FUDGE (*&%$#@*)

We just met with the general contractor for the house renovation. The project will take about 4 months of his time (give or take and weather permitting) then about a month or more of our time to do all the finish work. If you look at a calendar, that's puts us smack in the holidays and we'll likely be working straight through Baby's arrival. Yippee! I was able to take this all in stride since it was anticipated.

Here's the kicker. We looked at the structural plans again and how they impact our living space. It is now official. Every room in the house will be touched. On top of that, our bedroom will largely suffer. There is a new beam that needs to go in to support the new roofline. It goes right over the bed. Oh, and let's not forget the posts that need to support that new beam. And new headers for the windows. It's starting to look like we won't be able to stay here while the construction is happening. I don't know yet what we're going to do. 2-3 months is too long to impose upon friends. And family lives to far away. One option is to put the bed on the three season porch (with new curtains and a space heater.) Another option is to find an apartment with a short term lease.

Oh, I almost forgot the budget issues! How could I? The GC came in with a budget that is the same, if not more, than our total financing package. And this only covers the contractors' time! We are purchasing 85% of the materials. Combined, these two costs puts the project budget WAY over. We have some creative thinking to do about reducing scope and telling the GC that he needs to cut his costs.

This is how to make a pregnant lady very unhappy.