Yesterday Was A Good Home Day

No, they haven’t started framing our Rhode Island home; and, no, we haven’t sold our Plano home. So, why was it a good home day??

For the last several years, Tom and I have volunteered for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Garland, which has been a very gratifying experience for us. We’ve been able to work on new homes side by side with the future owners’ families and then attend the dedication of their new home.

We’ve also served on the new homeowner selection committee. Part of the process includes an interview in their current home. More than once we’ve left these interviews distressed at a family’s current substandard living conditions but amazed at their positive attitude and willingness to do whatever necessary to secure a better and safer future.

We recently conducted an interview with a single mom and her two young children. Although the neighborhood they live in is fairly safe, the house they rent is no larger than an efficiency apartment. We were so impressed by her attitude. Not once during the interview did she complain or moan about her current conditions and what she didn’t have; instead she had a bright and sunny attitude and expressed appreciation for what she did have. Her determination to better herself and, thus, assure a brighter future for her children was so admirable. She made the cut and has been accepted into the Habitat program. The best part was, for the first time, I was asked to make the phone call letting her know. I cannot even begin to describe the excitement and joy (and probably a few tears) I was hearing on the other end of the phone. And, I have to admit, making that phone call was certainly a rush for me.

If you’re not familiar with the Habitat program, I’ve added a link in the sidebar. Tom and I have found our experience volunteering for Habitat wonderful. So, if you have some extra time and want to help a worthwhile organization, click on the link and find your local affiliate. I’m sure they’d love to have you!

Our Wood Pile - All Nicely Cut and Stacked!

Logjam

With nothing much going on building-wise, I'll use the next couple of weeks to catch up on some of our other happenings over the last few months.

While plotting out our driveway location, we were able to have it wander through the trees; thus, saving many of them from death by chainsaw. Unfortunately, as much as we hated it, we did have to clear out the building site for the house. Since this land had never been built on, at least in the last 100 years, many trees had to come down. As you can see in the photo, it created quite a pile - that's my mom standing in front of it.

Tom had the bright idea that he would take a trip to Rhode Island for a couple of days, borrow my dad's chainsaw, rent a log splitter then chop and stack all the logs. Fortunately, I talked him out of it. For the reasonable price of $600, our builder found someone to do all the work for us.

We are now the proud owners of approximately 10 cords of wood! Even with a wood-burning stove and sauna, we should be set for at least a couple of winters.

It Has Been A While - Now For An Update

I started out with good intentions to at least post every few weeks. As you can see that didn't happen! So, first I'll begin with an update to our house-building project.

October
Land was cleared.

November
Septic, well and foundation go in. This timing was based on information given to us by the electic company (National Grid). When the electric lines were installed in this area 50 years ago, they didn't run the poles/lines along the road. They just cut across everyone's property. Fifty years later with wetlands restrictions, the lines run right over where we needed to build. So, the electric company came out, said they could move the poles and lines, marked the new locations and said they could probably have the work done by February. Wonderful - yeah, right. Getting the actual work done proved to be more than challenging. In the meantime, we go to France!

December
Final pole placement determined by National Grid. Progress - or, so we think!

January
Radiant heat tubing installed for the basement. Easements signed by us and our neighbors. And, we send in our check to National Grid. February is right around the corner.

February
Nothing happens due to various excuses from National Grid. Now they are giving us a March date.

March
It's now warm enough to pour our basement floor. National Grid - They do actually get the new poles in place in early March! On March 30 the new lines are run, and we are told the the transfer of power to them will happen in two weeks.

April
Two weeks comes and goes. Now National Grid tells us definitely end of April. End of April - nothing! Now they say first week of May - for sure!

May
First week of May - nothing. Of course, their excuse now is that they really meant the first "full" week of May since May 1st fell on a Tuesday and that week couldn't really be counted as a full week. On May 9, we get a call telling us it will be another two weeks due to another project delaying ours. I'm finally at my wit's end and ask "when is our project going to be the one that delays some other project????" I explain that they have now delayed our building by more than three months, costing both us and our builder money. I end the conversation by asking if we need to fly up there to get this straightened out! We get a promise of calls being made to see what can be done. Miracle of miracles - the transfer takes place on May 10!!!!

Now, our builder is getting materials ordered and crews lined up to get started. Because of the numerous delays by National Grid and the manner that they kept putting us off, he was hesitant to schedule anything prior to the power actually being moved to the new lines. I don't blame him!! So, in the next week or two we'll finally see our house getting framed.

In the meantime, we are busy getting our house here in Plano ready to sell. Doing all those touch-up type things, decluttering, etc. sure eats up a lot of time. Hopefully, we'll be ready to show it at the beginning of June. We already have three couples who want to see it before we put up a sign! Wish us luck!