Stress Hardiness, Optimizing Stress, Being Fully Alive

It was a great week. We picked up Kaitlin and Torben at the Albuquerque airport around noon Monday, and the Tuff Shed people built our shed Tuesday and Wednesday:

For more pictures of building the shed start here.

 
The time for pouring the concrete slab for the house is getting closer, so we all went over the plans to make sure they represented what we really want. Kaitlin and Torben were invaluable.
 

 
We made some important changes so today (Thanksgiving) we went up and looked at the plans at the house site to make sure we liked the new version, and also to figure out where we wanted the windows.
 

 
In the evening Torben and Kaitlin drew the plans in Power Point so we would have a neat version to show Steve when we meet with him again, hopefully sometime this coming week.
 

 
It was an unconventional Thanksgiving, but it helped Andy and me a lot and it was a good way to bond as a family. It’s a week I’ll always remember and I’m grateful for having them in my life.

What about you? Do you celebrate Thanksgiving? Whatever the answer, was this a special week for you?

Forms for the stem walls of the house. For more pictures start here.
 

Installing the propane tank. For more pictures start here.
 

Mounting the poles for the solar panels. For more pictures start here.
 

A lot happened this week. We now have the propane system installed to the house and shed sites, and the forms for the stem walls of the house and the mounts for the solar panels are ready for pouring the concrete tomorrow.

Tuff Shed had planned to build our shed today, but there was a mix up about the building permit so now the estimate is next Tuesday at the earliest. And it took a lot of effort for Joe to get permission to pour the concrete for the stem walls tomorrow. An inspector was supposed to come up today to give the go ahead, but there was some disagreement about just which one would have to come up. I’ll spare you the details, but Joe will be able to pour tomorrow. He won’t be able to get the concrete pumper though, so they will have to use wheelbarrows… the permission to pour came too late to reserve the pumper.

It could have been a lot worse. We’re grateful for what was accomplished.

Hopefully you had at least as many successes as setbacks this week.

There were good news and bad news this week. The septic system was installed, inspected, and buried:
 

 
The shed site was prepared and inspected:
 

 
And the trenches and rebar for the footings for the house were installed and inspected:
 

 
The good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, they will pour the concrete tomorrow, even though it’s Veteran’s Day. That is indeed good news.

On the other hand, Andy has been hobbling around because of back trouble the past two days. I got out our emergency cane and we’re joking (we hope) about buying an emergency walker. But chances are active rest will stop the spasms in the fullness of time.

How are things going with you?

(Andy took a gazillion pictures this week, especially of installing the septic system and preparing the shed site and footings for the house. They start here.)

Have you ever wished for either of these rules?
 

 

 
Do chronic complainers bother you? What about cheerful people? I’m happy to lend an ear when someone is going through hard times, but I’ve learned to steer clear of people who are always complaining. And when I’m in a bad mood I tend to avoid cheerful people until I start feeling better. On the other hand, I avoid grumpy people too, so I was amused at this announcement in a local church bulletin:
 

Getting Old and Grumpy Group

Are you, at least somewhat, grumpy and cranky about aging? You must feel that way often for admission to this group! Those aging gracefully should go elsewhere.

Would a group like that ever appeal to you? (If you’re not old enough to be dealing with aging, think of some other problem affecting your life.)

The site of the new shed is to the right of the driveway.

 
The weather has been “slightly less than perfect” the past couple of days, so construction has been briefly halted. We’re expecting more good weather before winter sets in for good, but just in case the truck and snowplow are ready:
 

 
Steve and Joe weren’t able to get the building permits Friday because we didn’t have a house number. But yesterday when Andy was up there two fellows from the county came up and they all decided our address will be 75 Woodcutters Road. So Joe made the two-hour-each-way trip again today. Presumably he succeeded this time and progress is being made.

 
They dug the trenches for the foundation of the shed today. Hopefully they’ll put the forms in tomorrow while Steve and Joe drive down to Bernalillo to get our building permits. Keep your fingers crossed for us on that one!

If all goes well and we get the permits and the building inspector okays it, we can start pouring concrete and order the shed. I will keep you posted.

What’s going on in your life?

 
Our land is less depressing now that the debris has been removed and some of the dead trees have been cut down. Our new saying is

When all the trees burn up we might as well enjoy the view.

Click on picture for larger view.

 
The above picture is of Andy, Greg (our solar engineer) and Joe (our contractor) using a Solar Pathfinder to see what trees still needed to be cut down to keep them from shading our photovoltaic panels. The picture was taken Wednesday and hopefully Joe will start building the supports for the array next week.
 

 
The last four trash containers were still there, but they were finally removed that afternoon, so progress continues to be made. There is clearly a long way left to go. In the fullness of time….

 

 

 
Andy spent some time this week cutting down more trees to open up the view. I spent hours on the internet getting an education about roofing options and how we would need to install each of them. Steve (our architect/project manager) recommended asphalt, but we decided we really needed metal, both for durability and for lightning protection. It turns out there are metal shingles now, not just the standard standing seam panels, and they may be what we choose.

As far as I can tell the metal shingles are less complicated to install than the metal panels, but all roofs require care. YouTube has some great videos about incorrectly installed asphalt roofs. One of the problems with asphalt is the mistakes aren’t as noticeable until the shingles blow off or the roof leaks. As I said, I’ve learned a lot. Getting skilled workmen can be a problem in the mountains of Northern New Mexico, so it’s nice to know the potential problems ahead of time.

Tomorrow Andy is going up with the well driller to see which pipes need to be replaced in our water system, and tomorrow afternoon we have an appointment with the solar engineer who will design our photovoltaic system. So things are starting to happen.

Steve had continuing education classes in Santa Fe Monday-Wednesday, but presumably we will hear from him soon. We can’t get started on the foundations for the shed and the house until he finishes the plans and gets a building permit.

I’ve sent away for samples of roofing and siding materials so I can pick some colors. We received two samples of siding today and they look quite different from the colors on their website. Final decisions about the outside of the house can’t be made until we see what our possibilities are and how they fit together. There’s a good chance I’ll get that information before it holds up progress. I do believe in planning ahead!

What about you? Do you have any projects you’re working on? If so how are they going?

We actually have a set of house/cabin plans now. (The structure is only 768 square feet.) We may change some details, but they should be enough to start applying for a building permit. The interesting thing is since we don’t have a house address or lot number, Sandoval County wanted a survey of our land. Just a receipt from the taxes we’ve been paying for the past 35 years wasn’t enough. Fortunately we had a survey made years ago and could actually find it. That saved a lot of time and money.

I spent a lot of time looking at siding colors today, and tried seeing how they might look up on our land:

 
The colors probably aren’t accurate, but they’re better than nothing. And it does keep me off the streets and out of trouble.

Is time whizzing by for you too?