Water Heater, Sprinklers & no more drapes!

Its been a very busy day! Mike and I got to the house early, after stopping by Home Depot of course. I should just sign over my paycheck to them. It was a first trip of four today. The baby came with us in the morning until my mom could take her to class. She is obsessed with the mourning dove that has made a nest under our porch overhang right in the middle of our window. Anne has called her "momma bird" so Katherine wanders around saying "Mamama" and then flaps her arms. We have been expecting babies any day and today we saw two little chicks in there. Once we explained to Katherine that there were two baby birds in addition to the momma bird she parked herself on the ottoman right in front of the window and didn't move for half an hour. If you've met her you know that is a very long time for her to sit still.

Once we got to the house I started on rearranging the living room and laying the area rugs out. Mike started  helping and then Anne finished up. We ended up getting all the furniture into the living room and dining room so its starting to look like a house.

Look beyond the boxes ...

Anne and I spent a lot of room in the baby's room today. I put together a toy holder for her and we got a bookshelf in there to hold all her books. We got her clothes in the closet and a lot of her toys back into the room. We still have all of her clothes that have to go back in her dresser but right now they are all in the suitcase at my folks' house.

We had put the old drapes up on Freecycle and someone came by today that took all the drapes. The woman asked if we had drapery rods too so we were happy to give her those. The gardener came by and now we have a weed-free yard! He made it look great and I know it will only get better. The "sprinkler whisperer" came by and fixed the leak in the front yard. He did have to pull some new pipe under the walkway, replacing the cheap, thin PVC that was their before. He dug up a small part of the lawn to run the pipe but you can't even see it. He found that there was a pipe that runs right underneath the walkway so he just abandoned that line. He put all the lawn back, swept up and it all works great! He was very reasonable and finished it very quickly. If we can't get the back irrigation working then we will definitely be calling him back.

Bob worked on our water heater set up all day. He replaced the plywood with planked 2"x12" boards. While he and Mike were inspecting and discussing some of the vent work Bob yelled and jumped several feet in the air. He had thought he'd seen a mouse but he'd really seen a small baby hand. What we didn't know was that Katherine and Anne were inside in the bar area and had heard Bob and Mike talking. Katherine found a spare wire nut on the floor and Anne told her to take it to Grandpa. Since she could hear Grandpa through the hole in the wall (vent without a wall register on it) she stuck her hand through it to give Grandpa the wire nut. Mike and I got a new wall register for that on Home Depot trip #2.

There was a third Home Depot trip when they decided to replace all the vent work around the water heater and had to get more parts. By the time we left around 5pm the water heater was up and most of the pipes in place. Not everything is fully attached or soldered or taped but its there. We opted for a "shorty" which is a smaller water heater for now and a shorter warranty since its small. At least its not leaking rusty water. They've taken precautions against leaks again by putting a drip pan under it and sheet metal. Almost all the duct work in the area has been replaced or at least retaped at the joints. There are a few more things to do so we should be able to finish it up tomorrow afternoon. Since we have neighborhood BBQs tomorrow we figure tomorrow night is a good transition time for the baby. Fingers crossed we have a water heater then! Mike had to hit Home Depot again on the way home, trip #4.