Inspection Update

I called for an inspection this morning and found out that we have to have the electrical inspection before the framing inspection. So, I requested that, which will take place tomorrow. I will call in the other one, once we pass the electric. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. Hopefully we pass right away, or just have minor things to change!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been so long since I've posted. I can't believe that I actually let it go a week without writing anything. I think that's been the longest break thus far! I hopefully won't do that again! Anyway, we're moving forward with the house. Andrew has one major project left with the electric and we'll be ready for inspection. We're having the insulation guys out tomorrow to do firestopping (plugging up all the holes in the walls with caulk to prevent fire from spreading . . . heaven forbid if ever a fire). We are planning on calling in for our framing inspection (this is the big one, folks) on Thursday. I hoping that we can both meet the inspector out there. It's pretty rare (I've heard) to pass this inspection the first time (not to mention passing the electrical inspection), so let's hope and pray that we won't have much to fix! If we don't pass, we'll be pushing the insulation and drywall back a bit. I'm so ready to be painting and well . . . moving in!!! I still haven't decided on all the colors yet (umm, help!!!). Our major deadline now, is Andrew's schoolwork resuming in January. I don't want him to be working on the trim, cabinets, or hardwood floors (as he says he's doing) when he needs to be studying.

We had a calm and relaxing Thanksgiving here. Andrew and I were able to "escape" down to Shaker Village for a night on Friday night. Andrew had been wanting to go for his birthday, so . . . we used his birthday money to pay for the trip. It was so nice to just get away from everything for a night. He can play a mean game of checkers! I almost had him beat for a while (because I'm sneaky) but he beat me in the end. It was so fun and relaxing just to do something else than talk about the house and make those kind of heavy decisions with him!!

I'll keep you updated on the inspection, etc. I'm so hoping that we pass and are drywalling by next weekend!!

Sinus Wars!

I've struggled with sinus problems ever since I can remember. Upon moving to Ohio, my sinus problems have gotten much worse! My nose doesn't agree with the air, I guess. Most recently, the chiropractor has said to me that she thinks she can fix my sinus problem. I am overjoyed to hear this but skeptical at the same time. She has adjusted me twice, thus far, in order to correct a sinus headache that I've had. Neither time has worked! :( As I'm faced, again today, with another pounding sinus headache (and no, drugs don't have any effect), I wonder what the solution might be. I have sinus headaches approximately 5 out of 7 days a week (especially lately). Argh!! Any ideas?

We've finally set a bit of a deadline for the electric to be finished. We're hoping to have our framing inspection on November 28th!! It's not set in stone but we're hoping for that date! After that, we can proceed with the insulation, drywall, and finish carpentry!!

Siding Pictures . . . Finally!!

Back of the house with siding.

One side to go with siding

House on 11/19/2006 with siding and trim

Calm

I fear we're in the calm before the storm, the Christmas storm I mean. Things at work have been unusually slow but I hear about the dreaded (although that word is rarely used) Advent season. The church calendar picks up with several services per week, etc. I've used this time to try to get all organized and ahead in some projects.

The siding is mostly up on the house and I promise pictures sometime soon. I bought batteries today, so my camera will be functioning soon. I am so pleased that I learned how to do something useful at the house. I'm shimming the windows myself.

Also, my good friend, Connie, and two of her friends, are coming to stay this weekend. They are actually here to attend a youth gathering in Cincinnati. Should be fun, folks!

No Title

We are still hunting for a car. I made several phone calls yesterday, only to discover many of the cars we were interested in from dealerships were already sold. We do have an appointment with a guy from Dayton to look at his 1995 Honda. The price is really good for the car but we are leery as the guy said his ex-girlfriend ran the car into a guardrail when it was icy. Ah the drama! We'll see if we like it or not.

I received a call, the other day, from the May Festival Manager. They are opening up one concert in January, this year, to any former singers, if they want to return. I really wanted to do it, because of the music and it's just fun to be around good musicians, but Andrew convinced me (or made me think) that I would be completely stressed and busy if I did that. I would drive down to practice on every Tuesday night (minus the holidays) until the end of January. As much as I really want to do it, I just have to think that I'll do it again when I'm not so busy.

