It’s been a few months, but working on building continues. We haven’t picked out a lot yet, so we haven’t started building, but it’s happening soon I hope. For now, we are volunteering with others, helping on their houses, and taking classes about home ownership, financial planning, and future prepping for when we can’t take care of each other anymore.
It’s been almost a year now, within a few weeks of that mark, and they said it would take two to two and half years. I’m hoping for two years obviously, but we’ll take what we can. It’s so close we can feel it, but still so very far away.
I still would like to make the house as smart as possible, but some things may take some time. I plan on building the blog back up, getting regular posts going again, and maybe adding to the YouTube channel to get followers and regain my place as an influencer. I had a decent following before with RV articles, I’m certain I can raise that back up to the same level or higher fairly quickly with smart home and home building posts. Just requires some effort and writing.
THe Plan from here
First, we get to pick out a lot. Then there has to be environmental studies done to make sure it’s not a flood zone and who knows what else. The land then gets cleared, foundation poured, walls go up and the house gets built.
At some point in there, before the house is built and after the land is chosen, we will go over things with the builders and see if there are any needs we have for our son. Since he has Down syndrome, he may need special accommodations, but honestly at this point, we really don’t know what his limitations may be since he isn’t talking yet.
We would like a hook in the ceiling for a sensory swing, strong enough to hold him as a teenager and he may be heavy, some hand rails in places there are steps and in the shower because he may not be as steady on his feet as we are, and I’d like an electrical outlet up high in his room for his baby cam so we can watch him while he sleeps at least until his older. Maybe then we’ll swap it out for a string of smart slights that goes around the ceiling.
I also want Ethernet in every room. I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s really important to me. I’ve got OCD on a level where certain things must be a certain way and this is one of those things. Even if we put the ISP’s modem in the closet with the laundry and have that be the network cabinet would be fine, but I want Ethernet plugs in the walls and not cables running all over the place. I could do it after the house is built, but it would be so much easier before the drywall is up. I’m trying to figure out how to get my brother to help out and volunteer some time so we can do it together when the studs are up and the roof is on, but the drywall isn’t yet. He has the certification or license or paperwork or whatever is needed to work on low voltage wiring here, so it would above board, I just need to get permission first.
Hopefully we can do all that and have it finished on time and to specifications and move in within a year from now. I’m not betting on it, but I’m hoping for it. It would be so nice to get out of this apartment where the bathroom sometimes smells like marijuana, sometimes smells like meat (it’s weird). Where we are afraid to go for a walk outside. Where our rent keeps going up (went up over $100 this time). Where kids leave trash all over, sweat at us, and scream next door.
Wonderful things like that.
