So What's Been Happening?

When we last left off we had just fired our builder.  After meeting with several other builders who quoted really high pricing, we felt the need to pause for a minute and really examine what we were trying to accomplish.  In addition to the stress around not having a builder, things were ramping up and stressing out my husband at work.  Responding to the stress in the home, our daughter started acting out and had some needs we really thought we should address.  Luckily, Scott works for a supportive company and they granted him a two month leave of absence.  We took that time to reconnect as a family.  We took long walks together in the middle of the day, explored lots of kid museums in towns, visited more parks than I can mention and went for paddles.

She settled back down and started talking more, which is what we were hoping for.  All that time together as a family helped reaffirm that our goal remains the same: have our time together spent having fun adventures and not taking care of our stuff.
During the two months we had some sub-contractors lined up to do some of the projects.  The water line, that we tried to have run started in February, finally went in by a plumber we found who was reasonably priced.

See that trench?  Yours truly got to fill it in during Mother's Day Out days.  It was fun.  Not to be left out, the sewer line was also run.

We joked about installing a moat for our daughter to keep the suitors away, but after a few weeks it, eventually, also got filled in.
We found a framer through a friend and he was able to frame in the downstairs during that time.

To date, that's pretty much where progress inside the garage stopped.  In the nights and weekends since Scott returned to work, he's been steadily moving out his tools and such so that the garage actually looks like a worksite, not just a couple of rooms on one side and a full garage worth of stuff on the other.  I'll have to get out to get more current pictures.
We found a framer and a plumber, but not an electrician or anyone else.  We are now at the point where we really need to suck it up and just hire a damn builder.  We've hemmed and hawed long enough and it's go-time.  I was set to swallow my pride and call a builder I spoke to before, when I had lunch with some teaching colleagues from times long gone.  I was telling them about my project when one of them immediately rattled off a name and assured me that he was very reasonable and would do a good job.  She used him, her family's used him, and she recommends him to all her friends.
I met with him earlier this week and I agree that he will be great.  I sent him an almost-desperate sounding email that same afternoon throwing myself at him and asking how we can get on his roster for October (he's booked until then).  In speaking with him, he told me that our project, based on where it currently stands is a 6-7 week project, provided I can be quick with decision making.  DID YOU HEAR THAT?  WE COULD BE HAPPILY SETTLED INTO OUR TINY GARAGE BY CHRISTMAS!!!  I'm just a bit excited.  I found someone online to design our radiant heating system and we're hoping to have the plumber have that installed by the time we begin to really make the most use of the next few months.  Expect lots of design questions, friends, because this girl finally has some motivation to get cracking.