I started seeing a chiropractor this week. I had a stiff neck that wouldn't go away for almost a month. She found that almost my entire neck was out of whack (my term not hers) and the natural curve supposed to be in my neck was gone. So, after receiving my first adjustment yesterday, I'm here at work, trying my best to use the proper posture she told me too. I never thought I had that bad of posture before, but I guess so. I also realize that if I'm ever using my mouse at work, I have to really slump over and lean forward to use it! My keyboard is on a pull-out thing but my mouse is not. I tried moving it this morning, so we'll see if that helps.

Ok, all for now! I've got to get to work on the newsletter!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles! :)

Well, just automobiles, in our case. We found out that our car is a bit beyond repair. It has a bad transmission, and a leaky valve resulting in the cost of the repairs totally about twice what the car is worth. We're going to try to get a few hundred dollars from it and buy another car. We have our eye on a 1997 Toyota Camry that is around $4,000. We own another Toyota Camry and love it! We were also commenting to each other that it might get confusing around our family since two other people own the same model and color of that car! Actually there are a total of six Camry's in the family and if we buy this one, it would total seven!! :) We should take a picture!

The siding guy is working today. I'll take some pictures tonight, if there is anything to see. He says that it should only take him one week to finish, so we'll see. I bought a kitchen sink and bathtub/shower faucet yesterday. I ended up with a cast iron sink because the other ones felt way to cheap!

Well, that's about all for now. We're just plugging away on the electric, cleaning things up, and moving forward on things. I'm hoping we can have drywall in by/around the 17th of November. I'd like it in before Thanksgiving anyway. All for now!

Election Day

Well, it's election day. For me this means that my place of employment will be packed today, because it is a voting location! It's been hairy this morning! :) But I won't go into that.

We received our car title yesterday!! Yeah!! I am headed to Middletown today at lunch to sign the title over to an Ohio one and get the plates. And again I say . . . yeah! I also have a chiropractor appointment at 6:00 pm tonight. My neck has been out for a long time. We get 12 "free" visits per year. Since there are only two months left in the year, I figured I'd be under that number.

After my lessons last night, I "drove" the Oldsmobile to a mechanics in Fairfield to be checked out today. I liked going down the hills because then the car would make it above 30 miles per hour. I think I pulled over about three times to let people pass. It wasn't too bad. Jennie came and picked me up (thank you Jennie!!) since Andrew was at work last night until 10:30 pm! I couldn't sleep, so I enjoyed a very funny "Whose Line" rerun. The mechanics are just checking out the problem, then we will decide whether or not it is worth the money to fix it. Unfortunately, I left my cell phone at home this morning (charging) and so I don't know if they called me yet or not. Thankfully, Susan (my m-i-l) works about 2 miles from me and she is bringing my phone over. I'll pick it up mid morning when I go to Middletown for the car tags. It'll be so nice to have our cars back again.

Andrew continues to work on the electric and says he'll be close to finished this weekend. Also, the siding guy starts this morning. Andrew met him before work. It should look MUCH different by the end of the week. I'm so excited!! I'll post lots of pictures when things look differently.

Don't worry, Mom . . . . I'm also going to vote at lunch today.

More Survey's

Ok, I realize that no one has commented in a while. Andrew suggested that I not write anymore until I got 7 different people to comment so . . . I'll think about that for the future. These survey's are way too much fun for the time being. Andrew loved the name one below, but didn't post anything (yet). The fun part (for me) is reading yours! So, please post yours in my comments! Here's another to enjoy!

