We are nothing if not a stubborn bunch. Throughout this whole process of preparing the prefab house for us to move in, my father and husband (and to some extent, my mother and I) looked at the list of tasks that needed to be done and thought: we can totally do this ourselves.
Pros: we’re saving a lot of money, and we’re learning incredible skills along the way.
Cons: we are finite human beings with a limited amount of time and energy.
I continue to be in awe of my father, Jim. He’s a retired clinical psychologist, with no formal training in any sort of contractor or construction work. And yet, so far he has managed to (with my husband Jake’s assistance):
- Plan out and dig the trenches for both the gas and electrical that we’ll need for the house (the electrical trench just passed inspection and the gas trench is being inspected today! Praise God!)
- Lay the wire (cable) for electric and pipe for gas
- Wrestle the wire into the meter box and the panel (Oh, and he hung a 200 amp panel because our house came with a 100 amp one!)
- Connect the gas line to the house and prepare it for inspection / connecting to gas by pressure testing it
- And probably more that I’m not able to remember right now
All the hard work is paying off. We have only a handful of things left to do on our end: build the steps, finish the painting, lay the floors, install the counters, and pass all inspections. Now we are backfilling the trench, and getting ready to build the front and back porch steps.
There is much outside of our control — so I focus on what I can control. We purchased the tile for the bathrooms this weekend, and I got paint for the starry mural I have planned for Michael’s ceiling. I have been chipping away at the painting — the master bedroom wall is finished, and the kitchen needs a last touch up coat before I declare it finished. It’s encouraging to see physical glimpses of the final product: the stack of tiles in the bathroom, the color on the walls; the boxes of flooring.
Slow, steady, stubborn progress.
Speaking of…
Michael is six months old, and has inherited the family stubbornness. He has unofficially begun crawling. He alternates between an effective army crawl and a stubborn, seal-like belly flop. Both are often punctuated by a screech. We’re not sure if it’s elation or frustration, and frankly, he isn’t sure either. We were hoping he wouldn’t become mobile until our house is finished — Pennet Melangell is the opposite of baby-proof. It’s full of nooks and crannies where kids and dust bunnies can hide for ages without being found. I will definitely be kept on my toes for the near future — nothing is safe from his curious grasp.
We still don’t have a move-in date, and PG&E gave us the disheartening news they probably won’t be able to get to our job until late September — a whole year since we placed our work request with them.
So we’re digging in our heels against discouragement and rolling up our sleeves. There is much we can focus on, though we won’t be able to live in our house. We’ll focus on the summer and fall’s gardening and preserving, and getting the new coop ready for our chickens. As difficult as the last year of waiting has been, it has been very fruitful. It has taught all of us that stubbornness can indeed be a virtue.
Pax Christi,
Rachel
five acres four generations 
“ “He alternates between an effective army crawl and a stubborn, seal-like belly flop. Both are often punctuated by a screech. We’re not sure if it’s elation or frustration….”
Same, Michael.
Same.
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Your home will be beautiful!
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Amazing Spider-Man stance!
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