Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Home from Christmas gluttany at my sister's in Mich. We had a wonderful Christmas...all 3 girls home for the holidays, lots of goodies to munch on, an absolutely beautiful tree (real), a little bit of snow just to make things feel right, and lots of laughter. The presents weren't bad either.

A&T got the biggest haul. They are setting up house in Indiana with new apartment and jobs. So they got all the practical stuff...dishes, iron, toaster oven...that sort of thing. I got practical stuff too....beautiful new knife set for my new kitchen, a kitchen scale, awesome hand blown glasses from KT and T, a knife sharpener for my new knives, new brown dish cloths/towels for my new brown kitchen from R, and lots of little goodies in my sock. If I forgot anyone...I am old...will remember later. It is all put away so I cannot go thru the bucket and look over my loot.

We had a real good time at the Sondeen home for Christmas dinner and frivolity. We did just a smidgeon of day after Christmas shopping....6am in Walmart in Saline...R wanted one of the $17 lighted trees for her new abode where ever that ends up to be. So we just brushed our teeth and hair and flew out the door and went to Wally World and straight home afterwords. I was amazed that there were very few...and I mean very few...people out shopping. Times really have slowed things down.

Unfortunately....I haven't. Lord, if I don't stop spending money soon......I will never get to retire. I had to leave this for a day...so it is a little disjointed. Today (12/30) I picked up my new giant flat screen tv. And the Bose sound system to go with it. Love the sound system....not so sure about the tv. I think I may return it and get something else. This one is a Plasma and I am not liking what I am reading about it. I just missed it that it was plasma....I was looking under LCD's and this one was listed and I didn't read it quite well enough. I am seriously thinking of taking it back. It is awfully big. I don't think I need one quite this big. And I think I really do want LCD instead of Plasma. It is out of the gigantic box and warming up....when I can, I will plug it in and see what I think. The bracket to hang it on the brick over the fireplace will be here next week. We'll see........

I went into work for a short time today. It was cold in there....steam is down and the building has no heat (on the floor anyway). The office was a little warmer, but not much. I have to go in for just a little bit tomorrow and will take a sweater/sweatshirt or something to stem off the cold a little. Doing computer work when your fingers are numb is challenging. But it has to be done...end of month budget stuff and end of year wrap up. I can't believe I have been Planner for almost 9 months now. It feels like yesterday.

I found some really pretty dishes for CHEAP yesterday....new every day dishes for my new kitchen. I have always wanted real plates....been using plastic for centuries it seems. But now I have new, rich chocolate colored plates, bowls, and cups to use. $44 for a serivce for 12!!!!! They are stoneware...but that's what I wanted. I am sooooo tickled with the color!!! They look gorgeous on the countertops!! Good ol' IKEA.

Now I need a table to eat on. hee hee

Well...gotta go find my bed...must work tomorrow. YUK. I am NOT gonna be there at the crack of dawn tho. I am gonna work partial banker's hours tomorrow.

Later........................

Why am I up!?!?!?!?!?

I have had one good nite's sleep this week.....damn. Here I am up in the middle of the nite again and I was sooooo tired when I went to bed at freaking 6:30PM!!! Maybe I should just give up and go in to work. I would get home about noon!!!

I need to get cracking this weekend. I have to wrap everything for Christmas....but first I have to dig into the back room and get to the wrapping paper way back in the corner behind a ton of furniture. Jeez.... I don't like wrapping for some reason. I love giving presents, I hate wrapping them. Hence the many gift bags I use. I don't know where they are either...damn. I should have made a list of where all this stuff was when I jammed that room full of the rest of the house. Hindsight you know.

I really, really, really want out of my room! I know this is becoming a frequent topic, but after almost 8 weeks living in my room, aaaaaaggggghhhhh. Maybe this weekend. I need to get the new fireplace surround/screen thing on and then I can CLEAN the family room/kitchen and put it together. THEN I can move OUT OF MY ROOM. Ok, I know, you get the picture.

Well, I have ranted enough....am going to try to go back to bed. If I am not snoring in 30 minutes....I am going to work. Later.............

Painting Day....

I am painting today with the help of Greg....I would be lost without my neighbor's help. Bless his heart...he does my yard so I don't have to sneeze and choke my way around the yard while mowing .... he painted my ceilings ... and now we are changing all the colors in the main part of the house to go with the new flooring and such. I pay him well and really appreciate his help. We have a good time too. He is a stitch.

