Disaster + Five Months

Today is the five month anniversary of the demise of our house on 12 January 2012. It took half of that time to decide what was salvageable and get it out of the house - and then get the house demolished. We are working and will be working for a while on deciding which of the saved items is restorable and getting it restored, as well as getting many other lost items replaced. The acquisition of most of the furniture items, of course, will have to wait until we have places to put them

Work on the house itself continues, though not as fast as we would like. Sometimes, however, there are good areasons. Sunday and Monday, for example, we got over 1 1/2 inches of rain. We needed that and a lot more to end our current drought. But it means that we are still not ready to put on the roof. At least the electricians have been busy the last two days.

I've been asked by many when the house will be finished and even, "What is your move-in date?" Since I'd really like to know too, today I asked our builder, "What is our ETO (Estimated Time of Occupancy}?" Along with a heavy dose of reality, his answer gives me encouragement: "Establishing a time line should get easier. Now I'm at the mercy of the roofer. Of course, later someone else could get us off schedule, but fewer will have the opportunity. Really, schedules are guesses, but that gets more accurate as we go. I'm guessing three months from 'roofing finished.'" It sound to me like we're talking September. We'll see.

Take care, and I'll bring you more news when I have it.  --oc