Happy New Year!

On new year's eve day, we awoke to a call telling us that our house had been broken into, and some tools had been stolen (namely, the generator, a pneumatic nail gun, and a saw). Apparently, the thieves were rather ingenious. They built a ladder of 2x4's up to the second floor breezeway window, assuming (correctly) that the upper level windows would be less secure. We were actually lucky - a house up the street had all the appliances stolen!

Our foreman, Josh, assures us that such things happen, "even in rural Pennsylvania." But at least this gave our GC an excuse to buy that new generator he was talking about!

Our (grotesquely expensive) windows have been ordered, and should arrive in 4-6 weeks. The guys at Kolbe have been really great. They have helped us keep the cost of these windows down by making little adjustments here and there - ordering standard sizes where possible. But the cost is still quite outrageous. We need the wood windows in order to be approved for our historic tax credits, and we know that they will look better when all is said and done, but the cost is staggering. Let's all keep our fingers crossed for that historic tax credit!

Once the windows and (yet to be purchased exterior doors) are in, we can get the HVAC up and running and this will give us the requisite environment for floor installation. The flooring needs to be in the place of installation for a few days prior to going down so that it can adjust to the temperature and humidity conditions. It's really kind of a strange thing....treating the floor like a goldfish....

In other news, the group members have now purchased 5 of the 8 houses out of our corporate entity, and the remaining three should be in the works very soon. Our framers are finished and have move next door to work on Remington's house, and our HVAC and plumbing rough-ins are chasing one another around the house. Things are looking good in '08 for Linden. Block warming parties dates are already being tossed about....and we're all holding hands and singing Kumbaya (just like Willy B. always wanted)!