Deb's NEW Hobby Room

OMG! It's done and ready to move in! I am soooooo excited! Although the color looks orange, it's actually SW Sumptuous Peach.

Mega Millions Lottery Rollover

Once again, it's a roll over. Twelve lucky ticket holders matched 5 of the six numbers and won $250,000 but there was no big winner for the jackpot. It's lottery fever around Atlanta-town. The jackpot for Friday night's drawing is $325 million! That ought to cover my inflated decorating budget...

The Great Wall

The great wall us nearing completion and planning on the next phase - landscaping - begins. Deb met with Rob Estes, President of Estes Landscaping Design to discuss our "wish list". We need landscaping that is drought and bug resistant, requires little maintenance, provides year-round color, and fits within our dwindling budget. No wonder Rob gave me the deer-in-headlights look. He has a few preliminary ideas; however, the real planning can't begin until the pool house and pergola take shape. Rob and Jeff, our pool builder have worked together often. If he is anything like Jeff, I know we're in good hands.

Progress

What a difference a days makes! Monday was a day of progress. The pool wall is nearly finished; the waterfall is beginning to take shape; furniture was delivered; tile is laid in the screen porch; and cabinets are installed in Deb's hobby room. The weekend was also busy. Bob Stevens worked in the heat to drywall Pete's work room and utility garage before working his way to the cool indoors. There is now a wall separating the media room to enlarge Deb's hobby room. Double doors are on order that will separate Pete's work room from the utility garage, and French doors will soon be installed in Deb's hobby room. Slowly, Pete and Deb moved a few pieces of furniture and most of the "memory wall". We decided... we're ready to take the plunge and MOVE! September 20-21 marks the mass exodus from Ashley Forest to Annelise Park. One door closes and another door opens...

Take Time...

Juggling two homes, work, commute, dogs, etc... I forget to STOP and take time to smell the flowers. Summer is nearly over, Labor Day is just around the corner, and fall festivals will soon begin. I love summer and lazy weekends floating in the pool, but I'm ready for fall. I love the rustle of leaves, fall colors, migrating birds, and crisp mornings. With summer still in full swing and record-breaking temps in the low 100's, I will take time to appreciate the flowers.

I Love Thomasville

Amid the hustle and bustle, we eagerly await the arrival of our new Thomasville furniture for the kitchen dining and keeping room areas. ETA is within the next two weeks. Our house will soon begin to take on the look of home.

Waterfall and Shear Descent

Progress on the pool is painstakingly s-l-o-w. From a "what's been done?" viewpoint, you would assume nothing was accomplished in the past week. As I said previously, each piece of stone is meticulously hand cut. With that said, the underside of the waterfall took a full week to complete (see before and after photos). Two workers cut and shape the stone, while two others cement each piece in place. It looks like a jig-saw puzzle. The sheer descent looks finished. I can't wait to see water flowing from it! Jerry, our builder, hopes to have the permits for the poolhouse in hand this coming week. We should see the beginnings of our "out house" within the next couple weeks. Progress inside has been a little faster than the pool. Karl, the painter will finish this week. Hardware for window treatments is installed in the kitchen, dinette, and keeping room. Window treatments are ordered, and wallpaper will ship in the next week. We will begin the arduous task of "decluttering" our exisiting home to make it ready for open house mid-September. In the meantime, the Mega Millions Lottery has rolled over to $171 million and I purchased the sole winning ticket for Tuesday's drawing. Yippee!

Interior: Kitchen/Keeping Room/Family Dining

The first room to be completed will be the kitchen. Deb painted the lower walls SW Dried Thyme and the wainscotting in the mudroom SW Shade-Grown. The tall ceilings will be painted SW Conservative Grey by Karl Dann, a professional painter. The upper walls were already painted SW Universal Khaki. The window treatment fabrics have been specially selected to compliment the area rugs that Pete chose. "After" photos will be posted as the project is completed.

After a week of no activity on the pool, the masons have arrived. Each stone is hand cut and placed around the ledge of the pool in a mosaic pattern. Progress is slow and labor-intensive. Georgia is not only experiencing a 100 year drought, but we are breaking temperature records. The masons work tirelessly in the hot summer sun with temps flirting around the 100 degree mark. As for me, I am grateful for the comfort of air-conditioning. I put the finishing touches of "shade-grown" paint on the wainscotting in the mud room. The painter comes Monday to work on the ceilings where I can't reach. Cabinets for my hobby room are due to arrive Tuesday with installation to occur later in the week. Fabrics for window treatments have been sent to the seamstress and wallpaper has been ordered. Our new Thomasville furniture for the kitchen dinette and keeping room areas should arrive within the next two weeks. There is a buzz of activity inside and out. Stay tuned for before/after pictures to see the progress...

The Cement Pond

Not long after our closing, Boscoe's Pools broke ground on the construction of our new pool. That was the easy part. It took several weeks to interview various contractors and agree on a design. Pete wants a waterfall with a grotto, Deb wants a pergola with a fireplace. We both want a pool house. Jeff, President of Boscoe's Pools has been great. He incorporated our wish list into a beautiful pool design while keeping the cost within a reasonable budget. Assuming the weather gods cooperate, the project should be completed by October.

210 Annelise Park Drive

Yes, we're moving...but when? We put our home at 125 Gray Fox Point on the market mid-May and closed on our new home June 25. So that we may enjoy the summer pool season, we decided to stay put. That also gives us time to get our new home move-in ready (i.e., paint, wallpaper, window treatments, landscaping, etc.). Where are moving to? We didn't have to look far -- about 1 mile, to be precise. The developer of our exisiting community, Ashley Forest, started Annelise Park (http://www.annelisepark.com/) as a new development. Deb volunteers as Secretary on the homeowners association for both communities, so we were very knoweldgeable about the new development and its home sale progress. We actually thought about buying a home lot late in 2006. But our new home was a deal we couldn't pass up. Okay, we could. What were we thinking?

Change Is In The Future

Early in 2007, we decided to meet with an architect about expanding the living space of our home. It involved expanding the main floor and lower level, as well as turning our small screened porch into a large all-season room complete with fireplace. Shortly after Deb returned from her Hawaiian cruise, we had our preliminary architectural plans in hand. To remove any doubt about our expansion project, we had our home appraised. That was when our project idea came to an abrupt halt. We had to make a hard decision. If we went through with our expansion project, we would never see a penny of the money if we sold our home. Do we stay? Do we move? After a few months, we had our answer.