1. Who was your best friend(s) in high school? Marie Chesbro

2. What sports did you play in high school? Tennis

3. What kind of car did you drive? 1991 Buick LeSabre (we called it Big Red)

4. It's Friday night, where were you? Probably at a sporting event (watching my sister)

5. Were you a party animal? . . . umm no

6. Were you considered a flirt? I don't think so . . . although that's where I first learned! :)

7. Ever skip school? Well, once I had a little "disagreement" with my PE teacher and went to the principal's office (I was friends with her daughters) and we just sat and chatted since it was the last day of school. I also "skipped" choir class once and this same principal wrote me an excused note! :)

8. Were you a nerd? Only a music nerd, not a book nerd

9. Did you get suspended/expelled? Definitely not! I followed all rules!

10. Can you sing the fight song? I don't think it has words

11. Who was your favorite teacher? Ms. Bennington (for letting us watch SO many movies), Mrs. Richardson (for letting me cook and sew during school), and Mrs. Suiter (for letting us read our library books and eat Peanut Butter M&M's everyday during spanish class . . . guess that's why I don't know ANY spanish).

12. Favorite Class? History, or English

13. What was your school's full name? St. John High School

14. School Mascot? Tiger

15. Did you go to Prom? Yeah!

16. If you could go back and do it over, would you? Try harder in Math class

17. What do you remember most about graduation? It was so quick and I had to pray infront of quite a few people!!

18. Favorite memory of your senior year? The musical

19. Where were you on senior skip day? There was no such thing.

20. Did you have a job your senior year? No, besides helping out on the farm. I worked at the bank, after I graduated.

21. Where did you go most often for lunch? Home or The Ruby Slipper

22. What did you do after graduation? Went to Sterling College

23. When did you graduate? 2000

24. Who was your senior prom date? Matt Fox

25. Are you going to your ten year reunion? If someone organizes one.

26. Who was your home room teacher? I don't remember having home room. We were so small, I don't think it was needed. Don't remember.

27. Who will repost this after you? I HOPE everyone does!

Trouble . . . not in River City but in Ohio!

Well, we waited too long to renew our car tags for the Toyota. Andrew took it in to work on Monday to get Ohio license plates when we discovered . . . we didn't have the title. I called the county in Kansas, and they said that our title was "in progress." Well, it has been "in progress" for three years now!! The lady apologized and said they would get it to us soon. So, in the mean time, we can't drive the Camry around, because it has expired tags. So, my considerate husband let me take his car to work, while he drove his parent's truck. On my way to work this morning, I was just driving along, being nice to the car, when all of a sudden, I went to press on the gas petal and it went clear to the floor with no reaction from the car. I coasted for a while and tried to figure out what to do. I pulled off into a subdivision and figured out that the car, while in drive, was only running in first gear. Well, I could manually put the car into first, second, and third, so I tried that and found it would run in third. The problem was that I couldn't get over about 25 mph without the rpm's getting too high. So, I called Andrew and then put putted my way to work. Now, I will just have to put put home tonight, too! I'm thinking the transmission went out. Ha, I'm faking you out! My husband told me that. I had no idea what was wrong with it. Anyway, I'm not sure what we'll do about cars but things could be worse. Speaking of . . .

The sweet girl, Ellie, in my Sunday school class, is having her third open heart surgery this morning at 9:00 am. They have amazing technology these days and her parents have a website where they update every so often. If you are interested in reading it and praying for her can email me at jaime_schechter@yahoo.com but I can only invite people to it through email.

My 10 Names

I'd love you to all participate! Copy and paste this into the comments and fill it out yourself! Enjoy!

1. YOUR DRAG QUEEN/KING NAME: (first pet & current street/road name)
Salty Yankee

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream flavor & favorite cookie)
Toffee Chip Ginger Snap

3. YOUR "SOOPER FLY" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)
jsch

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Red Beagle

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Dawn Stafford

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, last 3 letters of mom's maiden name)
Schja Wal

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put "The")
The Purple Vanilla Soda

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
Keith Donald

9. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne)
Sunflowers

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (grandmother & grandfather's middle name)
Irene Franklin

Electric and other things . . .

