End of May update!

It seems interminable! This week was our 4-month "anniversary" of this danged project! Well ok, here's a progress report. There's the latest update to the "Dude Where's My Garage" post! I like the cedar shake! It's hard to see, but that's caution tape in front where they poured new cement. Gimme a few more months of this and that'll be "police scene do not cross tape" instead!

First, this is the view of our front lawn. When people come to my house, I say, "Look for the one with a PODS, dumpster and Porta-Potty on the front lawn!"

That "john" is the most popular one in Birmingham. Something about it makes guys feel the sudden urge to *go*! Twice now, I have witnessed the trash men making a quick visit between pickups!

We have our first female on the job now, a painter. I told her, "Don't even think about using that horrible thing! Use the house bathrooms." She said, "Thanks, I already used it and EWWW!"

The good news is that thing's leaving on June 11 whether the job is done or not.

See that little red/white soccer ball? It showed up one day. I wonder whose it is.

It's been hard for Sheldon to mow the lawn. The mower has been in the PODS, plus all the junk on both lawns. Our garage door has been in pieces for 4 months. Now a jungle of grass is threatening to overtake the lovely white metal panels.

The house has that 2-tone look of a 57 Chevy, doesn't it? OK, it's not quite *that* cool. But with the subject of house color looming, I have now discovered that my neighbors don't like our old smoky green. One came running over when she saw the tan siding: "Oooooooooo, you're changing the color! I LOVE IT!" Well sorry, no, I'm really not.

I ordered the new paint color. Same green. Identical. Matching what we had before. Same pink doors too.

When faced with the question, "Should you choose house paint color that you love or your neighbors love?" it was an easy answer... which reminds me - I could never be a happy person in a community where a committee gets to approve your house color. It's the effect of coming of age in the sixties, I'm sure.

There was a case a few years back where a couple in Bloomfield Township painted their house purple and the neighborhood association actually took up a collection to sue them. Really. The association rules clearly say that purple is not on the list of "acceptable" colors. In the meantime, I'm cheering for them. You love purple? God Bless America! Paint your house purple and glue on some purple rhinestones too!

Now, here's my favorite part - my balcony! It's a corner of my new bedroom. It's truly TINY but heck - the view is immense. I can't wait to sit there some morning with a cup of coffee. I wonder if I can train Shoshana go to bring the paper up?

Finally! A worker that Shoshana likes! She has bitten 5 ~ maybe 6 ~ of the guys so far. One day when I was not home and thought I had her safely locked up in the kitchen, she pinned the drywall guys upstairs as they were trying to leave.

When new guys come in, if she's not put away yet, she stands at the door in her best "police dog" stance with an "I AM WARNING YOU AND I MEAN IT" bark and and body language.

OK wait... the guys say that she doesn't actually "bite". What she does is chase them out the door and nip them on the butt. So far no blood or lawsuits!

Skeetie's in this picture too soaking up some free love. He thinks that, being a Shih Tzu, he is automatically adorable and deserving of praise and admiration. He would not even consider protecting the house for a split second. "Gonna pet me? Ok cool. Come on in and I'll show you where she keeps her jewelry!" is more like it.



Last, but not least, here is "the contraption". I wish I could figure out a way to sell it on eBay! The guys rigged up this big thing to temporarily hold the electric meters.

Lotsa complaining I know, but I'm genuinely excited about my new home!