All worth it after visiting home site

After making the three-hundredth decision in the span of three days, I can officially say I'm spent.

Rosanne and I have had to make some tough choices -- most notably with the cabinet package.

Because we originally were looking at PVC cabinets, and were convinced that we would be better served by upgrading to maple, the allowance and the actual budget didn't quite "mesh." This was our biggest challenge.

We had the tug of war between budget and presentation. We wanted to make sure the cabinets were impressive because of their central placement in our open entertaining area. But, we didn't want to price ourselves out of reality.

Matt at Gateway Kitchen and Bath Centre worked overtime to make things work for us. It took two hours and concessions on both sides, but he was able to get things back to our budget maximum without giving away too much in presentation.

We still have maple cabinets, we still have a large island with pot drawers, and we still have the subtle touches that make the kitchen a warm and inviting place to congregate.

But we gave up on the side pantry area adjacent to the eating alcove. For what it would have cost us, the benefit just wasn't there. We instead went with a pantry stack to the right of the fridge, and opened up the alcove. We now have the choice of hunting down an antique buffet for that space, or a future row of lower cabinets if we find we need the storage.

Bottom line -- we save the money now, and if, after a year, we decide we need more storage, we can add it then.

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Ahhhh... it feels good to have that all cleared up. I was lifted significantly earlier in the week by what I discovered at the site.

While only expecting to see the steel beams in place and maybe the piles for the front and back porches, I was stunned to see all of that completed, and the floor joists and plywood also in place.

I must have had quite the look on my face, as Ralph and his team of concrete workers were grinning as I trounced about the main floor area, imagining the rooms and the flow.

The strangest part was that I couldn't tear myself away. Having the actual plywood floor underfoot was intoxicating.

Perhaps the best part was how solid everything felt. I was hopping up and
down like an excited Richard Gere fan who really had to pee, and there was
nary a squeak or bounce.

I checked out the basement area through the window openings in the foundation. It's cool to see the steel beams in place and the eight-foot wall heights.

It was actually easier to get a true feel for the size of the house when looking at the basement, as the walls provided visual barriers.

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Other choices we've made over the past week include:

• The stone work for the columns on the porches -- we're going with cultured stone called Stream Stone from I-XL. It looks like natural stone that would be found in the area.
• The stucco colour -- we like the Slate No. 820 colour from Winroc. We want a knock-down stucco to soften the shadows.

There were other decisions made, but my arms grow weary and my brain is beginning to misfire, so I'll save those for next week.