Gas line in. Trenching under way. Sub-zero temps tonight. Shares badly needed.

Yes, I have a few shots, but I'm too tired to deal with it. The plumbers were back today to install the gas lines from where the range and the water heater will be. Expensive, but it had to be done, and done right. But in addition to the labor costs we shelled out today, it was another big expense.

Today was the crew's last day for the week, although Carlos will be back tomorrow and Friday to do more of the trenching for the gas line to the propane tank and buried electrical line. He started it today, despite the bitter cold, and it turns out that our winter has been so dangerously mild that, even with the recent snow and ice and cold, the ground was frozen only to two inches down. Below that? Soft, all the way up to the house. I'm glad he got it well under way, because tonight and tomorrow night will be well below zero. No word on electrician dude yet. He doesn't get paid the balance until it's done, though, so . . . ::shrug::.

The front doors will likely be delivered sometime next week. That will finally pretty much enclose the whole house, except for the weather stripping on one window that shipped without it; the company rep will be out sometime in the next couple of weeks to install it. In the meantime, the short term is shower bases, upstairs bath tile, fixture install, and then flooring for the rest of the upstairs. Ice will start taping for the interior plaster. Then I have to decide on colors and paint and stain (yes, I'm doing THAT myself, because 1) I have the experience to do what I want, and 2) I want it done the way I want it). And mixed in all of it re the never-ending labor costs. I don't begrudge any of it, because the guys are great; they work their asses off, and they know their stuff. But it's a major source of stress, and it's always hanging over my head, every single day.

We have to ramp up the YouCaring shares again. Badly. We've been really blessed, but these are the hugely expensive stages of the project, and it's eating up what we've had in reserve for this really fast now. So please go back to sharing daily:

• Shares of our YouCaring page via the widgets provided, especially the widget code, which has once again been moved back to the purple box at the lower right-hand side of the page, that produces the image shown just above.
• Shares of Wings's site; sales also fund the construction (indeed, they are the baseline for it). Testimonials help.
• I've added Lowes gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. Those will really, really help with materials costs from this point forward. We need to keep the cash freed up for labor as much as possible, but we're going to have to buy a water heater, kitchen fixtures, flooring, and a host of other material items in the days and weeks to come, and this is the best place to do it. 

And before you share our links, please go share Laura's. Lin's spirit is where the water meets the light, but Laura will still need our help for a while. A fitting immediate legacy for Lin would have been funding her YouCaring effort fully by year's end, to provide Laura with the assurance of a safety net. There has been zero movement on it for at least a week, probably more. This is not acceptable to me; Lin's memory deserves better, and so does Laura, who has given so very, very much of herself in recent months for someone so many claimed to love. Please T/R/share/donate to her fund if you can. Especially that last. It's needed.

Thanks, everyone.

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