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Now that our pool is complete and the grass is down, here is our finished backyard. It’s the perfect place to be on a hot summer day!

Kimberlie got the hammock for Christmas, even through we hadn’t sold our old house or started on the pool yet. I built the fence around the equipment pad for aesthetics. The blue planters were on clearance at Lowe’s. We plan to add an outdoor chalkboard behind the azalea bed before our first pool party.

And, as always, I have other plans that won’t shape up until later.

During construction of our new home, one of the upgrades I really wanted was concrete landscape curbing. Unfortunately, our builder said he didn’t handle that item and it would have to be added after closing.

About 2 weeks after we were in the house, I called the curbing company and he came out and gave me an estimate. At the time, he was running a few weeks behind because of the weather.  I told him to put me on the list.  Then, came the rainiest summer that I can remember. Obviously, concrete can’t be poured before, during, or immediately after a rainfall. Add onto that that the guy only works on the weekends (he has a real job too).

Anyway, 3 months later, we finally have the final upgrade that we wanted (except for a pool, of course). Check out the pictures below. They did a great job and it adds some serious curb appeal to the house!

We even added an area for a future flower garden.

Having two houses gets confusing. Are we going home or are we going home? If I say see you at the house, does that mean Macon or Warner Robins? To solve the problem, we had to come up with nicknames for our two properties: The Shelby Shack and The Madilyn McMansion (or Madhouse).

Calling our old home a “shack” is in no way putting down our friends and neighbors who still live there, but the house is in bad condition right now. The cats are still there, the thermostat is turned way up and there is no furniture. That means lots of shedding and the cat hair blows around like tumbleweed in the desert. Look, here comes another hairnado!

Anyway, for the next few weekends, we’re spending most weekends at the Shelby Shack to get things in order and prepare to list the property. Hopefully soon, it will be in our rearview mirror for the last time.

Housework seems to never end. With 4500 square feet at two houses in two different cities, there are seven bedrooms, six toilets, two kitchens, three living rooms, four cars worth of garages. four porches, and over an acre of grass and weeds. Add to that all of the laundry from the kid’s summer camp days and trying to prepare meals instead of eating out every evening.  There are also holes to patch at one house and pictures to hang at the other.

For the first two weeks, we didn’t have a trash container at the new house. It is unbelievable just how much garbage you have when moving: boxes, fast food containers, etc. Each day on the way to work, we transported it all back the the old house and disposed of it there. One negative thing about our new city is the lack of a recycling program. For now, we are transporting all of our cans, bottles, and newspapers back to the old house and recycling them there.

Here is how my audio/visual wiring came out. I had the builder’s team run 4 CAT6 cables from the closet to the television along with a component cable. I also had a VGA cable ran to the TV from the living room wall. Below, you can see the wiring/water heater closet along with a photo of the TV hanging on the wall. Yes, that is Jurassic Park playing. The cable guy accidentally gave us all of the movie channels for a few days! In the bottom picture, you can see more of the living room with our new furniture.

It is nice living in a new house. The oven automatically turns off when the timer is done. Everything goes down the toilet in just one flush. The water is always warm even if four people decided to shower at the same time. The rainhead above the shower and the pot filler at the stove are simply awesome. There is no fear of anything like the air conditioner breaking when its 100 degrees outside (and if it does, it’s under warranty). The irrigation system automatically waters the yard. I can monitor power usage via the internet.

We have moved! We closed on our house about two weeks ago and started moving immediately. We did all of it ourselves, with a few exceptions. Check me out driving this massive Penske truck!

We had my stepfather help us move the refrigerator and a large picnic table. We also paid someone to move my mother’s piano from his house to ours. And, of course, we had Rooms to Go deliver some new furniture.

Moving sucks. I’ll never do it again.

The house is done. The only thing missing is the blinds. This will be the last construction update post.

The front door and staircase has been stained, the paint touch-ups are done, the interior has been cleaned, the garage door is installed, and the back porch is screened in (sorry, no picture).

