My first picture! We have survey markers telling the excavator where to dig. Excavators were supposed to be moving their equipment today, but no sign of them yet. The surveyor was supposed to be done in 2-3 days. So I said "go" on Thursday, they had questions, I confirmed they had everything on Friday, and I figured Wed at the latest. On Wednesday, I get an email from the survey company. "Did you want us to do this?" Uh, yeah! I thought it was done by now! I told them the excavators were coming today, so they made it a rush job and got it done yesterday. I went by the lot today to take some pictures. I also needed shots of the neighbour's "ready to fall down even before we start digging" fence. Just in case we get accused of damaging it. I'm driving up the alley, and a new house several doors down is having some landscaping done, and for some reason the guy has his equipment spread out in the alley. So there's not much room to get through, and there's a van coming the other way. We each take turns pulling over so the other can get through. He waves thank-you and goes on his way. As he's passing me, I realize it's BIL's friend who is going to be helping on the build. He's checking out the lot like I am, and didn't even recognize me. :P Also, while out running errands, I noticed a new bathroom showroom. It's a new location of a company I've already got quotes from. The quotes were ridiculous, like, over MSRP on every single thing. So, I'm not buying from them. But a big new showroom might give me a chance to pick out some things. Not a single item had ANY information. No price, no model number, and in some cases, not even a brand name. I asked if this is just a symptom of being new, they haven't put up the info cards yet? "Oh, no, the showroom designers decided that the info cards made the display look too busy, so we don't have any." Really? I think the fact that you have 22 shower heads in a 4'x4' square area makes it look busy. Info cards would make it USEFUL. Oh, well. I don't have to waste my time ever going in there again. It's ridiculous, this isn't some hoity-toity designer brand bathroom boutique. They've got a reputation for being a big supplier of basic plumbing supplies. Maybe they're trying to become the hoity-toity types? I think the ensuite tile is picked. I'll probably get a lighter version of the one I had originally wanted. It's also discontinued, but there's lots of stock as of yesterday. DH is going on his annual mountain bike vacation tomorrow, taking my car for 10 days because it's better on gas. That means I'll be driving his big 'ole beast of a truck, so I'll go get the tile then. If I miss it again, there are a few other options that are just as nice and only slightly more expensive. So no need to panic. As for windows, the cheaper guy's products are much nicer. But, he's still waiting on his 3rd party certification that allows him to sell his window with a sticker. If we have windows without the sticker, we won't pass the city inspection. So, we're giving him another week to find out when that's coming. I am also investigating getting a Direct Buy membership. They also sell windows. So if they can get the ones we want, at a price that makes the membership fee worthwhile, then that's another possibility. Has anyone else looked into getting a Direct Buy membership for their build? Did you find it was worth it? SIL's mother has one, and she swears by it. But she buys a lot of stuff for her 3 daughters and their families. My cousin built his house a few years ago and got the membership. But I'm not sure he calculated the cost of the membership into his "savings". I mean, it costs $5000 or $6000, depending on who you ask. So you have to save at least that much to break even. And a lot of people are probably "saving" that much only because they're buying stuff they wouldn't otherwise buy. For example, you could get a $800 dishwasher and be very happy with it. But you go to DB, and they can get you the $2000 dishwasher for $1200. So you "save" $800. But you've still spent $400 more than you would have without the DB membership. Speaking of windows, I realized that we had quoted the super insulated, fancy opening, custom coloured windows on the garage. That's a waste of money. The garage isn't heated, so single pane is fine. We want them to open, but sliders is good enough. And the colour doesn't matter. So I got a quote from Costco for 3 basic windows. I almost choked when I got it. It's almost as much as the fancy windows that were quoted with the house. I also asked for door pricing, since I don't like what the window guys are offering. And they've spec'd out 1980s Home Depot style doors at several thousand dollars each.