I haven't updated much recently because things have slowed down considerably. Andrew started to work on the electric this weekend, despite the fact he is fighting a cold. I think he will recover quickly, as it seems to not be severe. I'm doing my best not to catch it (although, I've always caught his colds!) because I'm singing at Monroe Presbyterian next Sunday.

Our siding guy was pushed back another week, due to rain delays. That's fine since it is giving Andrew an opportunity to recover and finish this class he is in, while working slowly on the electric. He is also going to have to fix the stairs (they don't fit but were build to plan, we're not sure what happened) and frame in one more door upstairs to some attic space. I don't think we'll be in by Christmas now, but that's ok. I appreciate all the money we're saving by him doing the work.

I taught Sunday School this morning. It was a little tiring as I had to put my one sweet heart in time-out FOUR times! The lady who helped me, told me I did a great job with this girl, after the hour was over, even though I didn't feel things went well.

Well, that's it for now. I'm off to enjoy the last few remaining hours of the weekend!!

More pictures. . . finally

Yeah! Blogger is being wonderful tonight, imagine that! So, I am able to post lots and lots of pictures! Enjoy!

The beautiful tree in our neighbors yard!

The back sliding door is now installed. Wayne and Andrew figure out how to fix the crack at the top (so they can nail in the door)! They fixed it, of course.

The back of the house.

The view out of the double window in the upstairs bedroom. That window was a bear to install. I wasn't dragging it up the ladder but I was inside, scared to death!

Looking out one of the front dormers.

The view out of the upstairs bathroom window (it's small and high so you can't see in, really).

View of the house with all the windows installed!

Installing the door from the mud room to the back yard.

The view into the garage. All the windows and doors are waiting to be installed.

Dewey gets a hug from me (Jaime). I look a little psycho in this picture but there are others that are worse (believe it or not).

Downstairs back bedroom window is installed.

Looking into the mud room, then laundry room, from the kitchen door.

Who wants what?

After recently joining the myspace online community, I begun to reconnect with old friends that I haven't thought about in years. It has been good, in a way. It was at least, reminded me that I have friends. It has also gotten me thinking about Sterling and our life there. I know that it has all changed now, many of my best friends (and co-workers) are gone, and the atmosphere has changed. I've heard this time and again. This doesn't stop me from missing what we had there.

However . . . . . I have felt lately that some people would prefer us to live Kansas. Many times this idea hurts my feelings. I feel as if I have sacrificed living far away from my family, and that is not appreciated. It also makes me feel as if I am not well liked (worst feeling ever). Anyway, this idea kept me up a little bit last night. I also do like it here! I love our church and the caring community there. I love my Sunday school kids and my fellow teachers. I love my job and the people here. I love our new house and the location. I love the "build-in" family that Andrew's family has provided for us. This is a good "country in or close to the city" type of area. I am able to take advantage of things, such as May Festival, while still driving by farms every day. Anyway, moving on . . .

The roof on our house is being finished today. My past two day's lunch breaks have been spent driving to the roofing distributor (down in Lockland) to pick up extra supplies and also PAY for them. Argh! I'm sick of spending money even though I know it is on a fabulous new house. Anyway, today, I drove down, picked up ridge caps, drove up to our house, dropped them off, and made it back to work, all in about 1 hour and 20 minutes. I owe the church a little make up time. Andrew should be able to start working on the electric work, as soon as his class slows down a bit. He's got a final test, a final paper, and a power point presentation due soon. I'm trying to be patient. The siding guy is scheduled to start next Monday. I'm now hoping for drywall around the 17th of November. We're also contemplating installing the insulation ourselves, to save money . . . of course. I should have time to post lots more fun pictures tonight, if I think of it. I'm really enjoying this lull in the house building. I can't imagine what I'll feel like when it's all done and I don't have to deal with it anymore!! Yeah! I planted some bulbs (by the mailbox) and a bag of grass seed this past weekend. Just in time, as I think the first hard frost hit this morning.

