Thursday, December 3, 2009 – First Steps

I arrived home Thursday from my first trip ever to Orlando that did not include stepping on a Disney-owned property. I was tired from a long dinner the night before, working until 2:00 am, managing on but four hours of sleep, and meeting all day Thursday with a vendor before catching a late flight home. I knew I was coming home to good news. The workers had been there before Cara left that morning, and she had provided me with periodic updates throughout the day. Cara said the workers worked diligently throughout the day dressed like Eskimos against the cold breeze that had moved in overnight. I feel very little sympathy since there were many nicer and much warmer days where very little was accomplished.

I arrived home and headed out back to see the four walls raised on the new addition. I maneuvered across a ladder placed almost parallel to the ground into one of the window holes of the upper level. Over the past month I had certainly scrounged around enough in the basement portion, both when it was just a dirt floor and after they poured concrete last week. But it was a nice sign of progress to see the upper level, our new master suite, coming together. I walked down the short hallway that will lead to the stairwell downstairs as well as to the master suite. I walked through the basic door frame into the bathroom, then into new walk-in closet. From the inside-out, I peered out the small windows that will be above our bed once it is in place, and I looked out the window on the opposite side of the room. I looked out the bathroom window, then drew a breath of fresh winter air and hoped it was big enough for us.

It looked big enough for us on paper, and we even wondered aloud as to whether it was too big or not. I know it will be the perfect size once we add furniture and bathroom fixtures and start to finish it out. I walked around the outside, and it certainly looks big enough from that angle as it juts out into the backyard. Over the past three or four days, I have really looked forward to coming home and seeing the progress, or getting that mid-afternoon call from Cara with construction updates.

Several weeks ago I joked about adding a nanny-cam or webcam to the opposite corner of the house so I could see if there was actually anything going on during the day, because it certainly looked like nothing was moving. Now, I am seriously considering putting a camera up so I can check in throughout the day and see what’s new and what’s been added. It will be hard to sit around the office over the next six weeks resisting the temptation to drive home at lunchtime to see what else has been completed. Beats the hell out of coming home and seeing only dirt and cinder blocks.