Things Change...

This picture of our grand kids has been on my computer screen since we took it the first week of June. It's missing baby Daniel who was a tiny thing back then, and Caden, who wouldn't arrive until late September. Things change. This was one of the last pictures taken of our old porch, which was really just a concrete slab. Construction of the new covered porch began in earnest just days after the play was over and everyone was back at their homes. This is our porch today, the morning of the final inspection. There are still a ton of cosmetic things I want to do, but there isn't any hurry to do them and I also really want to remove the County Inspectors from the whole equation before we do anything else. Plus, I don't want to drag out their part of this until the Spring, when I'll probably being doing the final things, like the ceiling, painting, staining, and trim. It has been a lot harder than I thought it would be, but still it's been fun and very fulfilling to see each part come together. With my partner Steve Smith helping me all the way, we've gone the second mile to make it stronger and sturdier than the plan required. Our running joke is that this porch will still be standing when the house falls down. That's probably not much of an exaggeration.

For those of you who are family and friends, I hope the running reports have been interesting and informative. Part of the reason I started this blog was just to let you know what's happening with the Roots in St. Louis. Now, when you don't hear from us or see new blogs, you'll know why. We're sitting out on the porch enjoying the view.