I have also developed a new reaction to stress. My normal reaction to stress: weight gain and yes, I know it is from eating too much. Now, I have discovered that I have an eyebrow twitch above each eye. For a while I thought it might be my diet (which has been so incredibly terribly bad bad bad) but recently I've improved my diet and now both eyebrow's are twitching! I guess twitching is better than weight gain. I have noticed several sweaters are smaller than they were last year. Hmm, must have shrunk in the cold barn storage! :) I can't wait to go back on the Jaime's southbeach diet and buy myself an exercise machine (I've got half the money saved away in my underwear drawer, I'm sure you wanted to know that). Wow, this is an incredibly long blog. I'd better get to work on Sunday's attendance! All for now folks!

What's in a name?

Take this little test and find out how popular your name is. I'd love to hear the results in my comments! :) Hopefully more lovely pictures will appear tonight. We had a few flurries yesterday, so I'm glad the house is up and roof is on!

HowManyOfMe.com

There is: 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. how/'>http://howmanyofme.com">How many have your name?

Windows and Doors are in!

The windows and doors are in, thanks to my husband and father-in-law. I have more pictures than this but not much time to post. I'll just put a few on there. Enjoy!

*Sorry, blogger is being a pain this morning and this pictures are big to upload. I'll try to do more tonight after lessons but I've got to get ready for work now. So, only one picture loaded. It's of our new back door, which I think is beautiful! Enjoy!

65 Things about Me

I'd love to have any of you copy and paste this into my comments and fill it out for yourselves. The more the merrier!

1)Name: Jaime

2) Birthday: 05/03/1982

3) Birthplace: St. John, Kansas

4) Current Location: Mason, Ohio

5) Eye Color: Depends on what I'm wearing

6) Hair Color: Brown

7) Height: 5'3"

8) Right Handed or Left Handed: Right Handed

9) Your Heritage: Mostly German. Does Kansan count?

10) The Shoes You Wore Today: My black serious shoes.

11) Your Weakness: Sweets!

12) Your Fears: Hmm, losing my loved ones, I guess. I really work on not being afraid of much.

13) Your Perfect Pizza: Pepperoni, sausage and extra cheese.

14) Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year: Set up a recital for my voice students to perform in (get them ready for it!!).

15) Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger: Don't IM a lot anymore

16) Thoughts First Waking Up: Depends on the day, today: "Is our house done yet? *sinking feeling* no, it's not. Then "God help me!!" :)

17) Your Best Physical Feature: Depends on the day? I don't know hair, or teeth, I guess!

18) Your Bedtime: Depends on the day. Usually by 11:00 pm

19) Your Most Missed Memory: College days (friends, choir, being romanced and serenaded by Andrew), the year I roomed with Sarah in McCreery!

20) Pepsi or Coke: Neither. The only pop I drink is Root Beer.

21) McDonalds or Burger King: Neither. Not a big fast food person. If I were desperate, McDonalds.

22) Single or Group Dates: Group dates were always more fun since Andrew doesn't really like to talk and I do!!!

23) Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Neither. I only drink fresh brewed tea now, the rest is gross (I'm tea spoiled, thanks to my in-law's tearoom)

24) Chocolate or Vanilla: Depends on the desert. Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate brownies (a little caramel never hurt, either)

25) Cappuccino or Coffee: I barely drink cappuccino . . only if it is very sugary!

26) Do you Smoke: No

27) Do you Sing: Yes! Every day!

28) Do you Shower Daily: Yes!

29) Have you Been in Love: Have been and still am!

30) Do you want to go to College: I've already done that, so probably not anymore.

31) Do you want to get Married: I've also done that so . . . no not again! :)

32) Do you believe in yourself: Not very often.

33) Do you get Motion Sickness: I never have before.

34) Do you think you are Attractive: Rarely

35) Are you a Health Freak: I try to be but am having a difficult time right now!

36) Do you get along with your Parents: Yes, very well.

37) Do you like Thunderstorms: Yes, as long as they don't damage anything.

38) Do you play an Instrument: Yes, clarinet and a little piano.

