Stone in Love

Yay! It's football season. I also have some new pictures of the progress and my countertops. Here is a new picture of the Texas Room and its bookcase. I'm going to have a lot of reading to do. Or something.


Here is a portion of my closet, newly painted. It's going to be a struggle to decide where to hang things. Should I put the shorts near the dresser, or should I hang them on the opposite wall, maximizing potential excercise while donning clothes? Should I hang my sweatshirts or put them in drawers? No wire hangers! I will always beat you!


Here are the new countertops in the untility room. The sink is still in the garage at this point. It's white or biscuit. I can't remember. I wonder why Bill Todd called Kristi Krajca "biscuit?" The open slot is where the ironing board is going to be. Odds are that I'll knock it off within the first 20 uses. It may take until a minute shy of The Rapture for me to use it 20 times. Place your bets!


This is the my bathroom vanity. I'll be standing in the corner washing my hands. This color is called "verde butterfly" and will probably have a greener color when bathroom flood lighting becomes involved. I'm told it goes good with my bedroom green if you crane around the koner. Otherwise, it's black.


Here's a close up, showing more color:


Here is a view from the kitchen pantry, toward the living room. The color of this granite is "black brown." It makes me think that either the bathroom's color should be "black green" or this should be "mocha beetle," but maybe not.


Here's the other side of the kitchen. They had the stove in for one half of one day. I guess it was to make sure it fit with the granite. It all looks great with the cabinetry!


Here's a close up of the coloration:


Here's a picture from the breakfast area looking toward the dining room. I took it to show the lighting that's been installed. I'm wondering if I should put dimmers anywhere?


Here is the living room ceiling with its lighting and air conditioner vent. More dimmers? Dimmers on the outside of the house as well? It'll be a dimmer/closet house then!


Next up, TILE!

current music: R.E.M.: Feeling Gravity's Pull

Warning: Colored objects in these pictures may seem brighter than they actually are!

Here is the view from the dining room toward the living room:


Now then, who said anything about crimson??? True, that dynastic team unlike any other in its prowess is worthy of attention and honor, and I do have a special place in my heart for them. I only lived in Alabama for a year though, and I hardly think that that merits The Tide a room in my house. This color is "Claret," with one "t." (You Buckeyes hush your mouths.)


The painters made an error that I probably won't correct. The jury is out and The Buckeye hasn't seen it yet. The red wall parallel to the long axis of this picture is supposed to be the gold color instead. Tile flooring is going to run straight down the hallway here and there will be wood to the left in the dining room and to the right in the living room. The column and the far wall are supposed to be red, as they are. What think ye? Looking back, this would make the red wall in the first picture gold instead. I know it's hard to tell from pictures. We'll see.


The mantle stands out more now. Laura wanted to know what was going above it. I think a painted portrait of Tina and Laura holding Madeline would work famously.


My bedroom. I like it even better now that the trim has separated the walls from the ceiling. Y'all were right. Again.


A picture of the trim in The Shrine. I think it looks great! It's going to look even better when I have my autographed Earl Campbell jersey and Ricky Williams Zig Zags framed. I've actually go so much stuff to fill up this room that the walls probably won't be visible in the end. GUN LEFT JACK MENU #2! Angus would want to spend all his time in this room.


current music: Aimee Mann: That's Just What You Are

Listen with your eyes

So then, here are some color swatches. The mantle and trim are some bone-ish color:



This is the dining room ceiling. The dining room walls are not going to be this color:


The utility room:


The front bedroom, which will probably be the primary guest room:


The Master of the House's bathroom:


The burnt orange study/game room:


The secondary guest room:


The living room ceiling. I can't remember if the walls will be the same:


The Master of the House's Bedroom:


It's really shocking to walk in to these colors and think of living here. I think it'll look a ton different when it's all painted and there is actually lighting in the rooms. Then there will be another change when furniture gets put in, if I can afford any.

current music: Donald Fagen: New Frontier

Hell Yes

Here are more pictures of my glorious wood. Here is a not-so-close-up of my drawers. Too bad I'm not inventive enough tonight to keep it up with the euphemisms.


The kitchen cabinets. The hole is for the vent a hood. Below it, the stove slot protrudes slightly. Immediately to the right is a space for the double oven. Above that, storage for cookbooks, I suppose. Lord knows I'll need some instruction if I want to use this kitchen. A pantry is to the right of the ovens...then the door to the garage and utility room:


The island with more drawers. I love the corner column decoration:


Shelves in the study. You'll see tomorrow that this room is now burnt orange. Hook 'em Horns! Does everyone know I'm going to the Ohio State game with a buckeye and two crazy teens?(Carson, you act like a teen...and then there's Laura).


The entertainment center in The Master's Bedroom. I am the master of my domain. Yes:


The cabinetry in The Master's Bathroom:


The launderette. I'm taking a picture from where I plan to put a freezer:


My wall of entertainment. I'll be needing on of those foam TV Bricks for when I play Bobby in Xbox football, or Randy in anything:


As alluded to above, I now not only have luscious carmel-colored wood, but also painted walls and ceilings! I didn't realize, really, that I was going to be living in colored boxes but it sounds fun. I have an awesome interior decorator. I hope she does as good on the furnishings...

current music: Beck: Que Honda Guero

Have you seen me lately?

