Back to business

When I got to the house Monday, Brantley greeted me with a big smile and handshake and said he'd had a great Thanksgiving, sleeping most of the day.

Arnold was setting up his new worker -- the radial saw he'd brought back from his holiday trip to the mainland. He'd had some great time with his kids, but now he's back for the home stretch.

Kurt was in the den, framing windows and doors, Frank was working on the upstairs bathroom ceiling and Franklin was putting a polish coat on our drywall.

Apparently my crack about Frank chewing through wood "like a beaver on crack" had been popular holiday reading around Macon: Kurt now calls him "the Beaver," and Frank said everyone at his house had laughed at it. But at any rate, you can see his results in the fine finish on the west dormer in the guest room.

Big cartons full of kitchen cabinets had arrived just before me, so I made my way out to Home Depot, where Tawny said she'd be out first thing Tuesday to inspect the shipment and line up the installers.

When I got back to the house and stepped through the front door, I looked up again at the corner finishes that had taken my breath away just before I left last week: Arnold had installed vertical elements at both of those angles that smack you in the face as you come into the house, beautifully mated to the horizontal paneling.

And once again, I remembered why he's one of the blessings I gave thanks for last Thursday. He knows we'll be looking at those joints for the next 20 years, and he's making sure we love them every time.