Welcome home present

Karen got to see the house for the first time after a couple of days away, and her welcome home present was all the lights. Lit up, the house looks very lived-in from the street ... aside from the absence of furntiture or blinds or people. We figured out almost all the lights and switches, but some are still not hooked up. The lights in the upstairs hallway have about four places to switch on and off, and they don't all work. I hope that's not a problem. Aside from that, though, it looks great. Because of where the attic access is, in Karen's closet, they had to put in a fluourescent light and not a standard light, and she's a little disappointed about that. We find the lights in our room to be a bit dimmer than we imagined, but that's OK, it is a bedroom and who needs that much light. We have four recessed lights and they throw off enough light to make it comfortable. If you need more light, there are plenty of them in the bathroom. And there's always a table lamp, if needed.

The grout in the mudroom was completed yesterday, too, as was that on the plant shelf above the front door. It looked like the tile and mantle around the fireplace are all done, too.

The yard was rough-levelled by a bulldozer, I think there's more fill in to do, though, as there is still a largish pond in the back yard. I don't know what will happen with that, we were told there might always be a wet area back there where water will accumulate before hitting a valley to drain out.

The microwave was installed, the first appliance. I set the time on it for kicks, it is a slick machine. The only thing I don't like about it is that the kids won't be able to easily reach it, and they're all now at about an age where they can nuke their own things to eat. We do have a step ladder, though.

We'll be headed over again today, of course, to see what else was done. We're coming up on two weeks or less. The builder is hoping to give us a final date next week.