Raisin the Roof

Can you believe the progress at the end of day 1. Laura is practically already working from her new office. Well, OK, she still has a few more days since we have to go get her new desk first. Cheers!

Whoop There It Is

Now that's what I'm talkin about! Can you believe what can happen in 1 day. And this all happened with just 2 hard working guys. As quickly as Laura's tejano music lovin days came and went the new sound of progress is heavy metal! Cheers!

We've Got Wood

Today was a day of a lot of random things happening on the project. There was somewhat of a changing of the guards as Laura's tutors came by and picked up all of the concrete forming material. The SpongeBob SquarePants Tejano playing radio and Spanish lessons are already being missed. Then inspector for the mortgage company came by to inspect the work that had been done. The real excitement came when this morning the wood was dropped off for our addition. Most of the framing material was moved from the front yard to the back in preparation for the framing to begin. The plumbing crew was here finishing up the pool heater hookup. And last but not least the city inspector came by and inspected the gas line. I love it when a plan comes together. Cheers!

Lighting Up the Night

With all of the excitement of the new concrete, I figured it was time to take a look at the pool at night. We got a light package with our pool where we can do all kinds of color changes at night. We've got a lot of flashing going on here folks. Lights, flashing lights, geeezzzaaammooollliiii!! Cheers!

The Forms are Down

Can you believe it?? The forms are already off. That didn't take any time at all. You can definitely see things coming together now. Our contractor, Brian Ritter, with Protective Coatings and Remodeling of Texas Inc. said the framing crew will be out tomorrow to start framing the addition. Laura will be in her new office in no time. Cheers!

Passing Gas

While the concrete was going in, our plumbing crew was here laying gas pipe to hook up the gas to the pool heater. Very exciting to see a plan coming together. Cheers!

It's Concrete Time

Today was a big day. The concrete trucks started arriving around 11am to cover up the framing masterpiece our SpongeBob SquarePants radio toting crew created. Laura said it best when she said, "The sound of Tejano music means progress." And was there ever a lot of progress made today. I got to tell you these guys are like artists at what they do. It always amazes me that they can make cement almost look like glass when they are finished. Vivas! (that's Cheers! in Spanish.)

Repainting the Lines

Since all of the lines Kelly and I painted the other night have started to fade I thought I had better repaint them, so we don't end up out there remeasuring on another night. The second round of concrete forms will start going in later this week. I am hoping we will see the pool decking being poured early next week. Our house foundation concrete will be poured tomorrow around 11 am. I am anxious to see how that will all happen, since they will be pumping it from the front of the house. Time to pull out the big hose. Cheers!

Ready to Pour

What a productive day. We saw the final touches put on the forms for our foundation. The concrete will be coming tomorrow to cover up this beautiful masterpiece. And let's not forget to mention how much the dirt pile has gone down. That's what I'm talkin about!! Cheers!

Spanish Tutors

One benefit we didn't see in all of this is that since Laura works from home, she has started to learn Spanish. Through the miracle of the SpongeBob SquarePants radio played by the hard workers that have been forming our slab, she is starting to become familiar with the Tejano music and language. Her Tutors were here bright an early this morning securing all of the steel for our foundation. The Inspector should be here some time today to give the OK for our concrete work. Cheers!

Taking Back the Yard

We spent an incredible weekend at the Pirate's Ball with all of our friends from the Parrothead Club. We will have pictures posted on CTXPHC.com soon. When Laura and I got home we decided to do some yard work to start taking back the yard. Laura worked on the front yard raking our dirt. Yes, believe it or not we do still have a little dirt. With the seeding we did last week and all the watering we are starting to see grass coming up. She also did another seeding and a bunch of watering this afternoon. I started on the back yard. I realized that a bunch of construction stuff was laying on what is left of our good grass. I moved all of it off and mowed our little green strip. Our dog, Max, was not loving the wet grass rubbing on him every time he went out to potty. Not to mention, we were not to loving having to clean him up every time he went out to potty. Now we have a nice little runway to get him out to do his business. After Laura was done in the front she came to the back. We did some, I know this will be hard to believe, more dirt moving. I told you it would be hard to believe. We tried to get some of the piles consolidated so the grass could start growing again. What a concept! Our big tree in the back is going to give us some great shade this summer. Check out the shade outline on the house. Aahhh Yes...just a little bit longer and we will be cracking open a few cold ones. Cheers!

Starting to See the Deck

Another day of major progress. You can pretty much see the entire deck now. Looks like all they have left is putting the steel together for the footings. I can practically see us out there grillin and chillin already.