Michelle’s aunt moved this weekend, so we offered to take Mary off their hands for the weekend.  This gave them the ability to pack/unpack without having to entertain 10 yr old Mary, and gave us the opportunity to entertain Mary for the weekend.  We really like her, and she really likes to come over, so it worked out great!  She has had a good time.  I found a used eyeToy for the PS2 at gamestop and she has had a lot of fun being part of the video game.  I figure it is almost as much exercise as going out and playing or something, so… good enough!  She goes home tomorrow .  It has been fun having her around!

My weekend has been very productive in the garage as well!  I built a table on wheels.  It is a little over 3 ft by 5 ft.  The table top is about 3’6″ off the ground, which is a perfect height for me to work at.  The original goal was to build something that could store plastic tote bins.  Michelle has 10 of them with school materials in them, and they are taking up quite a bit of room in the garage.  I want to get everything off the floor.  So anyway… after I started building this, I realized that i didn’t just want some small shelf, I wanted a nice workbench to use for other stuff after we get rid of Michelle’s boxes…  So this table is solid. Very solid.  The only part I cheaped out on is the table top, which is made from scraps I had laying around.  When it falls apart, I will but a good piece of plywood for the top.  I also covered the top in vinyl to protect it and keep it clean(ish).  The legs are 4×4′s.  The frame for the top is 2×4′s.  I am very happy with how this came out.  I added a thinner shelf about 8 inches off the floor and used a 1/4 inch piece of plywood as it’s top.  I have already put half of michelle’s boxes on that shelf.  I am still using the top as a workbench.  I figure I will be done with most of my projects at the end of the weekend, so I will put the rest of michelles boxes on top of it then.

Speaking of other projects… I also finished hanging my other shelf over the garage door.  I spent a good bit of time organizing things and am pretty impressed with how things are going.  I am so sore! lol.  My neighbor has been a good inspiration for a lot of this.  We seem to push each other to work on our projects…  This weekend, he helped me by going with me to Lowes since I don’t have a truck for the lumber.  He also helped me hang the shelf over the garage door.  It was a lot easer with two tall people.  We also loaned each other a couple of tools and I helped him shovel some sand that he got for one of his landscaping projects in the backyard.  I will spend a few hours tomorrow organizing and cleaning the garage.  Then all I will have on the floor will be our to garbage cans!

I might post pics later…

Since it was January, the builder told us that they would replace it if the tree didn’t show signs of life by the end of March. They came out today and replaced the tree. We are slowly starting to put all of the finishing touches on making this new house our home. Its a long (and expensive) process! I will keep you guys informed along the way!

Ok, so… i looked back at my post history… i guess i shouldn’t make bold claims like that, huh?
LOL

For those not in the know, we started looking for a new home early last year (2005) and eventually decided to build a new home in Eagle Springs.  We chose the house and signed a contract in early April.  They started construction in September.  We closed on the house Friday, Jan 20th.  Yesterday was moving day!

We hired movers, because lets face it… I am lazy!  And smart!  There was just no way I could move all that stuff by myself, and I wouldn’t want to have to ask friends and family to help out! I am sure they wouldn’t mind, but I didnt’ want to put them (or me!) through that!  So…

The movers showed up @ 9am.  By 2:15, we have EVERYTHING unloaded and placed in the correct rooms.  I cannot stress this enough, movers are a GREAT thing! I can highly recommend the company we used.  They were affordable and they put effort into making sure that nothing was scratched, dropped or damaged.  If you need a moving service, check them out: http://peaceofmindmovers.com/

I built my home with Lennar, and they have certain quirky rules that prohibited me from installing my own wiring and placing my own faceplates on the wall.  I went ahead and prewired and hid my boxes behind the sheetrock.  Last night I punched through the sheetrock and placed my first of many faceplates (this one for surround sound).  It was very wierd purposefully breaking my brand new house! lol  Me and Michelle put our bed together late last night (a sleep number bed… you know, the air matress ones… very nice sleep!).  I have most of our entertainment center in place and should have the audio and video set up tonight…

We still have some things to do at the old place, and we plan to have all of that done by the end of the weekend.  I think it will be at least 3 weeks before we have most of our stuff unpacked and organized in the new house.

Wow… what a braindump!  I will come back and organize this later, i promise!

Click for the pics! I really should get around to formatting them so you don’t have to load them all to view the thumbnails…

And to give you a frame of reference…

Take a look!

other bathroom pics…

Walk in closet

Say good bye to this beautiful tree… We have to put the driveway somewhere, right?
      

These two we get to keep!
      

And this one!

In case you are interested, or just want to stalk me, here is our lot!