I have a raging sinus infection too .... such fun. I jumped on it with the drugs last nite so maybe it won't get real bad. But this one feels different from the last one....stronger, stinkier, and "larger." Oh well, it is that time of year. I just hope I can keep it from dropping to my chest and becoming a full blown upper respiratory infection....I don't have any PA days left...no time to get sick.

It is raining today. BLAH. At least it is a little warmer. Not much, but a little. But we won't have much sun to paint with. I need to get the fan hung in the family room so we can see in there. Instead I am sitting here typing. Jeez......

Ok..so I gotta go do what I am supposed to be doing......later............

IT IS FINISHED!!!!

The kitchen is done! It is absolutely gorgeous. I could not be happier. Now I have to get it back in service. However, before I can do that, I have to put the rest of the house together.......

I am soooo tickled at the job the cabinetmaker and my contractor Jim did!!! This was not a hardship at all. I really enjoyed the whole process. I have new friends and learned a few things. Not bad.

Jim came the other nite and took pictures and has already brought a couple people to see it. He is very impressed with the quality of the cabinets and is recommending them to a lady not too far from here. Like I said in a previous post...I will not buy retail any more. When I can get this awesome quality for a very, very good price from the Amish craftsmen in Apple Creek, OH, it is silly not to.

I have decided to change all the colors, so now I have to paint the whole thing all over again. Oh well, it is a good thing I like to paint. hee hee The colors will meld better with the new wood and countertops. The old colors helped with the pink floor and now look off. With no more pink in the house, I need to go with warmer neutrals. I am torn between putting off getting the kitchen and the rest of the house put together and painting first. I should paint first, but I am just really anxious to get this house back to some kind of normal. Maybe I can talk someone into helping me and get it done faster. OH Greg........

Well, must run and do something. I can still clean out cabinets and get the dust and such out of them. So off I go......

Turkey and then some....

OOOOOO.....I ate too much. I always do. We had a really wonderful day on Thursday. Lots of good company minus my pod mate :( ..... but we did get to talk to her....RoJo carried around her laptop with A's head talking away....they had found a way with the cameras and IM to hook up and have A there for a while. It was fun.

And now that I am home it is back to the grind. Cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning......

The countertops come Tuesday or Wednesday. I cannot wait!!! I took Thursday off to clean and Friday I head over to Jasper, IN to see A and her new apartment. Will be another good weekend. Gonna eat German food....yummmmmmm.

I have discovered that cleaning this new floor is even easier than the last post. Just use water. Forget the chemicals....get a floor rag just damp with warm water and everything comes right off with none of the streaking that the chemical mist was leaving (that I didn't see until the sun shone across the floor....eeeeek). I am really glad this is getting better and better because there is an awful lot of this floor in this house now! Would be a real pain if I didn't like it so well.

I have been noodling where I want to put stuff in the cupboards etc. Mo had some good suggestions and I suppose I will figure it out sooner or later, but I really would like to get STARTED. I have to dig out the rest of the stuff I crammed into the back bedroom before I can even get to the kitchen stuff. Poo. I must essentially put the rest of the house together before I can even get really started on the kitchen....dummy....I packed the kitchen first...went into the room first...is behind all the other crap....poo. Oh well.....

I suppose I should get started on today's list. Cleaning my room (very eeek), putting away tools etc in the kitchen so they can set the countertops without having to move all my crap, laundry, hanging ceiling fans, and playing with colors for the walls....

I am thinking about changing the colors in here. Mo had a bunch of paint chips that we were digging thru to pick a color range for her livingroom....I found one I think will work better in here with the new cabinets and flooring. I like my cocoa colored walls, but the color isn't carried anymore and I can't fix the bangs on the walls. It also is only OK with the new wood floor/cabinets. I think the new colors will be WOW with the new wood floors/cabinets. And WOW is what it is all about.

OK...I am going....later......

It's gonna be a knobby kind of day....

Well, I'm up and the sun isn't. Yet. I think I will put the knobs on the cabinets today. They came the other day and I would like to get it done. I need to clean out all the cabinets and put in some nubbley stuff drawer liner stuff in some of them. Mo put it in her pots and pans drawers...good idea. Keeps the noise down...hee hee. My ex used to crab at me when I was putting away dishes and got to the pots and pans...he said it sounded like world war three and the pots were winning. Of course, that meant I was interrupting his television. But no more crouching on the floor and crashing around in the bottom of some base cabinet for me!!!! I have DRAWERS.

