These past two days or so were more centered on electrical work...Oneil installed the high hats and wired new outlets...





This is going to be the bottom of the pass thru...



...and the dog got into some spackle.

Kitchen Project Day 3

So, Friday was a day that started way too early. AJS and I enjoyed a little too much wine at Miss T's new digs to celebrate our parallel home improvements Thursday night and were awakened on Friday not only by the alarm so I could go dance with babies, but also the contractors showing up at 8:30 to start work. I certainly appreciate their punctuality so I can get back to a life without TV dinners sooner, but the mornings when you've just gotten out of the shower and see people coming into your house while you're wearing a towel is a bit awkward.

On Friday, the beautifully cut and laid tile was grouted.







Then rather than trying to strip the two layers (at least) of wallpaper and two or three layers of paint, Oneil made the call to sheetrock over it so we'd have a smooth wall texture.




The poor doggie has not taken well to all the uproar in the house. She cannot enjoy the new cabinets, floor, appliances, lighting, extra space, and general joyous-ness that a new kitchen (or even the promise of a new kitchen) provides. So she spends her days in the man-cave helping my husband make transcriptions on finale.

I believe that our awesome contractor recognized her strife and when the basement door had to come off of its hinges to allow for better grouting/sheetrocking, he allowed for her to supervise the operations.

Kitchen Project Day 2

I realize that between facebook and babydancing there may be a redundancy of information about the kitchen but the fact is it has pervaded every aspect of our lives and will do so until its done. so.....more photos.



This is the tile that was laid today. Both Oneil and his assistant were cutting tile all day on our deck using some sort of table saw and a lot of water.



When I was a kid and my parents re-did the kitchen at 19 ridgefield ave, I walked on the tile while it set. I remember getting in a lot of trouble about it...and so those of us in the family that don't know any better must be prevented from doing so. That big ass box is a dishwasher btw....



Holes were cut into the ceiling to allow for 4 high hats. After some consideration we are going to get a fan (WITHOUT lights) to put in the kitchen for when I smoke the house out on stir fry night.

Kitchen Project Day 1

The demo is done, I guess...I don't know what else can be taken out of this kitchen area. We had a little bit of trauma when the vents were discovered. That whole wall was supposed to be taken down and the doorway moved over to make room for the refrigerator. Because of these vents we can't. The decision was first to put the refrigerator against that wall which stressed me out completely. The sacrifice of a few cabinets and 24" of counter space was made to keep the fridge where it is now. So..we'll have a small wall in between the dining area and the kitchen. Any suggestions as to what to do with it?

The "before" photos. Sept 1st

Hmm...I don't know how to rotate these photos properly, but I wanted to document the disgustingness that was our kitchen for these 4 long years I've lived here. The damaged linoleum was the final depressing straw that forced us to just call Oneil and do it.

I put these on facebook too, but have decided not to bog down the rest of the world with the sordid details. Hopefully I'll get it together enough to take photos every day its done.

Tomorrow is the first of the MT trial classes...and happily, I guess, Mom's groups around baltimore have been emailing each other the info, so I've just had a pretty big response. This coming week in many ways is very important, making a good impression on these perspective families is essential to my success this year...I'm not sure I'll have such a big chance to make a first impression. This is exciting though. I'm ready to accept whatever presents itself,and after a summer off from the scene more or less I feel refreshed and recharged....here's hoping

While yesterday I was a wheeling and dealing baby-dancing businesswoman, making phone calls to guitar stores, making black bean burgers, emailing like crazy, making to do lists and crossing everything off. Today was not. There were a few slightly discouraging events that brought me down as well as a scrabble game involving shots of beer the night before that made me fuzzy and incapable...I am 30 after all and don't have the resiliance I used to.

I look forward tomorrow to resuming the Red Canoe Sing a Long, more wheeling and dealing, my favorite step class and 4tet sectional.

Sorry for my absence. I know the world is waiting with baited breath to see what exciting twists and turns my life has taken *cheesy grin*. Seriously though, the summer is almost over...I am officially 30 now, which has ceased to be a little depressing to me, even though I've had almost a whole month to come to grips with it. I was going to create a blog post to celebrate my accomplishments and all the good things about getting older, but I couldn't do it without being braggy. I'm still a little chubbier than I would like to be due to my post-wedding eating blitz. I have begun to cut back and exercise, and the plan is pursue these healthy choice in a way that fits in to my life rather than taking it over. I'll be in touch with how that goes.

One of my projects this summer was to do at least one thing a day that I am scared of. Turns out I'm scared of a lot of things that really aren't that bad. Its amazing how much these silly apprehensions hold me back from actually accomplishing anything.

Another project that is slowly shaping up is re-doing the kitchen. AJS and I dreamed of moving into a single family house in one of the idyllic baltimore suburbs after the wedding...but that isn't happening due to the stupid economy. So, I rolled up my virtual sleeves yesterday and spent too much time at lowes.com and ikea.com figuring out cabinets, dishwashers and other appliances that might fit. One of the good things about a small house in a not-so-fancy-or-hip-neighborhood is that our kitchen is small and we might not have to spend a ton of money to make it MUCH nicer. So thats what we're going to try to do. We will happily kiss the painted over metal cabinets with doors that fall off, the disgusting fridge, the malfunctiong oven, and most of all the hole in the linoleum floor a happy good bye.