What a Mess!!

Does this look like a brand new living room to you? Well, it will by next week again I'm pretty sure! We have had a leak in the roof above the living room since the spring and the roofers have been out 4 times---and everytime they leave they say it's fixed. So we wait until we get another rain to see if the ceiling is wet and sure enough, everytime it's leaked again. So last week Cleo finally lost his patience and decided that he would call the warranty dept himself. Now, let me tell you that he lost his temper (not Cleo, right??) and he and the secretary got into a pretty heated shouting match and he basically told them if they didn't get it right this time, he would call an attorney. So last Wed. the roofers came out, ripped all the shingles off that part of the roof (which they never had done before--just patched without looking) and sure enough, they found 3 spots that were leaking. So they fixed them and reshingled the roof and told us to wait until after the weekend because it was supposed to rain and if after the rain it hadn't leaked again, to call the warranty dept. and schedule the drywallers to come out and fix the ceiling. Well, as you can see by this picture, they had to cut out a 2x6 foot section of the ceiling which they did yesterday and then they had another crew come back today and do the first drywall application. I guess that has to dry for a couple days and then they will come back and do the second application and then I have to schedule the painters to come out and paint!!! So I just got off the phone with the drywall company and they can't come back until Monday so I have to put up with this mess for the rest of the week. At least they got the hole covered which was pretty important as the temps dropped to freezing last night and there was a pretty good draft coming thru the attic. We had to move all the furniture (well, they did it for me) and take pictures down so nothing would get too messed up.

They did a pretty good job covering the furniture with plastic to keep all the drywall dust from coating it.

I'm sure this drywaller was thrilled when he heard my camera snapping pictures of him!!

You'd think this was a woman because of the ponytail, but it was actually a guy! Anyhow, we will be glad to get this mess cleaned up just in time for the builder to start working on our 10 month warranty work which should be in about 6 weeks. I just don't know why they can't coordinate their schedules a little better and get it all done in a matter of days, instead of weeks!!! I guess it just gives me another excuse not to go looking for a job just yet because who would supervise all this??? Anyhow, we really are enjoying our home and we know that every new home owner has issues when they build a house. I guess ours have been pretty minor compared to some of the nightmare stories we've heard over the years from friends who have built. This home is definately a keeper.

A Hunting We Will Go!!

Well, I never thought I'd see this day! Cleo FINALLY convinced me to go hunting with him. I guess what finally pushed me over the edge was the fact that it's right in our backyard and I'm not stuck in the wilderness for hours without a bathroom! Cleo told me before he left for work yesterday morning that we would go when he got home from work last night, so to be prepared. Well in preparation for the big hunt, I didn't put on any lotion, body spray, hair spray, etc. so that the deer wouldn't pick up my scent (whatever!) but I did draw the line with the deodorant. I mean come on, if I use it the deer can smell it, if I don't use it they'll smell b.o. so you tell me what's worse?? I put on my cute camo pants (thanks Sara) and was ready to go at 5:00. I was a little disturbed that I didn't have a long sleeve shirt that matched my pants (I'll work on that) but it was still warm enough for short sleeves. So we headed down the trail behind the house to where Cleo and Jarod have a deer blind set up.

Cleo was leading the way. Doesn't he look good in camo????

This is just a look at the woods we had to walk thru. It's sooo thick down there and really kinda creepy---I was just thankful it was still daylight and I could see what I was walking thru.

This is the deer blind--I think it's so cute and would make a fun kids tent!! but I guess that's not what it's intended for. I am holding the crossbow, but there is ABSOLUTELY no way I could've pulled the trigger if a deer had come into the clearing. Maybe someday Cleo will convince me to do that, but until I can actually eat the dang deer meat and get "Bambi" out of my head that will never happen.

It looks like I'm really aiming for something, but it was just a great pose for a picture-HAHAHA.

I thought my camo pants blended in really well with the deer blind---now I just have to work on the shirt. I really have looked, but they just don't make cute hunting clothes for females. I know it shouldn't be about style, but a girls gotta look good, right???

You can't really tell, but this picture is of tracks. Cleo was trying to teach me how to track a deer and we came across these--they were actually raccoon tracks. We did stumble onto some deer poop and Cleo picked it up (GROSS!) and squeezed it to see if it was fresh. I was so grossed out and started to gag and then of course he was telling me that I needed to be quiet or I'd scare the deer off. Well, anyhow I didn't get a picture of him actually doing that, but you get the picture, right?

We had a really fun evening and I can't actually believe I went down in those woods with him. After seeing that snake earlier this summer, I swore I wouldn't go back down there, but I always feel safe with Cleo and I know that he'd never lead me directly into danger. We didn't see a thing but at least now I can say I've been hunting. I don't know if I'll ever go with him to the place where he has his treestand set up because it's over by where he works and not close to a bathroom, but stranger things have happened so stay tuned.