There's concrete afoot

We failed our first inspection due to the foundation company's rush to get the job done. The foundation company stayed late Thursday to finish the job and did not complete it to the county's liking. Evidently, the steel re-bar that reinforces the concrete must "float" 2-3 inches above the dirt to meet code. Theirs was touching in many places according to the inspector. Not to worry though, they came back fixed the problem and we passed this morning. That means today we have a footing (the wide concrete at the bottom of the wall to hold the house up.) The kids loved watching another big truck at work. Tomorrow morning the crew will form the walls and then they will pour the walls tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow is a big day with lots of surprises. Stay tuned!

My husband....the Fireman

Hey Honey!!!
Ouch!!
President of the city council, Lisa Borders and his Lieutenant Don Cole
At home!!

As the wife of a Firefighter, one of my greatest fears is the phone call from a Captain, beginning with, "Mrs. Borders". The movies with the red chiefs car driving up in the morning while the wife is preparing for a new day is a vision that I think of often. When Stephen asked me what I thought of him transferring to a bigger and better department, (City of Atlanta), I told him as long as I never got that phone call and he always came home, I would support what ever decision he made.

Well, yesterday I got that phone call. Actually I was on the front porch with Mom and Pa watching the kids play, and didn't have my phone. But my father -in- law got the call next and came home to find me.

Stephen was in a house "pulling ceiling", (That is when the fire is in the attic and you have to pull the ceiling down to get to the fire) , when a small piece of metal get lodged between his coat and his hood. It was on fire when it got stuck, and burned through the "fireproof" hood onto the back of his neck. When he realized he was on fire, he yelled to the FF next to him with the nozzle....well you cant yell because you have on a mask...he motioned to them...to put him out.

To make a long story short. Stephen was taken by ambulance as a trauma patient to Grady hospital. When I was able to speak to him...the first thing he says is....Hey baby...I am fine. Can you bring the camera? That is my husband!

He has a full thickness burn to the center of his neck surrounded by partial and superficial burns. It is on the center of his neck, and hurts like crazy.

After 18 mg of Morphine, a debridement, visits to the ER from the President of the Atlanta City Council and The Head Honcho chiefs coming in on their days off...we were discharged from the hospital. The ride home was filled with a yellow and green faced man vomiting in his mouth and keeping it there as to not mess up the new minivan. How thoughtful!!!

Today was a fun filled trip down to Grady to the burn clinic where the follow up appt reveals a possible skin graft and AT LEAST the next to weeks at home.

I cannot imagine my life without Stephen. He is my rock. My other half. He complete's me in every way. I hope I NEVER get that phone call. Please pray for a speedy recovery. Also for Stephen, he has to hang out with us without going to work. We get on his nerves pretty bad!!!

In a percocet fog Stephen updated the blog below this one, so check it out....pics of the house!!!

Goodbye patio, Hello crawlspace!

The day has come to move some dirt and make way for the footings.
As strange as this looks to those who know the house, in a few hours it will drasticly change again.
I was able to salvage some of the black marble, but the rest was deep in some concrete.
And Presto, Crawlspace!
Luckly, no suprises other than the depth on the concrete.

It has begun!

After months of painstaking moving and planning, we have our building permit. We have also scheduled the closing on the construction loan. The mason has been working for about a week on the existing crumbling brick work. I have been taking bids from everything from the sewer, to the grading, and the materials needed to build the addition. It finally feels like progress.
With all the rapid development I have been forced to organize. I now own a day planner complete with monthly and weekly tabs to keep me from overbooking. I think there is more paperwork than sweat.





I have transitioned from Carharts, a tee shirt, and pry bar in my hands, to a pair of khakis, a polo shirt, and a stack of papers. Not to worry though, I 'm sure I will get to do my share of labor.

The slippery slope of Demolition

If I ever wrote write a book on remodeling I will apply some rules gained through my experiences with this house. The first rule would have to be, be careful what you tear down; you have to build it back. It is easy to underestimate the demolition process. While planning this project I of course planned for time and expense of demolition. Expense should be minimal and be mostly disposal fees with some crashing and smashing tools. Time on the other hand is something I greatly miscalculated. I assumed that if Extreme Home Makeover could demo a house in a day, surely I could do it in two months. Well the difference is two fold. First the residents are moved out before the project starts, something that has been a struggle for me. It's hard to evict Margy Borders from a house that she has owned for 50 years. The thing is EHM uses a track hoe and levels the house and starts from the slab. Our demolition has been more art than testosterone. As art projects go we are way behind. We have had to take everything apart piece by piece and label what is going back and dispose of the trash. It has taken a while, but we are finally at the next stage rebuilding. I will try to keep up to date with everything going on, but the pace has quickened and the work is plentiful. It is getting exciting!

Overdue update

It's time to get back to the bloggin to keep folks abreast to the goings on of the exciting and chaotic lives of the domestic Borders(not to be confused with the cultured international and much more intresting ones, you know who you are). Beth has once again bitten off more than she can chew involving herself in numerous church activities, joined a new gym, took on some crusade at work to better the world through some wellstar committee, and just raising two wild indians. She has also found that if she works till 3AM she can go in later, but has not realized how useless it makes her the next day. I stay up at the house as much as I can, but more on that in the next post. Mads and Jack are both in school at the CEE not to be confused with the former WEE center which I'm sure was not near as distinguished or proper. Mads is in heaven with some of her old classmates and some new that she is currently recruiting to the dark side. Jack is not as enthralled at school and puts on a show every morning for his mother's sake until she is out of earshod. Everyone else is still alive and maintaining some level of ambulation and is to the point that they couldn't care less for schools, gyms, or committes. The parents are however working more now than before they retired. I've included a few pictures of the kids cause it's always good to leave on a high note.

Jack in his outfit on his first day of school. He got three phone numbers!

Mads on a typical Sunday morning, picking Gran's flowers
Mads on the first day school, note the breakfast in her lap. We were late on the first day!
I don't know who taught Jack how to rock in a rocking chair, but if I had to guess I would say it was the only one who sits in a rocking chair all day long.