Getting Things Done

"Sometimes you have to be a bitch to get things done." - Madonna

Lately, I've had to be a pretty tough cookie to make sure everything is done the way it should be. I know you probably think I'm referring to my students or maybe even knitting, but actually it has to do with buying a new townhouse and car. This past week we spent a lot of time dealing with these big life changes, so knitting has taken a back seat for the moment. I hope to start a new project this week and do some actual knitting.

This is our first house and it is a new build, so dealing with the contractors has been a, shall we say, educational experience. Here is how it looked as of this past Saturday:


Here is a schedule of how things have gone the past year:

August 2006 - Sign the contract and are told that all the homes will be completed by March and move-ins will be staggered from March to May.

November 2006 - The grounds are prepared but STILL no sign of actual construction. Beginning to worry that we are observing the wrong site.

December 2006 - Finally starting to see structures go up. Starting to doubt that they will be finished by March.

March 2007 - Definitely nothing close to done yet. Hoping that we will still move in over the summer.

May 2007 - Finally told by the construction that we will probably not move in until mid to late summer. Starting to think it will actually be fall.

July 2007 - Starting to hear that things may be delayed until August. Hoping that we will move in by Thanksgiving.

August 2007 - Some houses are finally looking close to completion. Assured that we will close sometime in October. Hoping we will at least spend Christmas in our new house.

Along the way there have also been the usual mess-ups. For example, this past weekend we viewed the house and they had just started to put in the cabinets, only they were the wrong color. Fortunately, one of the other homes did have the right cabinets, so we were able to see what they look like. They even had the same granite we picked (which makes me wonder, are these really our cabinets and counter put in this unit by mistake?). Here is a rough idea of what our new kitchen will look like:

Anyway, we've had to really keep on top of things to keep informed and make sure all the problems are corrected. In upcoming posts I will talk about the joys of storming out of a car dealership after a loud argument, and, just maybe, some knitting.