Our new bathroom window pre-window, post door.
So after inspecting all of the windows, I helped Josiah roll out the tyvek and hold it in place while he nailed it, which is really difficult when your front yard seems to be a breeding ground for mosquitoes and the bug spray that you just doused yourself with seems to be sweet nectar attracting them to your flesh, but we got it nailed, and nearly half of the windows were installed that night. As I walked around admiring the fact that there was no longer 5/8" plywood covering the holes in our walls in order to keep the elements and marauders out- instead there were real, highly efficient glass, fully sealed, fully opening WINDOWS- Jeff with his wit said something to the extent of making a better window than a door. And while that is not how the saying goes, it was relatively fitting for our situation of replacing plywood with glass, and it was nice that the opposite was not being said to me by my dad due to my being in the way of his eyes and the sci fi movie on the television screen because quite frankly that is the only context that I have ever heard that saying in the past. But we have windows and doors now, and I am thrilled with them all, except for one, which comes with a story.
Sliding glass door with Tyvek in place.
That same night while I was inspecting the windows (quality control people), I noticed a problem in the room off of the garage. The problem, you ask- I know you are all at the edges of your seats with this story- was that when I went to open the sliding window in this room, the lock appeared to be on the outside and the screen on the inside. Double checking with the identical window in the garage to make sure that I was not just an idiot, I determined that indeed this window was backwards. However, upon telling Jeff of my discovery, he seemed a bit confused. "What do you mean- backwards?" he asked (which was my first clue that he was confused). I told him that I meant that the lock was on the outside and the screen on the inside. Still confused, or just struck with disbelief that he, a professional would do such a thing, he went to check out the scene for himself. And I believe I remember his ego-demolished tone laughing out loud and saying, "That is too funny. I can't believe we did that." I think he handled it quite well, and it is now the only window that we have to fix-the rest are in correctly, and even if it was in right it would have to be fixed because our floor slopes down which would make for headaches and asymmetry with the siding. What a funny anecdote to add to our house-building experience; I am convinced that Jeff just wanted to add to the charm and hilarity of our project, so thanks a billion Jeff!
How it is supposed to look!
How it does look- so if you want to break in here is your best bet!
So speaking of camping,(since that is where Jeff was headed for the fourth of July weekend after installing windows)after a Saturday trip with my dad to Bailey's only 79 miles away to order cabinets and buy bathroom stuff, and see my old roommate Korie who met us there, Ryan and I took the day off to visit his family at Shakamak where they were camping for the weekend. Leaving early and getting back late, we enjoyed three delicious meals, swimming, playing catch, hanging up and goofing around, a campfire, and the luxury of air conditioning? Yes the new Noerenberg camper is more equipped for living currently than our house, with air conditioning, a bathroom and kitchenette, and 3 beds, and while it was not the roughing it sort of camping that you might think of, it was a nice escape from the bugs and the heat. We had an incredible day with the whole family and some fun times with the little ones, and Luke rode his bike without training wheels that day, the fourth of July with the encouragement of his new friend Brighton, who was also five and riding like a pro on two wheels; he was a proud friend though, telling everyone that he new friend Luke was riding for the first time without his trainers and doing great. We also got some free marriage counseling from Ryan's sister Megan and her husband Kyle- "marriage is like washing dishes," he said as we scrubbed the dinner dishes. "They will have a dishwasher," Megan cut it. Kyle thought, rewound and started over, "Marriage when it is good is like a dishwasher, but what do you do when it breaks?" Megan's solution "You fix it." The moral of the story, when marriage breaks, you fix it with money! Oh the things you can learn while building a house (or rather rebuilding it), camping, and doing dishes. What a great day!
However, Monday was back to the drawing board, as we worked all week on the casa (Just trying to put my Spanish minor to use here). Then Friday, Jeff came back to finish the windows and doors after camping that weekend, and then he stayed to help run wire, which we have almost completely roughed in upstairs aside from the homeruns, and the fiberglass insulation is nearly completely in place up there as well. (You can all go ahead and be impressed with all of my skill, knowledge and legit terms including homeruns and pig tails-who knew electrical terms were so much fun) Jeff showed me how to drill the holes in the studs for the wires and then I ran them through, leaving enough room for a loop above the electrical boxes in case any get destroyed during the rest of the construction process (I am telling you, I could build a house on my own now- haha). We are getting closer and closer to the dry walling every day- how exciting!
On top of all of the hard work, we recently got ourselves a new kitten who showed up a couple days ago, scrawny and mangy as she is, which Josiah was correct in his feeling that it is a female feline, and while she would probably burst if she tried to eat a whole mouse now due to her under-nourished state, I have full plans to fatten her up and make her a mouser, and that is her name- Mouser. I am banking on power of suggestion here- hopefully she gets it.
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