We don’t have a projected move-in date for our new home’s completion. A friend who earned his living in home construction before retiring recently said: “So you’re getting to the part where things begin to slow down.” I quelled the desire to offer a rebuttal. I hoped he was wrong.
If memory serves me correctly, this is the sixth home we’ve bought that was either under construction at the time we purchased it or yet to be built. The construction phase didn’t take forever. In every situation, in less time than it takes to have a baby, we were out of one place and into a new home.
Toward the end of 1979, the General and I began fantasizing about moving from Austin to Henly. I had accepted the invitation to serve as bi-vocational pastor of the church in Henly in February of that year. Of course, I still had a full-time job elsewhere, but we preferred to live near the church.
We were amid a congregation where most people lived simply. I didn’t know anyone in the congregation with a home mortgage. The General and I were far from being at that place, but it made a nice fantasy.
In early 1980, we purchased ten acres, contacted an architect in Austin, and in lickety-split time had our own set of custom-house plans. What we planned to build was smaller than the home we were living in, but we hoped to at least reduce the length of time of our next home mortgage down from 30 years to 15.
God has a remarkable sense of humor. No sooner had we gotten a bid back from the builder that built our last home in Austin, we discovered that in our old age, like Abraham and Sarah, we were going to have a baby. Consequently, a smaller two-bedroom home no longer had an appeal.
It was back to the drawing board with the architect, restoration of the space we had eliminated from the previous house plans, and the awareness that a 30-year home mortgage didn’t represent the end of the world. Seriously, we were in our early 30s and both had good jobs. It was no big deal.
We moved into our newly constructed home on Christmas Eve of that same year. Did you catch that? All of that activity took place in less than a year. Andrea was born the following week on January 2, 1981.
Last Tuesday, our builder mentioned that putting the stone on our house could likely take a month. The exterior of the house isn’t totally rock. It is complimented with board and batten. The exterior of the home requires one-hundred tons of rock. I never thought about it before, but the stonemasons are going to be lifting 100 tons, one rock at a time. That thought seems overwhelming to me.
Yesterday I received an update from the building superintendent responsible for our home’s construction. He mentioned that progress was being made on the stonework and he anticipated it would be completed by the end of this week.
How do I wrap my head around all of that? The experienced builder mentioned a month. The younger guy is anticipating a week. I honestly don’t know. At best, I’m hoping it is somewhere in the middle.
All of our furniture and household goods have been in storage since the beginning of October 2021. As a rule of thumb, the General eliminates clothing from her closet that she hasn’t worn over the past year.
In developing our house plans, the General insisted that she not share a closet with me. I wasn’t going to argue with her. After all, she tends to be a little OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), and when it comes to my closet, I don’t have to ensure that everything is color-coded. It will simplify both of our lives to have separate closets. I can hardly wait!
I’ve learned with the General that I need to be on guard whenever she begins a conversation by saying: “You need to…” Yesterday she had the nerve to suggest that I need to get rid of some of my coats.
I have an assortment of lighter jackets (different colors), as well as a couple of heavy coats and an overcoat. The General said I didn’t need all of them. She pointed out that I have coats that I’ve not yet worn.
I’m drawing a line in the sand on this one. When we get moved, I will decide what gets donated from my closet. Something tells me the General and I will have a lot to sort out. This could prove to be “interesting”. I carefully chose that word
All My Best!
Don
Carpe Diem 