<h2>First Walk Through</h2>
Went to look at the house. Vera was still there, but we managed to keep her out of the pictures! You can see how much work they had to do to move out (especially in the basement)
<a href="./20061024_mon">First Viewing</a><br/>
<h2>11/7/2005 - Contractor's Inspection</h2>
Had a walk through with the contractor.
The house was in good shape! 
He showed Meggan and I a lot about maintenance and some good things he saw about the house. As you can see, they cleaned the basement out pretty good by then, but there was still more to do!
<a href="./20051107_inspection">Photos from the Inspection</a><br/>
<h2>11/30/2005 - Closing!</h2>
EMPTY! Closed on the house and went over there and took pictures of every room from every corner!
<a href="20051130_1_empty">Empty House after Closing!</a><br/>
<h2>11/30/2005 - Couldn't Resist!</h2>
Meggan had not been in her new house yet, after closing she had to go back to work. 
We invited Beth and Pierre to come with us.
There was no power (hopefully that has been rectified!) so we walked around with flash lights!
We decided that we wanted to "peek" at the hardwood floors under the carpet... You can see where that led us!!
<a href="20051130_2_beth_pierre">Pulling up carpet after closing</a><br/>
<h2>12/1/2005 - Getting Started</h2>
Meggan and I went to Home Depot (we had time...) and bought some supplies. 
We also bought 19 gallons of paint! 
Took our trusty crow bar, hammer, and heat gun and went to work on the hallway parquet floor. 
The progress was MUCH faster than we anticipated. 
Got all the parquet up in <b>2 hours</b> along with half the luan. 
The green is luan and the black is tar that was put down to hold the luan down. 
Now we have to figure out how to get the tar up off the floor. 
The wood underneath looks great though!
<a href="20051201_pull_up_hall">Parquet Pulling</a><br/>
<h2>12/2/2005 - First Weekend Kickoff Friday Night!</h2>
Since we all had a lot of energy, we decided to meet at the new house and see what work we could get done. Both Meggan and Jim's parents all met at the house to see it for the first time. We then all dug in and got dirty. Carpet was pulled, the hallway linoleum and tar had to be removed, and the kitchen taken apart just for starters! We worked well into the night making <b>great</b> progress.
<a href="20051202_fri">Friday Night Work</a>
<h2>12/3/2005 - Saturday... the work continues</h2>
We got an early start on Saturday. Work continued on the kitchen, Mom P primed all of the doors (closet and bedroom). Jim changed the locks and handles on the doors too. Meggan and Beth worked on painting the office green. Mom F worked on the kitchen. The dads worked on pulling up tack strips and taking down panel boards. Thanks to Mrs. Z for helping to paint, and Aunt Cathy, Uncle Arn, Arnot, and Erin for stopping by to see us!
<a href="20051203_sat">The fun continues Saturday</a>
<h2>12/4/2005 - Sunday - 'Keep On Truckin'</h2>
Good thing we got a shovel on Saturday because there was 2&quot; for us to shovel when we got there Sunday morning. Jim shovelled the drive and the walk, trying to put on a good face for the neighbors. It was a long weekend but we kept at it. The kitchen painting got finished! Cupboard doors for the kitchen are drying in the basement. Lots of 'trimming in' took place, as well as lots of paint rolling.
<a href="20051204_sun">Tho we may be weary...</a>
<h2>12/5/2005 - Monday - Drywall and Paint Makes the World Go Round</h2>
Monday night was a short one with it being a week night and all. Mom P made sloppy joes and we ate at our nifty 'dining room table' that we had set up. Between the painter's light and the big window in the living room, all the neighbors knew what we were eating for dinner!
She and Meg painted while Jim and Dad P put up drywall over the 'decorative' original drywall in the kitchen. 
Meg and Jim signed the wall so that years from now, someone might get their message. 
Mrs. Z was in the area and stopped by to quickly say hi. 
Beth and Pierre came over as well to check up on our progress and helped out a little. Beth painted while Pierre helped with the drywall.
<a href="./20051205_mon">Progress, Progress, Progress!</a>
<h2>12/13/2005 - Lots of work done!</h2>
Well, we forgot to take the camera when we were working on the house over the weekend.
We got 2 coats of paint in the master bedroom, bathroom, and orange room. Put another coat on the green room, trimmed in the hallway and finished the first coat.
Also put a second coat of red in the livingroom and trimmed in the "neutral" color for a secomd coat out there too.
Jim Sr. and Jim Jr. put the first coat of mud on the drywall and are going back to sand and re-apply.
<a href="./20051213_lots_done">Lots of painting, sanding comes next!</a>
<h2>12/17/2005 - Finishing up the paint!</h2>
We have been working whenever and wherever we can on the house. 
Paint has been flying up on the walls. We finally picked a new color for the last bedroom at the end of the hall (the gold one).
Meggan and Mom P were able to put 2 coats on in <b>one day</b>
Meggan worked hard to get the orange up in the &quot;den&quot; as well.
Trimming and touch up is all that is really left to be done.
Here's a list of what we did:<br/>
<ul>
<li>Second coat of brown ("neutral") in living room</li>
<li>2 coats in the orange room</li>
<li>2 coats in the gold room</li>
<li>Drywalling!</li>
<li>Second coat in the hall way</li>
<li>Second coat on the front door</li>
<li>Meg did trim touching up</li>
</ul>
&lt;phew!&gt;<br/>
<a href="./20051217_sat">The finish line is in sight!</a>
<h2>12/19/2005 - Floors Floors Floors!</h2>
There are no pictures to post here yet... HOWEVER - come back on the 21st to see how our hardwood floors are coming along!
