No Photos yet, but a few updates

The painters have begun! The trim stain on the interior windows and doors has been applied and Ellen loves it. The painters have begun priming the walls, so it's expected that colors will appear next week. The tile guys are supposed to start on Thursday of this week. The cultured stone for the exterior has been delivered, so as soon as the weather warms the masons should get started on the outside and the fireplace. We opted to use stamped concrete in a flagstone pattern for the front porch and have selected our colors. I hope that works out, but I don't have a lot of confidence in our color sense. We've been lucky so far with the siding and our decision to get help on the interior. I hope the concrete works out. Not sure what we could do if it's hideous. Maybe start collecting Welcome mats to cover it up? I'll know we screwed up if, after you see the photos, we get a lot of mats as housewarming gifts.
We've met with Ed Stroeher, who's going to create our built-ins. Nice guy and I love the name of his web domain, www. thespeedofwood.com. It struck home because inside Dell, we talk about the 'speed of Dell' instead of the 'speed of light,' to note the extremely fast pace at which this company operates most of the time. The 'speed of wood' is at the other end of that spectrum. He'll be building the shelves on either side of the fireplace, the bookcase in the office and my fold-up work desk.
The interior and exterior lights have been selected. That was mind boggling and impossible for me. Prices were all over the map. For example, sconces ranged from $35 to over $500. Come now, how much can you possibly engineer into a sconce to merit $500? Despite having dimensions, it was very difficult to determine what the thing would actually look like. Of all the things we decided upon, bought or plan to buy, I think our lights might be the item most likely to be returned or replaced, particularly since Ellen saw me install a fixture at Mom's. She knows I'm capable of doing it, so I won't be surprised if that appears on a future 'to do' list. On that note, Ellen wants to paint a section of a wall in chalkboard paint, so she can write her lists on it. I suggested a wall in her loft. I won't be going up there for any reason, so that makes it the perfect place for her to write my 'honey do' list.