Next week, when I would have brought you week 15’s update, we will be doing the final walk-through with the realtor and having an inspector check the place out. Then, if a million moving financial pieces somehow align, we should close on our house the Friday before Memorial Day. Guess what I’ll be doing Memorial Day weekend? Not resting!

This week, our landscaping was completed and our fence was constructed.  All that remains on the exterior house is installation of the garage door, staining the front door, and screening in the back porch.

Inside, lots of finishing work took place: floor transitions, patching and painting, and adding bath hardware, but perhaps the biggest addition was the completion of the shower. Check out how amazing it looks!

We’re starting to wind things down with the construction process. I guess there will only be a few more weeks of these updates.

Outside this week, we have the irrigation system and landscaping. In the photo below, you can see the sprinklers watering the knockout roses surrounding the pecan tree.  There is still a bit more work to do outside, such as pouring a concrete step for the back porch and screening it in.  There’s also a wooden fence to build.

Inside, the stove, oven, and dishwasher are installed. The gas logs are in. Shelving is in the pantry and all closets and the door hardware is all in.  The bathroom mirrors have also been hung.  There’s still some work to do, including staining the front door and stair rail.  There’s lots of painting to touch up and a couple of bits of flooring and electrical to put in place.  Everything is looking great so far!

Someone asked me why I call my new home “The McMansion”.  Look it up. It is a pejorative term for a mass-produced luxury home. Investopedia describes it as “a slang term that describes a large, opulent house that may be generic in style and represents a good value for a homebuyer in terms of its size. This type of home is built to provide middle and/or upper middle class homeowners with the luxurious housing experience that was previously only available to high-net-worth individuals. The McMansion term is meant as a play on McDonald’s fast food restaurants, as these homes also represent the pervasiveness and excessive consumption that critics often associate with Mcdonald’s.”  Basically I’m poking fun at myself.

Anyway, the progress continues this week. In the kitchen, the moldings were put on the top of the cabinetry and the granite was finished, including on the island.

Also, perhaps the biggest (and most expensive) addition is the hand scraped wood flooring throughout the house.  Here’s the dining room, once again, below.

Both mantles were installed in the dining room and the nook.  Also, the air conditioning vents were put on.

The stair rails were also added and look phenomenal.  I imagining the steps and rails will be painted and stained this week.

Another view of the steps, from the top.

And finally, the kitchen island, with pendant lighting in the background looking into the nook. If you look hard, you can see the second fireplace.

Today is April 15, 2013. Amazingly enough, on April 15, 2003 I closed on our present home.  Exactly ten years ago. I never imagined that now, ten years later, we would be ten weeks into building a new home.

Lots of progress this week. I know I said I wouldn’t put up too many inside pictures, but I couldn’t resist showing you this progress.

Outside, the driveway and sidewalk were poured. The driveway is huge!  Top soil was also brought in for some of the future landscaping.

Here is the front porch.  The door still needs to be stained, the outdoor lighting installed, and the stamped concrete porch needs to be sealed.

Inside those doors and windows are the foyer and dining room. The interior lighting is in place and looks amazing!  The dining room is painted a Mocha color and has a coffered ceiling.

Most of the work this past week took place in the pictures. The cabinets have been hung and I imagine the moldings will be completed soon.  The tile back splashes, black granite countertops, and interior lighting is also mostly in place.  Below is there the stove will be.  Under the range hood is a pot filler. With this, I can fill a pot that’s already on the stove, without having to carry it from the sink.

To the right of that is where the refrigerator, oven, and microwave will be.  You can see some of the recessed lighting and pendants in the photo below.  The kitchen is painted an Olive color. You can also see the kitchen’s island.

Finally, the bar area will have the sink (with disposal) and dishwasher

Lighting is also hung in the master bedroom and you can see how awesome the ceiling is looking.

The real treat in the master bedroom is the bathroom. Here is the custom built shower. There is an additional rain head on the ceiling, which will help us get extra clean. Soon, I imagine the glass enclosure and door will be installed.

Next to the shower is the whirlpool tub, complete with a frosted glass window.  The tile work came out great!

Finally, upstairs, here is Tristan’s room:

And, Mackenzie’s room: