Wires, Plumbing and Patios...Oh My!

This is what the house looks like now. The stucco guys are waiting for drywall to be done inside so that all that banging doesn't knock off the stucco. We finally picked stucco and rock/trim colors. YEA US. One major decision down.

Steak, anyone? Welcome to Danny's grillin' space. I can almost smell the goodness!

The downstairs party patio. Lots of room for everyone.

The bottom hole is the super cool, fancy fireplace that will be see through on both sides-- so you'll see it in the living room and the kitchen. And, it will turn on with just a flip of a switch..that is my kind of fire.

This is the controls for our shower. I'm allready confused.

Even though this blog has been quiet, it has been anything but quiet at Dolce Vita. A lot of small, but very important detail work has been going on.

Plumbing? Check. Security System? Check. Electrical? Check. Heat and A/C? Check. Duct Work? Check. Cable/Phone/Surround Sound? Check. Central Vacuum? Going in on Friday. It doesn't make for great photos, but it is moving along.

Even the outdoor shower is plumbed. Thank you El Dorado Royale in Cancun, Mexico for the great idea.

The front porch and back patio were also poured this week. Danny even has his own grilling spot. Very nice. Of course, he did have to do some work to the steps off the back porch. They were way too short and small and I would have wiped out way too many times.

So, what are next steps? I'm pleased to report they will be a little more visually stimulating....insulation and drywall. Woohooo. Real Walls. This is gonna be fun.

Then the hard part begins....picking colors -paint, floors, cabinets, etc. Well, let me rephrase that...then the tough part starts for Danny. I have absolutely NO business weighing in on those decisions until they have been narrowed down, so I'll let Danny (and our online consultant Joia) begin that process. They are very good at including me though.

And, Danny suffered another minor injury tonight. The hammer mistook his pointer finger for a nail. OUCH!!!!!! It does not look pretty and is bruised and his fingernal is turning a nice shade of purple. He is currently icing it as I type and waiting for it to quit throbbing. We've been fortunate so far that Danny and Brian and George haven't had a heat stroke out there (no, the AC is not hooked up) and I worry about them during the weekends. Well, not enough to go out there and babysit them, but I do check on them often and offer to bring beverages. The girls last about 20 minutes out there before they start complaining about being hot. We are all ready for fall weather.

If we add up all the sweat equity in Dolce Vita, we'd have a million dollar plus home and that doesnt' even take into account this miserably hot weather.