Momentum is really building at the 707 Project! And as the title of this post suggests, it is largely due to a little (or a lot) of help from friends and family.
While I worked on floors, Karin focused on completing a bathroom (kind of important, huh?). She totally cleaned and repainted everything (amazing what paint does). We installed a new toilet (more on that later). And we now have a new shower head, faucet, and shower curtain.
One day, I was so tired that I found a spot on our day bed in the garage and took a little snooze....
Daisy says, "Hey man! Get to work!!"
Bathroom done!!
That toilet you see is there and functioning largely due (once again) to our good buddy Kevin. When we pulled the old toilet off, the existing flange was old and deteriorating. We couldn't simply install a new toilet on top of it. So we got to go back underneath the house like coal miners. We haven't had much rain in the past two months, so it was way dustier than before. Kevin's a real trouper, and we went under there and just got it done. The hamburger he got in return is nowhere near enough repayment. Hopefully the day will come when he needs our help as much as we have needed his.
Beautiful!!
Last week, Karin's parent arrived with a big pickup truck full of furniture we left in Michigan three years ago and Karin's beloved 1973 VW camper bus (also full of furniture).
Here's the rig before departure.
On the road.
Stopping by my parents' house in Kalamzoo for more furniture!!
Ready to roll!!
Before the in-laws arrived, we needed to get a bedroom ready, and fast!! Once again, a friend comes to the rescue:
While Karin and I were at work one day, our friend Danielle (Kevin's wife) came by and painted the front bedroom. This turned out to be the first completed room!! What a relief it was to see this!!
Of all the help we have received from people these past couple of months, none was more crucial than the gracious hospitality of Raph. When we asked him if we could stay at his house for the month of October, he said sure (even though we were bringing along a cat and a dog). It probably seemed like a good idea, since he was going to be gone most of that month, and we could keep his plants alive, get his mail, etc. Well, little did he know we would be there almost two months! We would have been in a real pickle, since we couldn't close on our house any sooner and had made arrangements for a new tenant to move in to our apartment. It's safe to say that Raphael saved the day! Here he is on Halloween night, he doesn't normally dress this way!