I really do like the kitchen and am just itching to get it in service....but can't. No counter tops yet. They are gonna make a big mess setting them and I need to wait till that is done and clean everything one last time...then I can put my house back together and MOVE OUT OF MY ROOM!!! I seem to remember at the beginning of this whole remodel, that I said I liked it in here...cozy I think was the word I used. NOT ANYMORE. I am going nuts stuffed up in here. Oh well, the end is nigh.....just not nigh enough for me. hee hee

I cleaned the floor last weekend and it cleans up sooooooo easy. I am loving this floor more each day. It can really take a beating and comes back to beautiful in a flash. Just mist it with this cleaner and dry mop. Easy as pie. I didn't think all the construction dust, crap, dirt, more crap would come up, but it does. I have one little scratch and that's all. And it is in a place that noone will find. At least I hope they don't.

Well, I suppose I should start the process....get showered, teethbrushed, meds taken, asthma inhalers done, eye drops in, get dressed.....then I can start on the fun stuff. Later.....

It looks like a real kitchen now!!!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!
This is my new kitchen. The cabinets came on my birthday. They are the most gorgeous things I have ever seen! The quality is unsurpassed. And the price is phenominal! Way, way cheaper than the big box stores. They are Amish built...High Point Cabinets in Apple Creek, Ohio. Stunning craftmanship. Dave is a master. And a real hoot to deal with. He cracks me up. I couldn't be happier with the entire experience. The two gentlemen that set the cabinets yesterday were a delight. We had a good time. They did this all in one very long day...about 12 hours almost on the nose. And they drove down from Apple Creek getting here at 7:20AM!!! It's a 4 hour drive!!! And they went home last nite too...I hope they got home ok.

I have to set the tile on the floor of the mudroom today. And I have a small list of last minute things I need to get to finish this remodel. Nothing huge...fireplace doors, new floor registers, a couple power strips....stuff like that. I am hoping the tile job does not turn into an all day affair. It shouldn't, but you never know. The floor is only 4' x 7'....once I get started it shouldn't take me any time at all to set 12x12 tiles in that little space. Then it is clean the new cabinets and reign myself in so I don't go stuffing the cabinets with all my stuff just yet. They are gonna make a huge mess setting the countertops and when that is done I can start the process of putting stuff away and moving it ten times before I am happy with the organization. But the best thing is I HAVE THE ROOM TO MOVE IT TEN TIMES.....hee hee. I don't have to put all my dishes in one ... yes ONE ... cabinet like my old kitchen....I am so happy!!!!

Well, gotta go get the day started.

Drywall Dust .....

I am inundated with drywall dust. I am supposed to clean it up today.....I don't want to. What a colossal mess!!! The contractors are done with the wall and ceiling patching and sanding and now it is my turn to clean, prime, and paint. Yipeeeeee.....

I am already using the new doorway to the diningroom....should have been there the whole time. It is amazing what a 42" hole in a wall can do to both rooms! Really opens up the spaces. The kitchen/diningroom will be much, much more user friendly now.

I bought the primer and paint last nite...have today off to clean...Greg is gonna help tomorrow and Sunday and we are going to get this house in shape in nothing flat....yeah right. AAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH.....

The range hood came yesterday....I want to peek in the boxes sooooo bad. But I will behave. Jim is going to hang the thing as soon as the floor is done. And the floor starts going in Monday! The subfloor is going to disappear very quickly. YEAH

Well, I am not getting anything done sitting here. I gotta go get my shots and then get my butt busy with the shop vac. Holy Toledo....

Later.....

Well under way....

I tried to post some pictures and that didn't go too well. Will have to play with it later and post some. I am not the most computer savvy person in the world...just slow.

Let's see....The doorway to the dining room is cut out. And low and behold, what did we find, but the gas line running right down the middle of the doorway....poop. Oh well, they got that moved today after much gnashing of teeth...it was a very icky job. Up in the attic one minute and down in the crawlspace the next. Everyone expected it to run up from under the house and the stupid thing runs down from the attic.

The "vestibule" is all framed in and is really cool.

