little people and large trucks

this is the weed zone. it will someday look like a well-manicured modern home, condo-sized, but now it looks like a mosquito infestation crossed with an arboretum. as i write, it is being chopped into submission by the builder’s husband, who is using a bladed weedeater to get it ready for loads and loads of mulch. it protects the roots of the arboretum’s three trees. mulch will come, and then an excavator, and then a large lift and the metal box. but that’s fast-forwarding a little too much, as the box is still in smithville with a side missing.

so let’s talk about something else, like truck envy. being very! reluctant texans, we have never suffered from what might be called large-vehicle-one-upmanship, and then we met the bronco pictured above. we just had to have one. so the male half of our family started shopping craig’s list, not being willing to settle for anything that wouldn’t seat all of us, even the daughter who hasn’t come yet, with seat belts. and then, we found it. 1979, ford, largest engine they ever put into a truck. we’re building green so that we make our own carbon offsets for the truck.

but what about the little people? they like the truck. especially when we take them to the draught house and eat nachos in the back after soccer practice. man, we are texan.

oh, right, the picture below is the current state of salina. which won’t last much longer. about to go in besides mulch and the pool are 10 piers, 15′ deep each, 14″ diameter concrete with rebar, and a large sweep of retaining walls and tree wells so the lot will actually slope toward the street (instead of being a pond in the making).

grocery lists for home building

1. patience

2. ability to hold the phone with your shoulder so you can wash dishes, answer random questions (like ‘what are we eating next?’), and talk to potential contractors at the same time.  the eating questions are only answered when on hold with the phone person.

3. 3 vessel sinks with faucets included (thank you ebay), and a snazzy kitchen faucet that has the very mod name ‘metro’.

4. 212 square feet of 1×1 mosaic tile that we found on sale for the two showers (‘twist of lime’ at mosaic tile supply.com)

5. stainless steel undermount sink

6. really cheap old-fashioned-ymca-looking shower faucets to complement the 1970’s mosaic tile look.

7. nifty floating house numbers that don’t cost $110 each (thank you home depot).

8. the ability to memorize many phone numbers so dialing in the car isn’t a safety hazard.

9.  shoes that protect from fire ants.

10. humility, so you can tell people for the 1,000,000,000th time that the pool really isn’t quite done yet, but really, it will be some day and then we really, really, really will break ground.

11. friends who know lots of things you don’t know so you can call around with every question and get an answer without crying.

12. a husband who can cook.  and likes shopping for ceiling fans and outdoor light fixtures.

13. excel.

14. homebrew.

ode to a waffle iron

you were so hot

sizzling sweetly, clicking softly

you always let us know when the smack-your-lips were ready.

and then your handle completely fell off.

thank you for a decade of breakfast delight.

 

and now, another ode to another waffle iron:

 

dark green 4 door honda

you look so reliable, faithful, boring,

as though i may never even need to change your oil.

taylor calls you our new appliance….

 

i’ll happily call you waffle iron.