Setting The Trusses

This was the weekend to set the trusses. It was exhausting. In so many ways. We are very thankful that everyone was safe and you'll see why when we get to the pictures. This is going to be a fairly long post because I took a lot of pictures, so I'll get right to it.

The snowfall that was expected didn't exactly materialize and we are thankful for that. No one wants to be on the roof in the snow. This was the extent of snow that fell. Just barely a dusting on the driveway. It actually turned out to be a gorgeous day albeit a little chilly at about 3C (37.4F).

The crane arrived early Friday morning. I can't imagine getting the trusses up there any other way.

The children came out to watch for a bit. I said I wanted to take their picture and they got into this formation by themselves. I may or may not take their picture often. :-) 

Riley looks especially interested in what's going on.

Ben stayed on the ground and hooked the trusses up to the crane and then held the tag line to keep them from swinging in the wind.

Matt was on top, unhooking the trusses and bracing them while Phil and Michael fastened the sides. Thank you so much Michael for coming to help! We were very thankful that you were there!

                                     

                                    

Almost done!

Day 1, the finished product.

Let me preface this picture by saying that I knew there was going to be a picture like this. I wasn't going to like it but I knew it would happen. I'm going to let you decide who that is. I don't think it will take you long to guess. 

Hannah and Steve, helping out from terra firma.

The little girls making hard hats look cute.

I have tried to picture what these walls would look like so many times. Somehow, I was thinking that the slope would cut more of the room off with the 12-12 pitch of the roof but it's not bad. I like it. 

We have "discussed" many times whether there will be dormers to let the light in but one of us, who has previous experience building them, does not want them. Plus, they are expensive. The other one of us just thinks they look pretty. After much "discussion", we have "agreed" on sun pipes as a more cost effective approach to letting the natural light in (but I still think dormers would be prettier).  ;-)

A smile from the man with much on his plate right now! 

This is the start of Day 2 and where things start to go a little crazy for me. You see, in order to strap the trusses, someone has to be on the outside of them. 

I know they are tied on but I still don't like seeing them up there.

Seriously, at one point I had to leave. Anxiety is neither helpful nor conducive to a productive working environment and I was adding unnecessary stress. I admit it. I found something to clean downstairs where I didn't have to watch and I felt much better. I think everyone did.

It's just that I can still see them as pre-schoolers playing with Lego or Playmobil or climbing on a jungle gym.

Not hanging off the side of the house. Breathe, momma, breathe.

I'll be glad when this part is over.

It's not finished yet though. These still need to go up. And then the roof. Sigh.

It looks like a giant 3-D jig saw puzzle.

At the end of the day, there is always clean up to do, but thankfully, there is also many hands willing to help.

That includes site clean up. It's always nice to have a clean work area.

I really wonder what it will look like with the deck on. It looks much smaller from this side.

The end of the day on Saturday and we were exhausted. Muscles were aching and please Lord, let it be Sunday tomorrow. We need to rest. Physically and emotionally. Stress levels have been running high, necessarily or not and honestly, some days are just harder than others. We are building this house together and that is exciting, but don't get me wrong, I'd be lying if at some point, one or all of us haven't wondered if this was a good idea. It can be seriously overwhelming at times. Our bodies get weary. There are so many decisions to make. I am thankful that Phil has the experience he does to make some of the decisions but we both know when the house is finished, there will be things we will have wished we would have done differently. Not to mention, we have to agree on how things should be done. I may have alluded to it earlier, that it took us a while to, ahem, make a decision about the dormers (one of us was hoping the other would, um, change his mind). We are all different in our likes and dislikes and have preference for our own tastes. We can disagree but let's face it, at the end of the day, someone has to make a decision. Actually, we all have a decision to make. I have to decide whether I want my way more than I want peace. Is this the hill I am going to die on? I just have to have, say, dormers or... or what? I'm going to throw a tantrum and be miserable? I wouldn't accept that from my 4 year old. No, sometimes, things aren't going to look like what we imagined. In fact, they might look completely different than what we 'wanted' but that doesn't mean they can't still be beautiful. There can also be beauty in our attitude and how we accept our circumstances. How we can put others ahead of ourselves. How having peace in your home is far more important than having "your way". And that is a great lesson whether you are four or forty.... something. :-)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Galations 5:22