to come up with a workable design. We're going for functionality, people. The bathrooms and the utility room were quite a bit easier. Now picking out the types of cabinets...whole new can of worms. Noel worked that afternoon so I spent a hour with the cabinet lady discussing wood types, stains, glazes, design, layout, colors, countertops. Good Lord! Did you know there were that many different types of wood? You got your pine, your hickory, your cherry, your walnut, maple, alder, poplar. And did you know there were scandalous types, too?...yeah, you got naughty pine and naughty cherry! We aren't quite finished with cabinet/countertop decision but are almost there. We have a date with some countertops in Nashvegas on Saturday. Noel can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday.

And let's hear it for some eco-friendly geothermal heat! We'll have some wells and units within a week or two. Noel is meeting with the geothermal company tomorrow to make sure that we're not sweating this summer or shivering next winter. You're welcome Mother Nature.

In the midst of all this decision-making, Keith and his men have given life to our garage. Oh, our cars will be so happy. By the way, remember Keith's checklist on the side of a 2x4? Well, instead of shrinking, it grew ever so slightly. When you build, you see little things here and there that need to be changed. We lowered a window, extended a wall, created a cut-out. We also have the beginnings of a hearth, and the doors and windows should be placed (according to Keith) by the end of this week. Get that Windex ready!