Archive for June, 2007

This weekend we really got a lot done. Kelley’s mother came up from Denver to help us paint and garden. With her help we got the kitchen painted and finished up the master bedroom. We also got the house incredibly set up! The kitchen, master bedroom, downstairs guest room, office, and upstairs living room are pretty much all set. They were also able to get a ton of gardening completed. Gardening work included the “island” located in the backyard by the flagstone patio, and the front yard garden surrounding the walkway. These gardens were totally overgrown, and while there is still quite a bit of work to be done there, much progress was made.

While all of that was taking place I was completing “Operation Boo! Control” – you can check on the “Projects” page for more information about that.

The long awaited closing date has come and gone. At 8:00am (Mountain Standard Time) on Friday, June 15th, Kelley and I signed about a billion sheets of paper and were awarded the keys to our first house! We took the entire day off and raced over to enjoy a few quiet moments before the big move began.

Shortly after our breather, we began unpacking, reloading, and unpacking… I began “Operation Boo! Control” (Boo! is our dog, he is a Great Pyrenees – so filling in the holes in the fence perimeter were essential) to dig holes on the north side of the garage by the west facing garage door. Of course this took way longer than I thought it would, and by early afternoon, the holes were dug, posts were cut, and set in cement to harden for the next day or so. While I was busy digging, Kelley was unpacking the kitchen, painting the master bedroom, and dealing with the refrigerator delivery guys (yeah – new fridge! Thanks Mom Opiela!). We took a quick Subway break and I returned to my digging, this time the site was the west side where the chain link bordering the bike path was peeled back so the garden shed could be placed. I needed to dig a single hole, place a post that already had concrete on it (thanks Paul and Jillian!), re-attach the chain link, and finally re-hinge the gate so we still have access to the trail. This was accomplished in an hour or so and I did as good a job as possible, being that the chain link had been crushed in some parts and none of the city chain link posts they put in 30 years ago were straight anymore. Oh well, it works well enough. At this point we were both exhausted beyond belief.

We woke up on Saturday, left our house on route to Redfeather Lakes for a grand wedding celebration for our great friends Alex and Anya! It was an amazing event, in a beautiful location. Congratulations Guys!

We returned on Sunday morning to embark on what would be one of the quickest and easiest moves in recorded history. Kelley and I had sent out a moving SOS to a bunch of friends and despite 200 degree Fahrenheit temperatures a ton of people showed up! We were in and out in around 2 hours total! Thanks to all who lent us their muscles and sweat on that fateful Sunday – Paul, Jillian, Renee, Evan, Pamela, Jeff, Chuck, Ward, and Jim – you are the best! We ended the day with a keg of 90 Shilling, pizza, and good company on our back deck.

Monday brought work back to us. We are on a 7am to 4pm schedule which is nice since we have a lot of time after to get back to the house and work. Unfortunately, Monday is also the day that Boo! and I head down to Berthoud for agility class – which is a blast, but ate into most of my useable “house time.” Kelley, however, stayed behind and did an awesome job getting the kitchen, bathrooms, and a couple of the guest rooms unpacked. Bed time once again.

After work on Tuesday, I raced back to the house at 4-ish and Kelley went back to the rental to do a little cleaning. I was still working on “Operation Boo! Control” and got the north side fence completed, hung the gate and checked that off the list. I then headed over to the south-east corner of the back yard by the play area where I dug a few holes, cut some posts and set them in cement for the night. I retreated indoors at this point and Kelley and I worked for a couple more hours unpacking the office, more of the bedrooms, and upstairs living room! It is surely coming along!

So, this is what we have been up to as of late. We have some pictures of our work so far, and will be posting shortly, since we just located the cable for the camera. Expect those soon!