The wiring is just about done. Can lights are positioned and wired, circuits are run for the fridge, microwave, the range hood, and added switches for over sink lights. They got the phone jack lowered so I don't have to sit the phone on a pile of phone books to reach the plug (dinky short cord or way too long cord wadded up on the counter). I think I will have some extra receptacles when all is said and done. Oh, and got the circuit run for the range hood and figured out what all that is gonna take to install.

I was doing some research on the laptop out in the family room and kinda rubbed my elbow along my side and a damn bee nailed me! Hurt like a son of a gun!!! Jim had to knock him off my arm..the damn thing had his stinger buried in my arm and couldn't get loose. I had hold of the laptop with one hand and couldn't drop it to knock the stupid bee off my arm. Jeez. I had a nice fat welt where the venim was pumped in...that has flattened out now, but it is still a big red spot and kinda hot. Stupid damn bee. I haven't been stung in years....can't say that now...hee hee.

Tomorrow they start rocking. Hanging drywall that is. They are gonna fix a few cracks and such and have to replace all the rock they cut away to chase wires, pipes and such. They will frame in the doorway to the diningroom and cut out the doorway to the vestibule (mini mud room) and finish frame it and rock everything. Jim thinks they will start taping and mudding on Monday. Looks like I am going to have to paint ceilings whether I like it or not. Lots of drywall work on the ceiling.

I should be able to paint (prime) everything next weekend I hope. He is bringing the baseboarding in too and I can get a coat or two of paint on them also. Shouldn't take too long to slap a coat of paint on the baseboarding...can do that after work.

Well, I gotta go get sleepy. My ACM at work starts tomorrow and I need my beauty sleep. ACM is bi-annual maintenance time we get to tear into big projects on the line. We tear machines apart, replace lots of parts and put them back together. Hopefully it all runs after that. That is the plan anyway... hee hee.

Later.....

Demolition Done!!!

I thought my house echoed before....YOWZA!!! Tuesday nite M&M got here and said "we'll get the appliances moved tonite"....and 3 HOURS later...the kitchen was G-O-N-E. Once we got started there was no stopping. The cabinets came down in minutes, the countertop cut in half and sledged out in seconds, and the base cabinets were gone in nothing flat. I was amazed!!! Here I was thinking this destruction thing would take a day at least and M kept saying "This is demolition....." and, wham, something else bit the dust. It was fun.

Wednesday we moved the rest of the furniture into the back bedroom, made a trip to Lowe's to get stuff to stub off the plumbing, went to Home Depot and ordered my faucet, shopped some for fridges for M&M and microwaves for me, and we went out to the newly rebuilt Lone Star Steakhouse in Middletown. Yum. We also spent a good while discussing what needs to happen in this house to make it "work for me" and be visitor friendly. I am going to reclaim the front room as a living room and move my art crap into the back bedroom. The dining room is huge and could absorb the computer/desk work space if pared down and a new desk was designed for the spot. I can have a couch!!!! I don't have a couch now...haven't had since I moved down here 16yrs ago.

The new Lone Star is very pleasant, nicely decorated (even the big longhorn on the wall over the bar was not tacky), very comfortable seating, bright, and no where near as noisy as before. This is a new design and the only one in the country. If it works well here in the test restaurant, then all new Lone Stars will be built like this one. I liked it very much. And the food was absolutely wonderful!!! I think it really helped that we were STARVING...hee hee. But it was very good. Better than before I think. The state of our waddling out of there spoke volumes. Mo and I thought Mark was gonna explode. hee hee

All in all, it was a very productive couple of days. We had fun, ate good, and worked hard. And now my old kitchen resides as a heap in the garage. It all will be hauled off by the contractor.

I had a day off Thursday and did some things that needed finished up (moved some stuff, reversed the doors on the fridge, cleaned the old stove to get it ready to sell..) and went back to work Friday. This morning I was up at 5ish and put a coat of primer/hider on the stencil in the dining room and cleaned up my painting tools by 6:30 . I ate soup for breakfast and am going to finish this post and fly to Lowes to buy painting supplies, paint, and do a little microwave shopping at Sears. I would like to get the dining room painted today. I need to figure out the color of the family room (the paint chips are stashed somewhere and I can't find them)...so will bring home chips and match it. I think I have a gallon, but want to make sure so I have paint to touch up with after construction is done. I need to pick out a color for the fireplace.

