djbockman said:

I'll try to make a couple calls to see how many rooms it would take to get a break, just for an FYI. Maybe we should all go down to Texas for a house raizing then we can all hop a ship from there!!!!! Are you building or remodeling?

Oh, Dan.  Here is the house story.  We began building this house in 1980.  We have lived in it, moved out for several years, and moved back. We've dealt with a few major life obsticles - a major auto accident that put my carpenter out of commission for a long while, a neighbor that was crazy as a loon and tried to flood the place, and a major storage building delimma, and oh, yes the termite issue.  Some of the issues were self inflicted - after all when you make something a lifelong project, you are going to have to do some replacing/repairing  before you are complete.  It has been a pay as you go plan, so everything done is paid for up front.  We had everything except the living/dining completed when hurricane Rita took out our building in the back that housed the water system, so we did a remodel.  We had an atrium before the storm, but closed it in and made a water system/air conditioning room and a computer room.  That was a major chore, but we're done. It also left us with a storage issue.  And having a storage building built left us with a whole new problem - it had to be stopped before it was complete, took the contractor to court, tore the partial building down.  What to do, what to do!  Well when we made the decision a couple months ago to get rid of the lawn equipment and pay for lawn service, that did away with the need for a storage building.

We are back on track and making progress albeit slow progress.  We can now clean out the garage and move all the 'crap' (mostly tools and building material) from the living room.  Then we call in the sheetrock finisher for a leak repair in the living room, the computer room, and garage.  Painters follow for a full house face lift (inside & out), then the carpet and we're done. I can see the end now and it is none too soon, after all this time I am just about to loose my sense of humor about it all.  Oh, and I forgot to mention anywhere that my carpenter is a perfectionist. 

Monday we put in an iron gate for the dogs.  Got the idea from Diane.  It is the most wonderful thing.  I'll put pictures up at some point, I am so excited about it.  It is in the hallway and swings to close of the hallway/bedroom area or can close off just the living/dining area.  Now we can keep the dogs away from company if needed and can separate them when we leave them.  We have a true doggie jail!

Sorry for rambling, just couldn't figure a way to shorten the story and get everthing in there!