Gotchas

gotcha [goch-uh] also known as got you

1. n. A misfeature of a system, especially a programming language or environment, that tends to breed bug or mistakes because it both enticingly easy to invoke and completely unexpected and/or unreasonable in its outcome.
2. n. an unexpected occurrence resulting in unexpected action due to unexpected circumstance unknown to all parties involved. also known as our house!

So far, our gotchas have been fairly minimal:

• 2 brick walls that needed to come down and the wall be reframed
• mold behind the sink/dishwasher/cabinets

{see}

 {original and torn out wall...}

Until now...

The girls and I went to music today and came home to this:

Not terrible. {Old} termite eaten floor joists that had been repaired quite incorrectly!

1. 4 pieces of incorrectly sized boards were attached to the original joists
2. due to incorrect sizing, the joists were not resting on the girders (a much thicker piece of wood that runs perpendicular to the joists and provide additional support)
3. the joists were shredded!

Ok. Sounds worse than it is. Not too costly to repair.

{addie staying on the dark wood but picking up who knows what!}

Take pictures and head out with all 3 girls for lunch and nap at my mom's house.

Get a call...

The very important girder running from one side of the kitchen to the other was also {old} termite eaten causing the structure to be seriously compromised. 

I'm instructed {encouraged} to return to take pictures. 

Feed the little girls. Addie and I eat. Head back home.

To this...

{that's a hole that now spans the entirety of the width of our kitchen}

and this is what i see...

and wood that should dent when hit with a hammer...shreds

But repairing floor joists are easy compared to repairing a girder running the length of kitchen...that is supposed to be supporting all the floor joists that run perpendicular to it.

{sigh} All in a Monday's work!

and random thoughts...

• I hit a squirrel today. I've never hit a squirrel (or anything walking in/down/around the road for that matter). I watched it in my rear view mirror: flip and flop and jump 3 feet in the air. When I drove by later it was gone. I'm hoping I just stunned it, and it's staying warm and dry in some tree somewhere. I'm not counting on it.

• Baby Prilosec is in fact an answer to prayer.

• Addie still needs craves desperately {thankfully} requires a nap.

• Our inside/outside cat Fuzz has figured out how to sneak through the original (ha) hole in our kitchen floor where they removed the chimney. She snakes through the boards down into the crawlspace and then finds her way in and out {somehow}. What this means is that she is not the only creature who could do this. Maybe I should be concerned about the above said squirrel or his family members...

• I'd love to still be in the mountains with my aunt. 

• Every day, many hours and most minutes are more fun, more rewarding and more precious with our girls! I am so thankful for them!

Happy Monday! 

 

(and more interesting pictures to come...of our girls of course!)