01-08-2001

We got the first real rain of the season yesterday, making driving fun with the mix of rain plus fog yesterday morning. Richard and I have been keeping fingers and toes crossed that the rain would wait a bit longer this year, because as expected, the builder called to let us know that the rain would delay them a few days. Luckily he counted on rain when he came up with the schedule, but I can't help but get anxious. I want that house done, and the sooner the better. I'm more than ready to move, despite how much I hate the process itself, simply because I want to *be* in that house.

Saturday we went out to look at the house - our weekly trek to the construction zone. They've finished the ceiling skeleton for the second floor, and we stood in the bay window of the master bedroom and stared up at our peaked ceiling and wow'd to each other with glee. This house is going to have a ton of attic space, and I wandered the second floor, peering up at the lattice of ceiling beams trying to figure out where the roof access might be. I have this teeny dream of one day finishing the attic space, simply for storage more than any type of living space. I just think it would be so cool to be able to say "Oh, that's up in the attic." I have a feeling, however, that the access will be inside a closet somewhere, and may require some significant remodeling if I really want a more permanent way to climb up. We'll see - there's plenty of time yet to worry about that.

We went to a Home and Garden Show on Sunday afternoon, with the vague idea of it being useful. Unlike the one we went to back in May (which was rather small), this one was larger, but focused on lots of things we didn't need to worry about anymore. Windows and doors have been taken care of. Roof is something we'll have to work on later - but the only decision we'll need to make is the color. It was still fun though, wandering the aisles, signing up for all the raffles by putting down the address of the new house. If anyone tries to send us snail mail spam, it'll bounce back, I'm sure, but we really weren't interested in getting on any mailing lists anyway.

The shining moment of the show was the display of appliances at the very end. A number of people have suggested that we get two ovens installed (that whole resale thing, and of course it comes in handy cooking huge dinners, they say). I've got no problem with having two ovens. My biggest issue has simply been that if we get two ovens, suddenly I've got to give up counter space for the range. Considering that the kitchen of the house we're currently in has absolutely no counter space and I'm salivating all over the kitchen we're building because I'll finally have *room*, I'm not exactly all that thrilled to be pondering the idea of giving it up.

So this is why I got all excited at the Maytag display. They've got this marvelous stove that's actually two ovens plus a range top, all in one. The top oven is half-size, just large enough to cook bread or cakes or casseroles in it, and the bottom is a normal oven. Two ovens and no additional counter space taken. How much better can it get? I drooled all over the oven, opening doors, poking and prodding, eying it wistfully. We'd agreed to get a gas stove, and this one only comes in electric (yet! But I don't think we can count on them magically producing it in the right fuel within the next two months). I'm sure it's the type of thing that will consume our entire kitchen appliance budget, and so I'm been half-heartedly trying to convince myself that it probably has a big huge and potentially fatal flaw. It's not exactly working very well though - the convincing, that is. But I'll keep trying.