Well, I guess if we're going to have a blog, that means we have to keep it updated or no one will read it. Here is the latest on the house:

The basement drywall has been repaired. Now we have to prime and paint it before the carpet is installed. Once the carpet is in, we can move furniture down there and spread out a little.

The kitchen cabinets have arrived. We have painted the kitchen, and we're waiting on Home Depot to call us to schedule installation. Once the cabinets are installed, we'll have the floor put in and install the baseboard and crown molding. The countertops are ordered separately and might be another two weeks or so. Once again, when the cabinets are installed, we can move dishes into them a spread out even more.

The bamboo is largely gone. There are a couple of patches, and sprouts come up in the yard every day, but we try to keep those cut off. The backyard looks much larger and much messier. So much work to do back there.

The pool is clean, and just about ready to swim in.

We still need to clean the gutters, order new windows, paint all the doors and reinstall them, have insulation blown in the attic, fix a rafter in the roof, paint the house, cut down the holly trees around the pool (who puts sticker trees near a frequently barefoot-trafficked area?), paint the sun room, replace the sump cover, put in a new sink in the basement bathroom, paint the basement bathroom, re-do the landscaping, and find time somewhere in the next five years to enjoy our house.

We'll keep you posted.

Here we go...

Emily and I have been considering starting a blog for some time now, but we have only just now gotten around to it. We'll skip the small talk and dive right in.

On March 3rd of this year, we closed on our first house. It's an older (1963) ranch style with a full basement. It needed a lot of cosmetic work, and thanks to a recent flooding, some structural work as well. If you can call drywall replacement "structural work". It might as well be to us, we are novices at home ownership. Note to selves: novices at home ownership shouldn't start out with a 45 year old house. Emily tells herself quite often, "We should have bought a brand-new clone." We'll post before and after pictures as soon as there is an after. That might be some time...

At any rate, we'll post more later. We're quite busy nowadays - I know those of you with homes AND children are scoffing at us now, but be kind, we're newbies. But for now I have to go, it's Sunday morning. I can hear Emily stirring in the bedroom, hopefully making a move to turn off the alarm clock. It's playing "I Want a New Drug" by Huey Lewis. Later-