Straw mystery solved!

DH spoke with the builder yesterday. He found out that the straw was put in the basement as insulation against the cold. It is used to keep the ground from freezing so that they can dig down to install the pipes that need to go under the basement slab (oh, the joys of living in the snow and cold!). The pipes will go in (hopefully) this week and the slab will be poured when we get a warm(ish) day.

The builder also said that the stairs will be delivered in the next couple of weeks. I assume that they've been waiting for the basement slab to be poured before getting the stairs. It sure will be nice to have access to all the levels via stairs, instead of having to wish for a ladder!

We will meet with the builder on Monday to go over the exterior color choices (http://bellsrus.blogspot.com/search/label/exterior%20materials). We've picked out the colors, but the builder wants to double-check where some of the trim colors will be used.

I've decided to make some changes to the kitchen design (I'm sure our KD will be thrilled to hear that!). I decided that the kitchen island needs to be one level, not two. We like the look of the 2 level island, but I just don't think it will be functional for me. One of the items on the top of my "dream kitchen list" has always been a large island without any sinks or appliances taking up space on it. It will mainly be used for baking, so there needs to be room for rolling dough, for cookie sheets and cooling racks. I've been struggling with the decision since I first saw the 2 level island, but now I'm sure it needs to be 1 level.

I still need to get back out to Lowe's to have the sewing studio design corrected and to get the printout so I can post it. The plan was also to pick the hardware for the cabinet doors, but I may wait and do that after the cabinets are in.