During our arm waving session in here, M&M suggested I paint the fireplace brick.....I like that idea immensely! I hate the brick. It is totally the wrong color for in here...it was when I moved in and the colors were still the previous owner's colors. I just know it was picked because it was on sale/discontinued/free/cheap.....just like the damn pink floor and everything else he built this house with. So I am gonna find a dark chocolate color and paint that damn brick!!!! Yipeeeee.

My new rugs for the family room, dining room and front foyer came yesterday, too. I didn't expect them so soon. Oh well, 3 more things to cram in the back bedroom. They look to be the perfect colors. We will see when I can get them rolled out onto the floors....that won't be for a while yet. pooooh.

Well, I suppose I should get off my butt and get this day under way. I have to work tomorrow for a little in the morning, so can't work too late today. Sooo...I am off like a dirty shirt!!!!!

My house echoes....

You'd think I was moving. The whole north end of the house is e-m-p-t-y. Well, except for the freezer, fridge and a couple dining room chairs. It echoes real bad. I don't like that. Oh well...gotta have the bad before the good.

What's left of my kitchen stuff is in my closet. Works pretty good. I have big shelves in there and I have Space Bagged a ton of stuff off the shelves and now I have dishes, food items, silverware, etc in my closet.

I went to Lowe's today to look for some GE compact flourescent bulbs that Duke Energy sent coupons out for, not there, went to Home Depot, not there....no one has the damn bulbs!!! What the freaking good are the freaking coupons if the bulbs don't exist!!!!! I am gonna complain. Don't send me cool coupons knowing I can't find the stupid things. Rude...just plain Rude.

I am all installed in my room. Chair, giant footstool, big TV, HD box, red table, toaster oven, toaster and all. It is rather cozy in here. Not uncomfortable at all. I am surprized at how much stuff I got in here! I am amazed I got all the crap out of the family room and the kitchen and into this end of the house. I did discover that I will HAVE to put the fridge in the garage.....it won't fit thru any of the doors down on this end of the house. Dammit. I wanted to keep it in the house. Oh well.

Well, gotta go answer the call of the dryer. Later......

Way too much to do....

I am up. I don't wanna be up. It is 4am on my day off and I am UP. Dammit. Oh well, better get started on my list. I have to clean my room to the Nth degree, fold up the treadmill, shove everything over to that side of the room to make room for my chair/footstool, do some more Space Bag stuffing, move things into my room/closet, empty the rest of the kitchen, clean out the fridge, move as much as I can do myself of the family room stuff to somewhere...and I have to go in to work tomorrow to get the Hteam started on their maintenance. Dammit.

M&M will be here Tuesday nite to begin the total destruction of my kitchen!!!!! YEAH. I am hoping we can get it done easily. I would like to be able to get the carpets yanked and maybe some painting started next weekend. Construction starts the 19th. OMG!!! It's really gonna happen!!!

I ordered 3 rugs this morning. One for the family room, one for the front entry, and one for the dining room. They are all the same family of rugs so the colors should go fine...all different patterns. Penney's has a promotion going now and I got all for under half price!!!! Sale price + 15% more off. Not too shabby.

I really would love to go back to bed. Dammit. I thought I would go to bed early and sleep in an hour or two....but...NOoooooo....up at 2am. Dammit.

Well, I guess I better go find the vacuum and my mask and get busy. The windows are open so I suppose I should close my room so I don't distrub the neighbors.......Later

EEEWWWWWWW........

I am icky, slimey, dirty!!! Been cleaning in the garage all day...yuk. But I got the work bench apart, bottom shelves/legs seperated in half, and one half disassembled and the other slid down out of the way of the new "vestibule", tool box moved to the other end of the work bench, swept, swept and swept some more, de-spidered everything I could reach (I hates spiders...ick), all the crap on the top of the work bench sorted and organized in these little bins I bought at the United Plastics Outlet in Lima some time ago (love that place...anything plastic..they have it), tools cleaned and put in cases, paint sorted to be disposed of, cleaned up the mess the squirrels left on the bottom shelf (they had a winter store in there...a whole corn cob & a pile of walnuts), made a huge pile to go with the garbage Monday nite, and wrangled the 8ft x 1.5" thick x 2.5ft (with vise on one end) work bench top off the legs - stood it up on its end-and leaned it agains the wall at the nose of the truck...WHEW!!!!!! I am sitting here cooling off a minute so I can go take a shower.

