This photo was taken on Sunday (5/28/06).




I'm not going to bother with much of a post. Just the picture and to tell you that I'll move these images to the Images section of the site when I post next time (which will be the first post in June).

These photos were taken last Tuesday (5/23/06).



The crew decided that they needed to be in the picture.



It was fun to watch as they put up a couple of the second floor walls that day. We also went to The Home Depot to select the tile we want in our laundry room, upstairs guest bathroom, and master bathroom.

We still need to select the carpet though. Oh, and the paint colors for the interior walls. I'm sure there is more, but those are the major items.

Stay tuned.

This photo was taken about a week ago.



It's the first floor or main level of the house.

I realized that I had not mentioned in my last post the color of the roof. Well, I actually forgot the name of it. Basically it is a black roof that has some hints of gray in it. The result is a light black (if there really is such a color) and it will work well with the gray siding on the house.

To understand which windows go to which rooms, just scroll down to the floor plan. Also, the truck in the picture is parked in front of where the garage is located (under the family room).

More to come in a couple of days.

This photo was taken about 10 days ago.



It's the basement ceiling on the foundation to the house (aka the floor to the first level).

We chose the final colors for the house, shutters, trim, and roof. We changed our mind from what we thought it was going to be previously. The color of the house is a dark gray with white trim. The shutters on the house are Bordeaux. Yes, a fancy name for a deep dark red.

More pictures will show up every couple of days, so check in on the even days of the month.

This photo was taken at the end of last month.



It's the foundation to the house. The concrete that will become two of the basement walls when the house is complete. The section of the house that will eventually be my studio/office.

We have finalized the kitchen design with Home Depot and purchased our appliances. We saved over $2,500 because we bought the appliances, master bathroom vanity and counter top, and kitchen cabinets and counter top at the same time. The sales person explained to us that he has never seen so many sale programs being taken advantage of on one purchase. We received 10% off everything, a rebate for the delivery charge, a rebate for spending a specific sum on appliances, a rebate for spending over a certain amount on the kitchen cabinets, a rebate for buying an energy saving washing machine, and a rebate for buying all of our appliance from the same manufacturer. There was one more program we took advantage of; we opened a Home Depot credit card account to make the appliance purchases that gives us 12 months no payments and no interest (as long as we pay the card off before the 12 months is over).

Anyway, back to updating my list of "things to remember to ask the builder."

Here is a rough idea of the boundaries to the property where our house is being built.



The plot of land was originally 11+ acres, but the back part of it is primarily wetlands (land that is saturated and cannot be built upon). The owner decided to divide the plot. I tried to outline in red a rough idea of what we own, which is 6 acres. The blue line is the edge of the wetlands. You will notice that the land that is part of the original plot, but not part of our property anymore, is locked between other plots. Therefore, nobody will ever be building there (besides the fact that it is wetlands, so unbuildable).

We have also been to the property to take pictures while the house is being erected. I will have pictures posted periodically through the construction. Hopefully, I will have the foundation picture up this weekend or on Monday.

Have a great weekend.

The National Association of Legal Assistants, Inc. is pleased to announce that TheBackofMyMind (changed the name due to my own web site rules) has successfully completed the two-day Certified Legal Assistant examination and is now entitled to use the "CLA" professional credential. TheBackofMyMind is among 5 legal assistants in the State of Rhode Island, 7 in the State of Connecticut (added CT due to new house), and 13,505 legal assistants nationwide who have attained this goal.

Established in 1976, the Certified Legal Assistant (CLA) examination program is a voluntary professional credentialing program developed by the National Association of Legal Assistants and administered by a board composed of legal assistants, members of the American Bar Association and members of the field of education active in legal assistant training. The CLA program involves successful completion of a two-day comprehensive examination covering the topics of communications; legal research; ethics; human relations and interviewing techniques; legal terminology; judgment and analytical ability and substantive law. Thereafter, evidence of continuing legal education must be submitted periodically in order to maintain certified status.

The National Association of Legal Assistants, headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a national, non-profit association which represents over 19,000 paralegals through individual members and 85 affiliated state and local associations. It is the leader in the growth and development of the paralegal profession, providing continued education, professional development, and certification programs for the career field.

Information describing this and other programs of the National Association of Legal Assistants may be obtained by contacting:

NALA Headquarters
1516 South Boston, Suite 200
Tulsa, OK 74119-4013
918.587-6828 FAX: 918.582-6772
http://www.nala.org


Yes, the above tells you the result of my studies for the past year and a half. NALA actually provided that press release with my congratulations letter. I passed the exam on the first sitting. 38.8% of the people who sit for the CLA exam pass on the first sitting. Now I really need to find someplace good to work.

Now to update you on the vacation we had to California. I saw about 65 people I haven't seen in 27 years at a school reunion. That was a blast! We saw some of my relatives we haven't seen since our wedding (ten years ago this October). We visited with a good friend of my Dad's. It was just by chance that he (from Atlanta) just happened to be visiting California over the same weekend we were there. And, we just happened to stay at the hotel he usually stays at. I know, it all sounds very cosmic. Well, ready for this one? We discovered that he and I share the same birthday. It was really a strange first 3 days of our vacation. The later half of our vacation was spent in Disneyland, Disney's California Adventure, and Downtown Disney in Anaheim. Again, we had a great time! We walked on almost every ride in under 5 minutes. The longest wait we had was about 20 minutes. It's wonderful to go there while school is still in session.

Anyway, we flew home and enjoyed the weekend. Today, The Wife went to work while I (home as usual) updated my resume to reflect my new title of CLA, made a ton of phone calls regarding the house, employment, spring clean-up landscaping, and financial stuff. I also drafted my CASA Court Report, read through some of the mortgage papers, and, of course, spent time with Dustie the Cat.

Now it's time to post this update and move on to something else.

This post is about our house.

We have finally done it. We own a house. Well, a foundation right now. I know we were talking before about a modular home and I posted the proposed floor plans, but we couldn't find appropriate land within our budget. We ended up finding a subdivision under construction. The builder had four homes already framed and another lot with just the foundation. He allowed us to modify the plans to suit our desires, so we did. We signed a purchase agreement and are finalizing the mortgage papers. Here are the new floor plans.





The 2400 square foot home is on 6 acres of land in a small country setting in Connecticut. We are about 30 miles from both Hartford and Providence. However, Boston is about 45 minutes to an hour away. The scheduled completion of the house is in August, which fits in well with our original plan. We chose the house colors today. Savannah Wicker with white trim and forest green shutters. The framing of the house begins on Monday and I will be posting pictures through the building process as I get them.

Other than that, I am still waiting to get my results for the national certification exam I took. The results are anticipated to be here by May 15th. We are about to go to California for my high school reunion, visit with family, and visit Disneyland. I have applied to a couple places with no results yet. No biggie. Will apply the full course press to my job search when we return from vacation. The Wife is a year older and very happy for getting the house for her birthday. She's been working her usual hours and trying to find a job at the corporate office. Hopefully, everything keeps falling into place for the rest of the year, and we will be quite happy.

That's my update. Have a good weekend everybody.