39) In the past month have you Drank Alcohol: Yes, I tried a raspberry thingy at my aunt-in-law's house. About two sips. Too strong for me!

40) In the past month have you Smoked: No

41) In the past month have you been on Drugs: No

42) In the past month have you gone on a Date: Yes, I can count the marriage
Rendezvous we attended.

43) In the past month have you gone to a Mall: Um, yes, to pick out our appliances at Sears but other than that I haven't been in over a year.

44) In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos: No, I'm not a huge fan of packaged or processed desserts.

45) In the past month have you eaten Sushi: Not in the last month, but I actually like it! Hmm, we should do that soon.

46) In the past month have you been on Stage: Umm, no, don't think so. Not since May Fest finished.

47) In the past month have you been Dumped: Nope

48) In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping: No, not since high school! :)

49) In the past month have you Stolen Anything: No

50) Even been drunk: No

51) Ever been called a Tease: Only by my hubby

52) Ever been Beaten up: Only by my own body. My ankles give out a lot and I fall. . . a lot.

53) Ever Shoplifted: Nope, never.

54) How do you want to Die: Working in a garden, in my sleep, but definitely before my husband. I don't want to live without him!

55) What do you want to be when you Grow Up: A mom, a singer, perhaps a professional organizer.

56) What country would you most like to Visit: Next on my list is Italy. It might be a while before we travel to Europe again! :(

In a Boy/Girl:

57) Favourite Eye Color: Girl and boy: Blue

58) Favourite Hair Color Girl and boy: red or blond

59) Short or Long Hair: Short

60) Best Clothing Style: Don't know. For a boy, I like Carol's perfect man outfit.

61) Number of Drugs I have taken: I don't take drugs (recreation or medicinal).

62) Number of CDs I own: Hmm, maybe about 50 or so.

63) Number of Piercings: Four (two in each ear)

64) Number of Tattoos: None!

65) Number of things in my Past I Regret: Not kissing my dad "goodbye" on my wedding day. I still get a little teary thinking about that.

Long time . . . no post!

Sorry for the gap in between posts. For some people a month is a long gap, but several days is a long time for me, especially with this house. We have been struggling with a few sub contractors charging more than they had originally said. One guy has a (sort of) legitimate reason, so we are paying him a little extra, but I've got our consultant checking into the other one. I just get extra stressed, as I'm sure anyone would, if things go over budget, even a little bit. We aren't putting anything extravegant in this house (at least we think so) so I'm hoping out budget will even out pretty soon. This is a good test for me, to be able to trust that God has our best in store, even if I have to spend money, which is a hard thing for me to do. We've been able to cut many things out of our budget, but we were hoping those would be savings on the total cost of the house, not covering overbudget items from other subcontractors.

We are currently still working on installing windows and doors, and roughing in plumbing and HVAC. The siding guy said he would be able to start on the 30th and it will take him a week to finish. This timing sets us back a week but it is good for Andrew, so he will have more time to finish the windows/doors and the finish the electric. These things all have to be done before we insullate or drywall because we have to pass a county inspection first. We may not pass on the first try so I'm not getting my hopes up for drywall until the 2nd or 3rd week of November. Andrew is (thankfully) taking the next class off, since he will have lots of projects to finish next month on the house (cabinets, trim, and some flooring). We are hoping to be in our house, with a nice little office set up for him, by the time his next class starts. That's all for now.

Weekend Pictures

On Thursday night, I decided to clean all of the burnable material out of our dumpster (cardboard and lumber). I was alone at the house. When I went to get out, I realized I was stuck! Thankfully Andrew came along soon.

Windows are in the garage!

Looking toward the car from the front porch.

Installing the front door!

The front door is in!

The front door (closed).

Don't the shingles and windows look nice?! I'll take a closer picture of the shingle color (Thunderstorm Gray) which we LOVE!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my sweet husband! I'm so thankful for you and all the hard work you do for me, even on your birthday (he installed three windows and our front door). I hope you had a wonderful birthday and I look forward to celebrating many more with you!!