There goes the neighborhood!

There are some really neat features about our new community. I've added a link to the sidebar on the left to the community's website. Stevens Plantation is the development, and Magnolia Green is the sub-development. Stevens Plantation boasts access to a beautiful public park, St. Cloud Elementary school, a corporate office park and (coming soon) a small shopping plaza.

But I think what might be the nicest feature of the community is the people. On Saturday my in-laws purchased the home being built 2 lots down from us! Noel and I are very excited to have her parents livnig so close! I just feel bad for the owner of the home between ours. :)

Here's a photo of the home site map. Noel and I own lot 94, and her parents have purchased lot 92.



Their house is 2,700+ sq feet and is a 3/3 with a den and a gourmet kitchen.

I know most people wouldn't be as excited as I am to have their in-laws moving in so close. But Noel and I discussed how wonderful it will be... and we also set the rule that they must call before coming over. Of course, we're the kids, so we can show up unannounced any time we want!

To give you an idea of just how close the homes are, here's a (bad) panoramic shot from my digital camera to show both homes. Ours is on the left, theirs is on the right.



And, yes, we now have roof trusses and interior wall framing. Here's a few more photos of the house Noel and I purchased and how it looks this weekend:

(Interior walls being framed. View from rear window.)

(Interior framing. View from garage.)

(Exterior shot. Day. A slow helicopter shot moves into the swamp to find a frog playing a banjo while sitting on a log...)

Stray Cat Strut

This is an update on the kitty cats. For the original post read here.

A bit more fighting between the cats last night. But fighting means that Shadow growls and swipes at Lucky. And Lucky sits there and takes it. Then tries to hide. Which he is still very bad at doing.

Last night we did not close the door and leave Lucky in his room last night. We left the door open all night. When we fell asleep, Shadow was on our bed, as usual. Lucky was sleeping in his room. When we awoke, Shadow was still with us, but I couldn't find Lucky in his room. Turns out, Lucky managed to sneak his way into our room and slept in a corner of the room.

He was still posturing that he was hiding from Shadow. But the fact that he wanted to join the rest of us in the bedroom I think is very good. Hopefully he and Shadow will soon become good friends.

I honestly think that Shadow is wanting to play with Lucky, but is just being too rough for him. Shadow LOVES to play. I'm not so sure Lucky shares that passion. Not yet anyway.

Its What's Inside That Counts

By now you've seen the renderings of what our house will look like when completed. You've seen the floorplans (and if you haven't, there's a link on the sidebar to it). What you may not have seen are the upgraded features in the house.


Because this home was being built as an inventory home for KB, Noel and I did not have the option to choose any of the features. The house was designed by the KB Design Studio. Thankfully, they did a really nice job picking out options.




This picture shows you what the cabinets in the kitchen will look like. They are the upgraded 42" cabinets, with an extra bump over the Microwave and another additional cabinet above the fridge. The black piece leaning up against the cabinet panel is the granite pattern for the kitchen counters. The color name has quickly become a favorite for Noel and I: Verde Uba Tuba. Its just fun to say!

The carpet sample is what will run through most of the house. The tile in this image (above) will be in the Kitchen/Dining area as well is in the Foyer and in front of the fireplace.





This image shows the bathroom features. You can see the tiles that will be placed in both bathrooms. The cabinets are the same as the ones in the kitchen. The diamond pattern (I believe) will be a feature through the tub/shower in the 2nd bathroom. And the small rectangle is the marble for the master bath counters. The 2nd bathroom countertop is a Hi-Definition laminate (finally in 1080p)!

Once Noel and I get out to the Design Studio and take some more pictures of other features of the house, you'll get to see those here too!

White Weeds (and more)

Noel and I have stopped by the home site to visit each weekend. Two weeks ago, we saw this as we approached the lot:



Noel exclaims, "Look! We've got white weeds growing out of the ground!" We were both very excited to see that the pvc pipes were all in place!


Of course, when you see the outline of the house laid out in front of you for the first time, 2,100 square feet looks very small. But there is no frame of reference, other than the vast sky and large conservation areas around us.

We received a call this past Wednesday from Sabrina to inform us that they had poured the slab that day. Noel and I didn't get a chance to head out there and visit until Sunday. When we arrived on Sunday, we saw that much more than the slab was in place:

The 9' block walls are all in place! Even the covered lanai is in place:
Below is the view from inside the house towards the garage.


It still looks small. Having been inside so many empty apartments before, I know that looks can be deceiving. I'm sure there will be PLENTY of space for all the cats and stuff we have.

Lucky Little One

This blog was designed to keep our friends and family up to speed on the progress of our new house (its a very, very, very fine house). This post is about something new that will be going INSIDE the house. This is about our new cat, Lucky.


About 3 weeks ago, Noel and I found a little stray cat who had been sleeping under my car. He was so small and scrawny, we felt bad for him and brought out a small dish of some of Shadow's food and another dish with water for him. The poor cat was starving and devoured it. This happened for two days. He'd sleep under my car at night, and be ready for food in the morning. On the second day he was very friendly to Noel and I, asking us to pet him.


So on that second night we called the Orange County Animal Shelter (nothing like Orange County Choppers, that's for sure). They suggested we scoop him up and bring him in to the 'after hours' facility. We plopped the little guy in Shadow's old cage and drove him out to the facility that night. We didn't realize that the 'after hours' facility was a cage with a padlock. Someone would get him in the morning. Ugh.


Noel and I stayed with the little guy until the Animal Police folks came and said that he would be taken in that night... in about an hour. Heart broken, Noel and I left him there. The next day I went back to visit him, filled out the adoption paperwork, and was told it would take a week for him to get fixed and all of his shots. Sure enough, one week later he's home living with us.


Not sure how Shadow would do with a baby brother, we've been taking it VERY slowly introducing the two. Lucky has had his own room. But today I'm throwing him out there into the house with Shadow. There will be hissing, fighting and water being thrown. But in the end (probably abother 3 weeks from now) we'll find some sense of normalcy.


This is Shadow. He's 9 years old. He weighs 13 pounds.





This is Lucky. He's about 9 months old. He weighs 7 pounds.




Update: Some growling and slapping by Shadow. No claws being used. That's good. Some running and hiding by Lucky. I'm sure he'll come out eventually. Shadow has no interest in pursuing the fight. He'll let it come to him. Check back in for more updates.


Update (5/15 AM): Lucky is hiding anywhere he can. Under the bed (where Shadow can fit), in the closet (where Shadow fits) and on the bed (where Shadow loves to sit). So he's not very good at hiding. But still, Shadow is not seeking him out in any of these places. I figure that's pretty good too. We put Lucky back in his room when it was bed time last night. The two will remain separate while we are not home.

Update (5/15 PM): The two cats more or less ignore each other all night. While Noel is visiting with Lucky in his room, Shadow decides to come in and take a swipe at the little one. Not sure who is more concerned about this working out... the cats, or us.

In The Dark...

Sorry to have kept you all in the dark about the new house. I'm just not in the habit of consistently blogging. I even have some photos to share... at home. But there is all sorts of great things to blog about since the last post!

In the coming week I hope to get you blog posts about these exciting new topics (with photos!):

• Lucky Little One
• White Weeds
• Mortgage Shmortgage
• Cement Slab Creamery

So stay tuned...

Oh... and if you actually read this, please leave a comment. Just so I know I'm not writing these while nobody reads them.