The holidays are a little bit of a sad time for me. I love decorating the house, listening to the same old carols over and over again, buying gifts that I think people will want. Then it all is a little disappointing since my DH isn;t interested in the decorations, doesn't like the carols and doesn't want me to spend much money on things he can pick out for himself. In addition, my DIL is Jewish and although they come for Christmas Eve and we all spend Christmas Day with some cousins, it isn't "their holiday". My son has adopted her faith and that hurts me more than anything else. I'm pretty much alone as far as being the only Christian in my family even though DH has started going to church with me. Now that we have a grandson, I would so love to share all the traditions with him that we did with our son but I can't. When he came over today, he noticed that I had changed the wreath on the front door from the fall one to the Christmas one. He said, "What did you do, Nana? It's so pretty." (he's only 29 months but very aware of things like that) I told him I took down the fall things and am putting up the winter things. I have started decorating inside but haven't put up the tree. Not quite sure how I will approach that subject. This will be the first year that I know he will ask alot of questions. Last year he wanted to touch the ornaments and would look at the lights but that was about all. I gues all in all, I end up feeling a little disappointed as each year I hope it will be better. I truly am grateful for all that I have and I don't have a real reason to feel neglected. Trailrunner - I hope you get back with us. Will post pictures when done decorating.

Thank you, everyone. I would thank you all individually but that would take forever. Just know that I am truly grateful. I do need some gray, some brass, maybe some touch of black - not ready to shop openly yet. I love the idea of removing shelves. I'm going to study the emilyhenderson styling attachment. The ottoman is a match to the chairs, and although I didn't care for chairs because they'll be dated 2020 (long story) when the job just about completed right before heart of Covid, I ordered a second ottoman because I only had one for one of the "reading" chairs (lol). I thought it would make sense to have both chairs have an ottoman in next home (indoor porch chairs maybe, with ottoman? or sell them?). That second ottoman finally arrives this Friday; have no idea where I'll put it, and it's definitely gray. So ottomanS are staying in this room, in this house. I can't even imagine the stress I would have trying to now change out ottomans. Wallpaper was stressful enough and i admit knowing the room is now conflicting slightly. Honestly, I'm just going to live with this now. Changing the color of a room after you hired a designer is no easy task for a non-professional if you don't want to change out the essence of what you paid designer for. Somehow, I now have what I wanted, a blue room. I recognize the issues, the lack cohesiveness, but it's a room that I have decided to now live with.

July has flown by already! welcome @Chandllerin and @Carissa! Great to have you both. @CSmith - loving how your house is coming together! the front door with tall ceiling and windows - so grand! May I ask where you got that copper light fixture? Did you pass your inspection? Keeping my fingers crossed for you! @Laurel C - Your countertops are in and looks great! I'm sure if feels good to have your house come together with all your selections - i can't wait for that phase. Have you picked out your backsplash yet? Do you have an ETA on CO? @worthy - I can't imagine being in your situation, my heart really goes out to you. I hope you have some ways to reduce stress. @agbhw - Your house is coming along -each stage is so exciting! I agree with @chicagoans about the breezeway. I would love to have that in my house if I had enough land space. Always been so envious of others who have that! @chicagoans - those countertops look amazing against the white cabinets. Really pops and the veining goes together with the cabinets nicely! How much more work do you have left? Do you have finish date on your reno yet? We are also over $100K+ over budget currently and in the interior plumbing rough in/HVAC stage. I see more overage happening throughout my build. The overage is in the non-pretty/design items such as HVAC, Water Tank, Electrical, Plumbing, storm water lines, cabinets, etc. I shifted my mindset to not let these get to me - I would previously have mini heart attacks when these overages occurred but now I say to myself "it is what it is". This post covid environment is definitely unpredictable so trying to make prudent decisions and move forward. We are working on HVAC and stuck on how many systems we need for our house. We had originally planned on three systems and HVAC/GC is recommending two. I know nothing about this so I spoke to HVAC friend and he's giving me really good feedback to how to set up our house efficiently - which is different from my GC's HVAC is recommending. My HVAC friend said he would never recommend the configuration that GC's HVAC is recommending. This is what makes me so upset. Is my GC looking out for my best interest when these recommendations come in? With my HVAC friends help and configuration, while I know this will increase my HVAC cost, it's worth the investment. Like @Laurel C - i want to make sure we have highly efficient system so I think it's worth spending extra $$ on this. Feels like snail pace at this point but will take what I can get!