Listening:  Rubble to Rubble by Wilderado
Weather:  85 degrees with no rain in the forecast!
Words:  Everything is figureoutable.

Sometime back in March, the snow melted and the rain started. According to an update from the National Weather Service in Kansas City, we are sitting at the wettest year on record through 6/23, and we are a mere 6.97 inches away from the average total rainfall for an entire year.

Because, you know. I’m trying to build a house.

Last weekend, we received just shy of five inches of rain in a few hours time, and atop already saturated ground, it was a recipe for disaster. Our pond flooded, and because we haven’t done our final grade yet, our newly poured basement flooded.

Now, this could have been much, much worse. Luckily, the basement floor was not plumbed, but the walls were poured and the work was pretty much complete. The water did no permanent damage at all, except that it made it a muddy mess when the foundation guys went to recover their forms and equipment.

We went out to check on things early on Sunday morning and found a lot of water, everywhere. When we went back on Sunday evening, the water had found its way back to the pond. It was actually a blessing in disguise to see what our worst-case scenario might be in terms of flooding, and fortunately it is one that is very easily rectified with a small berm and some smart dirt work – both things we were planning anyway.

We’ve taken a lot of grief over this piece of ground we bought to build our forever home. Too steep, too rough, too far away, too dry, too rocky, too wet…you name it. Those closest to us, even, don’t give us much credit and perhaps just don’t understand the research, time, thought, and just good ol’ fashioned stubborness that we’ve put into this place. Every time we prove the naysayers wrong, it just fuels us to keep going.

Thanks to the challenges this property brings, we are officially three months behind schedule. The good news is that now that we have the foundation going, we are coming to the end of our potential weather-related delays. When it rains, the heavy trucks (concrete, cranes, boom trucks, etc.) really do a number on our driveway. Of course, we’ll have another round of concrete work at the end of construction, but surely, our luck has to turn around by then, right?

I am a true believer that all things happen for a reason. This theory has been tried and tested time and time again in my life, so it’s time I started letting the universe guide me and have a little bit of faith in the master plan. I’m not exactly sure why we picked the worst year for construction to build our dream home, but I know that in the end, this will all be worth it.

In the meantime, we are hoping for a productive couple of weeks. Foundation waterproofing, basement plumbing, garage and basement slabs, electrical and water trenching, and a lumber delivery are all on the horizon. Hopefully I’ll have more frequent updates to share, soon!