All I have time to post today is the exterior of the hoose. When I got back from Austin on Saturday, they had deposited brick in the back yard. That means they should be bricking the flowerbeds and/or mailbox soon. I need to remember to ask Randy W. where my house number is...




They finished the stain and had the cabinets all taped off, and some of the walls primed. I assume that they'll be painting today and into the week! I'll post more pics tomorrow...or soon.

current music: Bow Wow Wow: C30 C60 C90 Go!

Wanna see my wood?

Here ya go!


Just a couple of pics to tease. I've got to be in Austin for a few days into the weekend, but I'll share more when I get back. I finally got my camera replaced. Now, if only Dell would send me the new computer. Damn thieves.

current music: The Cure: Never Enough [Big Mix]

The writing was upon the stall

The Panic Room is also the guest bathroom. Have I mentioned that several times already? I don't have time to review my previous posts tonight. I got cinder blocked and mortared up on Friday. First they drilled holes into the foundation, which had been reinforced with footings all around this specific room (visible in already posted pre-foundation pictures). They sledgehammered rebar into these holes. The holes must've been smaller diameter than the rebar, 'cos they were wedged in really tight. The bricklayers then placed the bricks. Next, they're going to put more rebar vertically into the blocks and pour cement into the holes. After that, they'll have a cement reinforced roof made for this bathroom. Everybody says they want to hide in this room for our bad weather, but I have my doubts as to how many hardened Wichitans will actually show up. I mean, it's been 27 years since the tornado now. Everyone's a tornado warning faineant, right?






I discovered that Randy W is building my flooplan in another neighborhood, and it's a bit further along. For those who have a need to see an elevation, here's a rough look. This should quiet your fears that I've agreed to some Frank Lloyd Wrightish monstrosity. I think it's going to look just fine. The two sets of front windows are slightly different, but they are still sets of three:


Thank goodness the roof's not as high as Jorin's maligned "umbrella roof house." You couldn't tell from the front, but it was a two-story house. I think mine will probably be referred to as a "closet house."


From the Stone Lake side, where the garage is. There should be one more window on mine. I asked for two windows in bedroom three instead of one. I'm glad there's a random gable:


Three crazies modeling the "Put Your Head Between Your Legs and Kiss Your Ass Goodbye" pose. Carson might be limber enough to pull it off. She's going to be featured as one of the top dancers at her recital!


I'm attending a session Monday through Friday, so it's doubtful there will be an update until the end of the week. There certainly won't be any pictures posted. But, I've got Tina taking pictures and Ron monitoring quality control while I'm gone. I think I'm in very good hands.

current music: Talking Heads: And She Was

And after all, you're my wonderwall

Not much happened today on the homefront. I talked to Randy W. He said he'd been out to the lot to flag something or other. Who knows what he was talking about. At some point, you just have to trust the person you've hired to do their job. (Since Randy G. doesn't live here!) But it had to do with the Panic Room, and on that *#&@^ lot on top of that hill it was too *#&@^ windy. So I got a pile of bricks. Someone had also drawn a very straight line on the foundation at what should be the wall between the Panic Room and the study. That didn't merit a picture.


The city must've been out in the last few days, too. I have a water meter:


The next thing I was told to do is check out stains for cabinetry. That sounds like a daunting task to me. I'm also to consider what kind of front door I want. That's almost picked out. I reserve the right to look at a couple more catalogs when they come in, but there's one I like a lot already. I'm pleased that this decision seemed easy. I think that it's going to be easy picking out the kitchen appliances as well. Tina is going to go with me on Saturday morning to look at the different brands, but I've quickly snooted my way to a preliminary choice. Is this an area to splurge some saved cash? I'll let you know this weekend.

I guess I might answer some questions here. And the joke above is that Randy W is a cusser. We know that leaving out the verb in Hebrew intensifies or emphasizes the statement. Why the hell leave out a verb when you can add a few god damn words? It makes more sense. I love English.

Brian: No thanks on taking Gunner. You should have named him "Amaretto," 'cos he thinks he's some kind of fancy licker. There's no carpet planned for the house, but I'm sure my wonderful friends will find an area rug to ruin, post-haste.

Necia: Who knows if I'll make scary faces at the kids. That kind of spontaneous fun just can't be planned in advance. And on Saturday, I'll personally show you where the hoose is.

Concrete floor likers: Yeah, I should have consulted you instead of having the Tina/Linda gang-up while Ron just sat there and laughed. But, it's probably a trend. Tile and wood are cool. You still can't convince me that a visible crack in the foundation is any worse than the crack in tile grout that the same will cause. But tile and wood are cool. Really, they're cool.

Jorin: I link to MSN music because I wasn't convinced that people without iTunes could open those types of links to listen. I'm flattering myself into thinking that people click on my hyperlinks.

Randy: I hope that the land across the street remains undeveloped. It's residential. Hopefully no one will buy out the residents. One of them's Bobby Brown. It's his prerogative to stay.

Fence watchers: I haven't decided on the fence yet, except that it's going to have a concrete footing. Yeah, fences are purty and all, but let me see how bad I've broken the bank by the time I get to that point in the decision making. I've lived for at least 10 years without any window treaments on my fishbowl windowed living room. I may not even get a fence. Just a footer for it. The Ricky Show may go on for years...Rickylicious!

current music: Concrete Blonde: Tomorrow, Wendy