Ummm, there's a hole in my wall!

The Great Chimney Demolition of 2010-2011 (and Lord willing, it WILL end in 2011 and not extend to 2012!) made great strides this weekend. In December, when David's brother, Migl ( Jack's new spelling for Michael) was here, they managed to knock the chimney below the roof line so that a new patio roof could be put in. This is about where they got it:

This past weekend, David and buddy Todd, got the rest of it out. This involved:

* 9 hours of jackhammering
* dust. dust. more dust.
* that's really about it

You know you have good friends when they will give up a Saturday to literally have their body jerked around by a jackhammer. Todd has new appreciation for "Shaken, not stirred." And then, his darling wife, Wendi, brought the men a nice big lunch from Pei Wei, because she knew I was a little tied up with the kiddos. And she knew that David could not have gluten OR grains. And she knew what he could have from Pei Wei that would meet his needs. We are blessed with good friends. Which I may lose by posting this picture....

And if I am totally honest, I have to say I was LAUGHING when I took this picture. How cruel am I that I laugh in the face of such misery and pain? But oh....those poor tired faces....and they still had about 4 hours left after this picture was taken!

So at the end of the day, I had this:
Yes, that is my living room you can see THROUGH THE WALL. But the chimney is out and we are nearly ready to reclaim the lost wall space that was wasted in the fireplace that we never once used.

Next on the list, besides the obvious fixing the wall is scraping the popcorn ceilings in this room. Messy, but nearly as messy as the re-texturing is after....I find that stuff they spray up there in the strangest places for months afterward. Ah well. As Jack puts it, "We keep working and working on this house. And pretty soon, it's going to be the best house ever!"