And YES Alex....I wore my mask all day!!! I just used the puffer too, just to get ahead of the game. But now that is off the list.

I went to Amish country yesterday ... Apple Creek to be exact. Went to see the cabinetmaker and iron out any questions either of us had. He is a very nice guy...his shop is in his horse barn with the Sunday Buggy. He has 3 boys and his wife was watching 4 of their cousins, so there were 6 boys and 1 girl tearing around the yard. He built them a coverd wagon to play in (uses it to haul stuff in icky weather) and they were having a ball. Cute kids.

My cabinets were a pile of cut sticks and such on a cart in the shop. The wood is very pretty...hard maple. We changed the configuration of a couple cabinets and picked hardware. I had gone to Ervin Yoder's open house (Twin Locust Furniture) earlier in the afternoon and found the hardware there. Dark brown "Oil Rubbed" finish. Very pretty with the maple. But anyway, we had a real nice visit and talked about everything under the sun. I got to his house a little after 6pm and left about 8:55pm....and the kids were still outside playing with headband miner's lights on their heads. I talked to the horses and the boys fed them for the night. He built his house...a log home...gorgeous!!!!! His kitchen is his handywork and is really nice...hickory, natural finish, no stain.....very pretty. The gardens out front in the island of the circle drive would make Mo drool. His wife is a very talented gardener.

All in all, it was an absolutely beautiful day. Perfect weather. The Open House was fun too. Lots of beautiful furniture and homemade pie and ice cream!!! Yummmm....I had Cherry pie. There were the cutest little donkeys I have ever seen there...miniature cream colored ones...one had big light brown cow spots on it...wish I had gotten a picture. There was a mini pony too. The younger Yoder's had been leading him all over the place all morning and the little bugger was plum tuckered out....he gave up and curled up in the grass and konked out. Had a nice visit with some of the Yoder girls...they made the pies and an aunt was hand churning the ice cream....best ice cream I've had in a long time...yes, even better than House of Flavors. I did a lot of driving and looking at the farms and such. Very pretty countryside. I just grinned from ear to ear all day.

Because it was so late when I left Apple Creek, I stopped in Bellville (?) off I71 and spent the nite. Very comfortable Comfort Inn. Slept like a log. Up at 5 and on the road about 6:15 with my free english muffin with me in the car. Home about 9:30ish. Then in the garage for the rest of the day.

Well, I gotta go clean up. One of the guys from work bought the big buffet in the front hall and he is coming to get it in an hour or so. So better go if I'm gonna....Later.............

Back to the Grind...

Last day of "freedom"...hee hee. Man, I do NOT want to go to work tomorrow. So much to do both there and here and not enough time for both. But I gotta earn to spend..so...

I got the flooring ordered yesterday, kitchen sink bought, sink flanges to match the color ordered, good dishes removed, the jelly cupboard they are in moved and the dishes put back, stereo in familyroom packed up and stored, and some cleaning done. Good day.

The kitchen sink I bought is a Pegasus brand, "Espresso" color (dark brown), and is a granite composite. I hadn't seen these before. I walked into Home Depot to look at sinks again and something made me turn around to the other side of the isle....BAM....there it was...the kitchen sink of my dreams!!! I held the countertop sample I have picked out against it and nearly lost my balance...it is ssooooooooooo pretty...and the display is mounted in maple just like my cabinets will be...so the whole picture was there. Very cool. And Julie (HD kitchen designer I have been talking to) said they are just about indestructible...don't scratch and everyone that has one is raving about them. Works for me!

Now I am in search of the perfect kitchen faucet. I think I have found it, but it is brand new and won't be for sale until October. Will have to tell Julie so she can order it for me. I really like the Oil Rubbed Bronze finish that is out now. And with the warm maple wood, the dark sink, the brown toned granite-like patterned lamitnate countertops, and the dark wood floor...that is just the ticket. The faucet is a Moen: Camerist line...single handle, pull out (sprayer on the end of the faucet arm)....modern with a touch of old world...but not the tuscany type like is everywhere now. I am not sure I like the price, but this is what I could find. The dark bronze is not cheap. I have gone thru 3 "cheap" faucets in this kitchen already and don't want another cheap one.

