Sometimes it goes fast, sometimes it goes slow

Right now we're in the slow phase of building our house. We almost had a falling out with our builder over who was going to pay for a larger than expected amount of septic sand that would of filled an Olympic sized beach volleyball court. We could of held the inaugural world volleyball tournament in our front yard with the amount of sand that we trucked in. That would of been fun. Unfortunately, the sand needed to be covered, but thankfully our disagreement with our builder was worked out.

Back to the house. We took a trip two weeks ago to a granite factory near Boston. What a sight. We didn't really appreciate the subtleties of granite until we were thrown into a cavernous factory filled with all types of granite - so many colors and textures. It was mind blowing. We might of turned into granite groupies.

The house is now in the "rough-in" stage. The HVAC, plumbing and electrical rough-ins have all been completed. Our stereo guy is coming in next week to lay audio cable in the walls for us to have in-wall speakers - yes, I'm very excited about that. Our builder has graded the front yard, as seen in the picture. And we're almost ready for the siding.

The noticeable progress in the house is slowing down as we've hit a snag on the windows. Our window provider is having issues delivering the windows on time, so the builder can't side the house until the windows are hung. Our next major projects are deciding on the kitchen cabinets and hardwood floors - very costly items. Wish us luck.

Da Duck Tuar

This past jammed packed week was the big visit from Krista's mom and sister to help us pick out colors and color coordinate the whole house. What a big project and boy did they do a good job. If there was a record for longest time spent in Home Depot and Lowe's over a week's time, these ladies might be in contention for the record.

We took a break in between picking out hardwood and carpet to take a break and spend a gorgeous day in Boston. The highlights of the day were inadvertently meeting up with my sister and brother-in-law in Chinatown at one of our favorite restaurants and da duck tour.

I was heading into the restaurant and saw the back of a lady that I thought looked exactly like my sister. I turned around to my wife and yelled "that looks like my sister from the back." The lady then turned around and it was my sister! What a coincidence. After lunch, we walked around historic Faneuil Hall - the most visited site in Boston. We then walked to the Prudential center for the main event - the Duck Tour.

We're talking about a WWII amphibious troop carrier turned tourist carrier that covers Boston over land and water for an hour and a half of rollicking tourist fun. The co. is also known for its colorful drivers that give the tour. Needless to say, fun was had by all.

We ended the day with a fabulous meal at our favorite tapas bar on Newberry Street. My favorite dish was the short rib stew. Other favorite dishes were goat cheese in a honey glaze and scallops in saffron sauce. I can't wait to go back.