A whirlwind week

This was a whirlwind week. I started graduate school, and we had really hoped to be further along in the remodel by now. Because the yard isn't done, I actually have to drop our dog off at day care which adds a level of complexity to an already complex schedule. We really hope to have the yard done within 1-2 weeks. I spent all of my breaks this week on the phone with contractors. How do people remodel when they can't be home?

The yard is almost done what we are calling "phase 1." That means we have gates, fencing, grading, drainage, sprinklers, a privacy hedge, access to the gas meter and grass. All we are waiting on is finishing touches on the gates and getting the chain link fence installed behind the trees. I have to cut several holes in the ficus tree hedge to allow a man to put a post. There has to be room for the post and for the man to operate a post digger. I also have to shave a few inches off the back of the hedge so they can put the fence material up. I hope to have this done by Wednesday so the fence can go in shortly thereafter.

I also sorted out the electric this week - according to the electrician who installed the sprinkler electric, the rain we had tripped the GFCI, and there is no problem. He said if there was any moisture at all, the GFCI should be tripped. I also had a handyman out to rehang the interior doors. This has been on our list forever - our prior incompetent contractor had me order the wrong depth of door jambs for the interior doors. He admitted he screwed up but basically said since I put my credit card down to pay he wouldn't fix it. So we ordered new jambs and had to have the handyman rehang them.