We have found a contractor to come in and do them for us and we're <b>really</b> excited to see how they turn out.<br/>
<h2>12/20/2005 - First coat on floors!!</h2>
<b>Well</b>, I went over to the house Tuesday night to look at how the floors cleaned up...
<a href="./20051220_tue">See for yourself</a><br/>
<h2>12/26/2005 - Getting ready to move in</h2>
First of all, Meggan and I both hope everyone had a safe and merry Christmas and that it continues into the new year.<br/>
<br/>
It was all Meggan and I could do NOT to walk on our new floors. Fortunately, the holidays were upon us and we were out of town all weekend. This gave the floors adequate time to dry.
We bought our appliances at Best Buy on Monday and they will be delivered Thursday and installed Friday. 
Mom and Dad P came over to the house with us and helped us put some finishing touches on some items. Dad and I sanded and primed the drywall.
Mom and Meggan put second coats on the doors in the basement and wiped down cupboards and floors from the drywall dust. 
The hardwood floors look even more fantastic when you can walk on them! 
There are only a few minor blemishes that I affectionately mark up as "character".
Meggan and I then travelled to Home Depot with our 10% off coupon in one hand the credit card in the other.
We pillaged that store, leaving many sales people trying to catch their breath.<br/><a href="20051226_mon">Ain't nuthin' gonna break-a my stride...</a>
<h2>12/27/2005 - The in-laws are coming! The in-laws are coming!</h2>
Today, Mom F and Jen are coming down to help Meggan pack up and move stuff over to the new house.
 This will be helpful as I am at Meier Screw, honing my supervisory skills, which I'm sure that the ladies are lost without!
We have to be out of our apartment by the end of the week so both Meggan and I are appreciative of the enormous amount of help and support that both of our parents have given us.
I will take pictures of their progress tonight!
<h2>12/29/2005 - Final Push</h2>
Thursday, December 29, 2005 will go down in history as the day that we moved the last items into our new house. 
Many, many thanks to Uncle Troy, PJ, Chris, and Pierre for all of their help. 
If the Best Buy delivery men are reading this, thanks for all your help too. 
They delivered all of our new appliances Thursday morning at 8:00am.
That is just for the one day. Kudos also go out to Mom F, Jenny, and Sam for helping Meggan move stuff Tues and Weds. 
Thursday we got everything moved and then spent the rest of the night... where else? 
At out old apartment! We put 2 coats of primer on the wall that we had painted and cleaned the apt from top to bottom. 
That led to a 1am search for dimmer. It was at this point that Meggan and I were reminded that we were in an area that wasn't 'open late'. 
We finally found a Taco Bell at 2:30am. What a day.
<a href="./20051229_thu">All Moved In!</a><br>
<h2>12/30/2005 - The Girls Move In</h2>
It had to happen at some point. The house would have to be christened by the arrival of <a href="./20051230_fri">"the girls"</a>.
<h2>1/4/2006 - Happy New Year!</h2>
We are off and running with the new year. I am spending most of my time after work changing outlets, lights, and switches. It's not hard work, just time consuming. Tonight I will be taking pictures of the house in it's current state. I'll try to get them posted Monday. Have a great weekend! -jim
<h2>1/6/2006 - Some pics</h2>
This was a busy weekend! I spent most of my saturday replacing light switches, fixtures, and outlets. I didn't do too many, but I did them right and that's what's important. 
If you look close in the pictures of the livingroom, you'll see the white outlets and switches... I did that! <a href="./20060105_fri">Living Room</a>
<h2>1/11/2006 - Lights and Cranes??</h2>
Yep, it sounds like a midnight demolition, but it's just our kitchen. Meggan got her new kitchen light in the mail the other day. I installed it before she got home as a suprise.
<b>Apparently</b> there is a standard though on how high the light is to be above the table (<i>designers!</i>). I 'eyeballed' it once and it was about 12" above... I knew that wasn't right so I moved it up some. Looked good to me so I left it. 
<b>Well</b>, you can imagine how excited she was to see it. 
I didn't expect the tape measure to be out so soon though!
<b>BOO-YAH!!!</b> 29"!! I told her that was close enough since it took me an hour to get it where it was (haha!). 
We also hung our watercolor of the Cranes. 
They were painted by a friend of Mom F's who teaches chinese watercolor. 
The crane is a chinese symbol for love, prosperity, and lifetime commitment. 
It's our first piece of artwork that we've put up. <i>Conveniently</i> it covers the outlet that I <b>labored</b> so hard to fit into the drywall&lt;sigh&gt;. 
<a href="20060111_weds">Cranes (and lamps) light up the kitchen</a>
<a name="20060624"></a>
<h2>6/24/2006 - Vegetation</h2>
We decided to pull out the shrubs in the front of our house and do some landscaping.
Thanks to Trees 'N Scapes, we were able to come up with a design that we think will work well for the light that the north side of the house gets. Meggan's friend Sam's mom did the design and sent it to us. Meg went Saturday morning to get the plants and we spent all day planting. It looks <b>awesome</b>! We spent all day Sunday mulching the garden and putting black edging around the perimeter. We also planted a couple of lillies by the front door. <a href="20060624_sat">New plants for the new house</a>