Snail's pace toward the finish line

It feels like we're running through deep, sticky, heavy mud these last few feet toward the finish line. All that's left:

- HVAC inspection
- Electrical panel inspection (now that power is restored to the house)
- Final CO inspection
- Bathroom and laundry room hardware installation
- Front door hardware installation
- Final decision on the concrete porch (to stain or not to stain...yes, we are back to that)
- Front gutter relocation
- Final walk-through for the punch list (nicked paint, etc.)

Hopefully, for the certificate of occupancy, we can get by with the 'landscaping' we have (ie, pine straw...and more pine straw). With the power restored to the house, guess what's gone from the middle of our yard?

I've been looking at the temporary pole so long that I didn't even notice it was gone. The mister had to point it out. With that and the construction fencing down, all that gives it away as an active site is the dumpster and (of course) the ole Happy Can.

In other news, I've slowly been scouting stores for a few new items for the home. We've gotten the girls' bathroom rugs, soap dishes and toothbrush holders. New shower curtain for lil bit's shower, and new shower curtains for the existing main floor bathrooms. New bedding for the girls, and new bedside tables for us. Towel hooks for the girls have been purchased, though we still need towel rings for the master bath. Tucked into the nooks and crannies of our current rental house are piles like this:

Oh, and today the mister ordered two chairs for our front porch!

We're pretty much done with purchasing anything else for the house until after we're in. Except for window treatments that is. I counted up all the windows we had to cover, assigned a seemingly reasonable price-per-window, totaled the amount and then promptly went to my happy place until that number faded a bit. Nothing wrong about a snail's pace toward that particular purchase, so long as these $5 temporary blinds I picked up today hold for a bit...