Driveway!

Newly-poured driveway.

They poured the driveway today, which was very exciting. By pure chance I arrived at the site just as the first cement truck was pulling in to unload the first batch of cement, so I got to watch most of the process of pouring and finishing. It was just about the time Julie would be leaving to pick up Dada from her mother's day out, so I called her on the phone and asked her to bring Dada down so we could all put our hand prints in the cement.

Unfortunately, when Julie did finally arrive (after a detour to go home and get some milk--apparently Dada was, shall we say, quite insistent on the matter), Dada had fallen asleep and we were not keen to wake her. So Julie went back home with Dada and I went back to the office, Julie and I having agreed to return as soon as Dada woke up. We were assured that the cement would be imprintable until about 5:00 or so.

A little after 3:00 I got Julie's call that Dada was awake so I zipped home and we rushed to the site. The head concrete dude smoothed a little section for us and we made our prints. I tried to do Dada's hand but she didn't go for it and we had to re-smooth and try again. She refused to put her hand in so we used her foot.

Getting the driveway in was the last really big bit of construction. Everything else is just installation of fixtures, counter tops, and some finish work here and there. Doug the foreman says we might be able start moving in as early as a week from Friday.

I was able to take some short videos of the pouring and smoothing process, of which this is the first of four:

Pouring the Driveway, Part 1

I also took this video, which demonstrates the quality of the soundproofing in the house. It starts with a cement truck outside an open window of the master bedroom and continues as I close the window:

Sound Check One