Work begins

After months of tedious phone calls, negotiations, paperwork ... at last we had an opportunity to start some actual physical work.  Friend Scott, and nephews Travis and Troy, leapt into action to clear away the scrub trees beside the house.

The moving company called me at work to ask whether they might take advantage of being nearby on another project to do some initial work around our house too.  Though we hadn't closed on the lot yet, the church had accepted our agreement, so I saw no harm in a couple guys walking around the house with shovels, checking out the condition of the foundation.

Later that morning a woman ran into Brian at a cafe where he'd stopped before work.  "Are they tearing down that house?  It's surrounded by heavy equipment."  Brian hurried two blocks down the street to discover that the "initial work" I'd just okayed...

...was more extensive...

...than I'd understood!