Here's the (2nd) Story!

More excitement!  It's too much fun to drive up and see what they've done at this stage - every day there's another level of excitement!  After seeing them get the first floor on in 1 day, I kinda figured they would knock out the 2nd floor just as quickly and I was right. Of course, not everything is perfect (evidenced by 2 broken windows, a hole in the floor, a hole in a door frame, gaps & all manner of "things that don't look 100% correct to an Enginerd", but I'm choosing to have faith that our PM wasn't full of it when he said he would correct issues mostly before we notified him.  I now have a clock running...

Brace yourselves, I have A LOT of pictures.

We have a second story!

I love our sidelight - makes up for the character-less front door.

Imagine a Restoration Hardware table here...
a girl's gotta have goals!

Lunch Time?  Does this mean we have legit power at the house??

Upstairs front corner bedroom

View from Master to bath, closet, hall bath and the Guest Room

That's our roof!  Lying in a shambles on the ground...

 

Obviously I had a little bit of fun walking around - I wish J had been able to unchain himself from his project to walk around our house together but I guess we will do that quite a few times over the next, say 30 years or so.  It was cool to walk around and look up at the sky, knowing that it was the first & last time I'd look at it from our second level without swearing due to a hole in the roof :)

Thursday I went back up - mainly to see if they had put the sheeting on for the roof and TADA!  Yes, yes they did!  I found all kinds of fun stuff too - broken windows (that's 2 for those of you keeping score at home - one in J's office (smashed) and our master bath (thermal seal is broken - that's why it's foggy), water coolers, holes in the floor, crookedy studs, the list goes on.  Again, I'm not too concerned but I am going to see if our PM is good to his word. 

Our garage!  Complete with a weird wall I'm not understanding

This guy REALLY doesn't want anyone to
mess with his drinks!

I really am going to love this soaker tub!

Ingenious stair railings - PVC pipe and 2x4s
with the corners knocked off

As for the little surprise in the fireplace - let's just say that I was less than impressed that the HOMEOWNER isn't allowed to have a copy of the floor plans - that really does help when one wants to calculate paint required, flooring needed, knowledge of what's on each electrical circuit and other such frivolous details.  When I spotted the set of plans in the fireplace - JACKPOT!  I did NOT scamper back to my office to make use of our scanner/copier but I make no promises that it doesn't happen at some point in the future.  I will win this battle for I am crafty and have access to nerdy things like plotters.

Look closely...are those our Forbidden House Plans???
(Amateurs - now I have ALL of the info!)

Hahaha - I WIN!  Plans = Found.  Photos = Taken? 

This was just cool - I thought is was a great method for storing the framing sections prior to pouring the basement floor.  Hats off for ingenuity.

Stairway into the Abyss.  Or the basement.
Whatever - it's really dark down there but I was brave!

Shelves?  Nah, it's the framing for after they pour the floor.

What the?  Could that be our basement wall framing?

Genius!

Things that make you shake your head:

1) Using lumber that is CLEARLY challenged.  It's hard to see but there was a huge missing section out of this particular stud.  That and it's just completely caddywampus up in there.  Let's see if that gets fixed.

That 2x4 is just sad.  Sad and REALLY crooked.

2.  Installing windows that are already broken.  Really?  Why can't you just leave it out until a replacement arrives?

I think this window is struggling too.

3.  Broken/Mangled Door Frames - You think I'm really not going to notice this?  Wrong.  I get paid for my attention to detail.  

Super high quality on this door frame - that's a giant tear

Things that make me REALLY happy!

This is a big list but I'll only use 2 pictures to illustrate.  

1.  Knowing I'm going to have a FABULOUS front porch.  Growing up I always wanted a covered front porch but I had an assortment of stoops.  The last one was pretty cool because it had chairs but this one has enough room for some Cracker Barrel rockers, a railing and space for a big ole' pup to hang out, likely slobbering all over it.  Honestly, I can't wait for that :)

Looking out our front door!

2.  Seeing our house take shape before our very eyes.  Like I said earlier, we knew we wanted a bigger house but we didn't know we were going to say "forget it - now's the time for our dream home!"  At least not initially.  We are so lucky to be able to do this now and not when we'll need to worry about too much space due to small humans leaving.  On the flip side, it's one helluva house for J, me, Vinny, Finn and their yet-to-be-acquired canine brother(s). What can I say - my pets arrive in 2's!

There she is - Casa de Stew!

Sign Update:  Still buried under a pile of rubble.  I have yet to receive any sort of explanation for this obvious campaign to leave the world wondering if a home is being built on Lot 704 and if said lot is "sold."

I swear...this poor sign...I should rescue it but now I'm curious!