A Day of Quiet Progress

Hubby and I spent yesterday evening clearing the family room. We threw lots away and boxed up the rest. Hubby thought I was going a bit far when I sat on the floor and tested all the marker pens but, hey, what's the point of throwing away good stuff?

This morning the guys from Jim's Bunch arrived promptly at 8:00am as always. With the trees still in place, there is a limit to what they can achieve. The external demolition has been completed as far as it can, so they turned their attention to the family room and adjoining bathroom.


First they built a dust wall across the center of the room, created from scaffolding-like poles and thick opaque plastic sheeting. It has given the family room a tantalizing crime scene flavor. The sheeting billows gently in the breeze from the holes in the floor. Interestingly, Hubby thinks this will be the perfect location for our Christmas holiday visitors to sleep. I fear the temperature may fall rather low once the builders rip the exterior wall open. Only time will tell.

Azmir and his chums pulled out all the bathroom fixtures, cabinets, floor tiles and mirrors today. Compared to the past three work days, it was all wonderfully quiet and calm. Just a bit of gentle thumping. The house barely vibrated. Looks like the shower stall will be going tomorrow. The furnace and water heater also need to go.

We now have a wine fridge in the garden. Let's hope the pool guy doesn't get too thirsty.

The bridge went away yesterday to its new owner. Hubby can hardly believe that I managed to get someone to take it away. He thinks I have a new career ahead of me in sales. The kids' "sell all our toys" enthusiasm has continued unabated, with more and more stuff going out to local purchasers via the Moms' Club. Between them, Deep Thought and Little Starlet have pocketed over $200 - almost enough for two new American Girl dolls with accessories! But now I'm down to the dregs...The high rolling days are over.

The other aspect of today was the arrival of many, many subcontractors all at once. Deep Thought was off school with flu. Every so often she'd emerge from her bedroom, spot a strange man with a roll of plans, and ask "Who's that?"
- "The plumber."
- "It's the electrician."
- "It's the cabinet maker."
- "I have no idea who that is, go and read your book..."
In the end I was apologizing for being in the house and getting in the way. Well, it's all progress, and all progress is good.