I need to get out in the garage today. But I think I will take the truck to get an oil change first. The oil change light came on yesterday on my way home from Home Depot. So it is time. Sears is open today. I have never gone to Sears, but they are open today and so that is where I am going. I should have gone to the dealership yesterday, but didn't think about it till it was too late. Oh well.

Onward and Upward.....

All Alone Again....

Well, Alex has gone home and I am all alone again. But, boy, did we get lots done while she was here!! I sssoooooo appreciate the help, kiddo.

I got the word "Construction" starts on Oct 19. YIKES! I have the garage to clean out, family room to finish packing, carpet to rip out in the dining room, lots and lots of covering things with plastic and bags and tape to keep the drywall dust out of, flooring to order (tomorrow), radial arm saw to sell or move whichever comes first, workbench in garage to move....and Lord knows what else. eeeeekkkkk. I have 4 weekends!!!

I have to go to Apple Creek (Amish Country) to meet the cabinetmaker and look at the progress/wood/final drawings on my cabinets next Friday.

I ordered my new stove and downdraft unit today...comes the 28th. On sale, yeah.

I will be insane by the time this is all over. I'm not too far from that now. And I am up in the middle of the nite worrying about all this instead of sleeping...I need to get myself turned around to go back to work on Monday (that means alarm goes off at 0330am!).

I need to get cracking in the morning...need to get the truck in for an oil change before it quits on me all together. And it needs to move to the driveway...poor thing...has been in the garage for 9 years...it will really hate me now.

Ok...that's it....get to bed NOW! Later.....

TA-DA!!!!!

I have internet!!! Wireless internet!!! After two routers, 3 phone calls and 2 chat sessions....Alex and I finally got this thing to work. I am so pleased. I would have been lost if not for the help from Alex. They were asking for stuff I had no idea even existed. Poor kid...just about all she has done since we got here yesterday is futz with this stupid wireless setup on my new laptop. Whew....what a mess. But I am in my room with the laptop on my knees and surfing away like a mad woman...I am supposed to be sleeping...hee hee.

We discovered today that Space Bags are really fun to pack and suck the air out of. The Cube is the one we bought..3 different sizes. Man, can you cram a lot of stuff in them!! And they are a blast to vacuum the air out of. They squish down into funny shapes...they don't look anything like the nice neat cubes of blankets and pillows the box pictures. They look like something the cat hacked up....only much bigger and shiny. Gotta get some more of those.

Well, I should go to bed. Lots to do tomorrow.......

Well, the Numbers are in....

I have gotten both bids for cabinets and construction....and I am underway!!! Both were below what I was expecting and I am tickled to death. Now the hard part starts....the packing up of all this junk! I have to pack the kitchen, of course, and the dining room and the family room and the foyer antique buffet and the back bedroom, so I have somewhere to stick all the other packed up stuff. The truck will have to vacate the garage until this is all over as the appliances will move out there and the demolition junk will move out there. Oh this is gonna be a big mess!!!!

Oh well, I will love my new kitchen all the more for living thru the mess. Ellen says this is so. (She just finished getting her kitchen gutted to the studs and redone) And Alex is coming down this next week to job hunt and help me pack....bless her little red head. I sooooooo appreciate the help! I have way, way too much "stuff"........

I am typing this on my new laptop. I bought a Dell Studio 17". I like it so far, but am having trouble getting things to run on it. Am totally fed up with trying to get the wireless thing going...can't get this thing to pick up the router signal when it is sitting right next to the damn thing. I am about ready to pitch both out the window. Won't, but would like to. No games work, my free security won't work (had to buy Mcafee, which toasts my crackers real bad), can't get anything all the way uninstalled if I want to get rid of it.....aaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggghhhh!!!!! I am not a guru by any means and need the assistance of one...my neighbor is a guru and I think I will let her play with this to see if we can't get some of the programs I want to run on this. The wireless thing I need real bad when construction starts...I have to move my living space to my bedroom and I want this in there with me.

Am up in the middle of the nite again....maintenance day has grown to two shifts in the next day or so and 4 more on the weekend. This is not good...being down on the weekend...we are supposed to be a continuous line..that means 24/7...and we are fastly approaching a 5-2 line...5 days a week (if that now) and 2 days down on the weekend. Not good. So I am stewing about getting everything put together and my head won't let me sleep. So I am up and going to work in a little while. I have to get my premaintenance day presentation together this morning and it doubled to 2 shifts just before I went home yesterday afternoon. Another aaaaarrrrrrgggghhh.

