No Rest for the Weary

Fall Break was Thursday and Friday of last week, providing a welcome period of rest and relaxation for the students. But with most students home for the long weekend - eating mom's food and catching up on laundry (and hopefully studying a little, too) - Fall Break was a great time to get some of the last big construction projects around the house done with as little interruption to the students' lives as possible.

The guys from Meyer Najem and their subcontractors clocked some serious hours to complete the last major work. Over the past few days, the kitchen floor was replaced, the parking lot paved and striped, the south addition was final cleaned, the back stairwell repainted, the new flooring waxed, and the temporary walls originally built to separate the construction areas from the existing house were removed. So much for a fall break!

I'm happy to say the work went smoothly and things are looking good for the students to occupy the south addition by the end of the month!

Shiny new kitchen floor.

The newly installed shutters will be painted in the next few days (too rainy last week).

The new dumpster gate will also be painted. Classiest trash on the block. :)

Newly paved and striped parking lot.

Home Stretch

Well, we're entering the final leg of this crazy construction journey. It has been a long road, but an interesting and exciting one as well. In the last few weeks, the student rooms in the south addition have been coming together quite nicely. The carpet was installed at the end of last week and final painting is in progress. The students are all really looking forward to moving into the rooms. Right now, we're shooting for full occupancy on October 31, making for a truly happy Halloween!

Eight person student room on floor two. The carpet, blue accent wall, wood trim, and closet door hardware is all new since the last pictures I posted.

Three person room in the basement.

The basement rooms are surprisingly bright and cheerful, thanks to large windows and window wells.

New "back" entrance to the house on the west side.

Rewind Through Time

I'm proud to report that Delta Gamma won Homecoming 2009! WHOO HOO!

Homecoming is a really big deal at Butler. Really, really big. Last year I was completely caught off guard by all of the activity leading up to the homecoming game. During homecoming week, fraternities and sororities are paired together to participate in a full week of events. The different activities are judged by a committee and points are awarded based on execution, use of theme, and participation. A winner is announced at halftime of the football game.

When I started this job, I had no idea how involved homecoming week was... and how much was at stake, as DG has won homecoming for 11 of the last 12 years. Thankfully, I was a little more prepared this year. The theme was "Rewind Through Time: Homecoming 2009." DG, who was paired with Phi Kappa Psi, won all three of the big events: lawn decorations, the parade float, and the cheer competition (Yell like Hell). An enormous amount of work went into the planning, construction, and execution of all three, so I was proud of the students for giving it their all and doing an amazing job. What a fun week!

The giant homecoming banner - weighed down by greatness, perhaps? :)

We were so happy to welcome alumni back to the house on Saturday morning before the game. I suspect many alumni made a point to stop by the house specifically to see the summer renovations and check out the progress of the expansion. For those of you that weren't able to make it for homecoming, I hope these latest pictures of the construction will bring a little of the homecoming fun to you!

Renovated & redecorated foyer.

Installed student closet doors in the south addition.

The closet doors & frames come as a single unit for quick installation.

The caps on the sundeck railings have been installed and painted.

View of the south addition from 44th Street and the parking lots.

Complete brick on the south addition, with view of dining room addition. You can see some pieces of the homecoming float decorations in the parking lot.

South addition from the southeast corner of the property. The three-sided square in the front center of the picture is the dumpster enclosure.

New "back" entrance on the west side of the house. It's hard to tell in the picture, but there's a glass door on the first floor between the old house and addition. The door leads into the old back stairwell that runs between all the floors. The french doors lead into the new chapter room.

I tried to get a picture of the house from end-to-end (showing the whole west side), but I can't get back far enough to fit it all in the photo. I was standing in Tri Delt's lawn when I took this. The house is just THAT big now!