Another fantastic day

Today we had incredible weather for working in (unlike what Bobby and Krista came down to, and worked in whole-heartedly on Saturday!) Beautiful clear blue skies, nice breezes, cool in the morning, warm in the afternoon, but never too hot.

Reuben's physical therapist, Brian, put in a good 6 hours or more working with Matt today. Together they were able to get the front of the house completed (two sides are now done!!! Is that a good feeling!!) It was kind of fun - I had to take Reuben to a routine neurology appointment right before lunch, and by the time he and Rinnah and I got back, they had just finished putting in the last nail on the last piece of trim. ;)

The front! Done!!!!!

Reuben knows that you need to wear shoes before you go outside. Reuben does NOT understand that you need to tell Mom and Dad (or someone) before you go outside. And that whoever you tell will help you put your own shoes on. Thankfully when he chooses Brians big steel-toed boots, he doesn't get very far. ;)

Brian giving Owen and Leah a ride up as he helps Daddy with another piece of siding.

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The south part of the east side up as high as the link roof. A very good day's work!!

There was just enough time before Brian had to go that he and the kids were able to go back and pick some of Leah's zinnias that she wanted to send home with him, AND he took Owen and Leah for a ride in his pickup truck. ;) They were gone so long Matt and I started joking that he'd taken them home with him and was just planning to return them in the morning when I brought Reuben to therapy. ;) Turns out they had just taken him on a tour of the neighborhood - around all of Owen's favorite biking routes and then the two miles away to Grandma's house.

While they were galavanting around, and then for the rest of the daylight hours that remained (minus time to take Owen to his soccer game) Matt started putting shingles up on the main part of the roof. THAT was also exciting to see getting going! He found that by using the lift he's able to get quite a few rows up which means that between the tether and harness and the foam couch cushion on the rough shingles that are already done, he's feeling pretty confident about that work. As far as I know, our framer is still planning on putting in some bonus hours to help Matt with that job, but he's got a pretty tight schedule in the good weather months, and in the meantime, Matt figures it's something he can do single-handed which he can't do as well with long pieces of siding.

We also got a phone call today saying that the flat roof over the office is ready for installation to begin tomorrow, with a target completion date of this Friday. We are very much looking forward to not have water sheeting in down that joint every time it rains. Having that roof done will also allow Matt to get the insulation and then siding up above the flat roof - some of those areas have been on hold because the sequencing of things requires the roofing membrane and its flashing to go on before other pieces.

Twelve days to go until Owen and I leave for Bulgaria. And it's looking increasingly likely that we will actually have the exterior weather tight before that happens!

And even better, two weeks from today I will be sitting in a hotel room with my friend Dondi, and my two oldest sons. That brings a HUGE smile to my face!