Well, gotta go get dressed, fed, teeth brushed and out the door. Have fun!!

Getting not quite so scary....

I had a very long talk with a gentleman in Amish country that is giving me a bid on my kitchen cabinets. What a treat!!!! He was funny, knowledgable, had some great suggestions, and really understood what I want to see in my kitchen. I am excited to see the bid. He will call Monday evening with it. I am sooooo hoping it will be substantially less than the stock cabinets I had priced out at one of the "Evil Empire" big home improvement stores. I would love to have a handcrafted kitchen....Mo is jealous. hee hee

They (the Amish furniture makers) are having an open house mid-September...I am going!! I want to see where the stuff gets made and meet the two craftsmen I have talked to in person. And where better to spend a weekend than in Amish country!! Absolutely beautiful.

I have not heard back from the Contractor yet. I hope it isn't going to make me change the project because it is too expensive. I would love to have the kitchen I designed (with lots of help from M&M) for the last 8 years I live in this house.

I spent the day yesterday in the closet.......man o' maneschevitz, did I get ruthless!! 5 big bags of clothing to Goodwill, 3 bags of goodies for Mich, and 4 huge bags of crap to the curb. I got all 10 boxes of salt&peppers on the top shelf in my closet. Whew. I now have plenty of room for the artwork that will be stored in there during the kitchen redo. And I actually have a space for my luggage set. Imagine that. And, yes, Alex, I wore my Darth Vader mask the whole time and feel just peachy today!! See...I can learn new tricks!!

I just got back from Wally World....and I am so tickled. I bought 2 new pair of jeans...A WHOLE SIZE SMALLER!!!! AND THEY FIT!!! Charging on with the diet. Just had a huge salad for breakfast.....

Gotta go start laundry and start working on the back bedroom...more storage for the redo.

Breathing is a good thing...

I had a very bad asthma day yesterday...the worst I think yet. We had a "5S" day in the unit office Thursday. We cleaned and organized and pitched and moved crap that hadn't seen the light of day in at least 3 years. The dust was unbelievable! And me without my mask. Stupid. Oh well, I tried to get ahead of it and used the steroid puffer in the midst of the madness. I managed to head off a major attack, but was very, very uncomfortable yesterday. Am much better today. Thanks to Prednisone. Boy, am I glad my allergist gave me a prescription to have on hand. I am thinking of buying another Darth Vader mask to keep at work so I can clean and not miss another day like yesterday. When I play hooky, I want to do something fun, not sit and nap and watch stupid tv because I can't breathe well enough to go anywhere. Walking around in the house was a struggle. Nuts. Damn allergies. Don't get any....it ain't fun.

A very scary thing....

This remodeling thing. I am working on the plan to gut and remodel my kitchen. I have a contractor, a floor plan, cabinets and flooring and countertops picked out, and I am scared to death it won't fit my budget. I really need to do this if I am ever going to sell this house. I MUST get rid of this blasted pink tile floor that is half...yes HALF...my house! No one will buy this house with an 80's pink tile floor with broken tile and huge grout lines. Dirty white grout lines at that. I really need to do this for ME. I cannot stand this kitchen! Small, no cabinets, all my dishes in ONE cabinet all stacked on top of each other, one countertop that gets loaded with junk the minute I walk in the door, cheap, crappy sink with drain plumbing underneath that has to be held up with an empty coffee can or it leaks, crappy hardware, broken cabinet doors.........do ya get the idea that I don't like my kitchen anymore???? hee hee

I should hear from the contractor early next week. I am terrified I won't be able to afford it and my bubble will be popped. I kinda like my bubble. I have been blowing this bubble for about 5 years now. It's attached to me. I am attached to it. I WANT A NEW KITCHEN.

Instead of sitting here whining about what I want, I should be working on the elevation drawings for my cabinets so I can get it sent off to Mr. Yoder to see what Amish made cabinets would cost me. His quality workmanship is evident in Mo's house....he made all her tables in the livingroom and down in the "media room". Gorgeous stuff. I hope and pray he is cheaper than stock cabinets in the home centers. I would love to have his handywork in my home.

Oh well....back to reality. I gotta go clean up that miserable kitchen. I made a mess yesterday.