Friday, December 18, 2009 - Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For...Wait, There It Is

As I sat at home ready to assist with questions and provide my two-cents worth to the contractor and his sub-contractors, the rain and cold pretty much washed everything out on Friday. Not a minute after the guy working on our front porch unloaded his tools, hooked up the compressor, and fired up what was probably his tenth cigarette of the morning, down came the rain. He did work for about 90 minutes and was joined by another contractor and then the plumbers. Everybody pretty much halted work and hauled ass out of here shortly after returning from lunch. Once they left, however, it was time for us to get to work.


We spent the better part of the afternoon, nearly three hours, with a very patient sales rep at Hermitage Lighting Gallery. We had no problem picking out sconces and a large, modern hanging fixture to be placed above the landing of the stairwell. Twenty minutes tops to pick out what we liked and it all fell within our budget. Then came the front porch light. We looked through about a dozen books, and checked prices on almost as many lights. Tired and frustrated we asked the sales rep what to do after we had narrowed our choices down to two, but just weren't ecstatic with either of them. With about 300 more books to possibly go through, we asked the rep to bring out two more books before calling it quits. Well, what do you know? The last book we decided to peruse had exactly what we were looking for. There was no doubt about it. Then, we hunkered down as the sales rep left to check the price. I just knew it was going to be the most expensive. Although it was plain in its overall design, the glass has more of a leaded glass look in a clear checkerboard-type pattern, that I figured would set us back upwards of $500. He came back with a price well under $200. Cara and I jumped to see who could say "SOLD" first.

Probably won't be able to get any of the lights order and shipped until mid-January, which is probably a week after we would first be able to install them, but still probably three weeks before the project is complete.

The other news we received is that the workers will not be busting through the back wall to do work inside the house until after Christmas. That's good news from the standpoint of now being able to put up a Christmas tree without fearing that it would be covered in drywall dust - although that might give it a nice snowy look. It also allows us to get the house ready for the in-laws without having to worry about the inside of our house looking like the disaster area the backyard is. The bad news is that I was hoping they would get the drywall installed in the addition and so I could start painting while I am off work. I figure 1,200 square feet of new space isn't going to be something I can prime, paint, and knock out overnight. Plus, we will have at least three rooms in the current house to paint. Maybe I will get a jump on the 160 hours of PTO time I will get next year and use some of that time in January to get some painting done. That should probably ensure I use all of my PTO time next year as well.