What a week.
No pics of the kitchen today – it’s a disaster zone as we work to get it back to normal now that the contractor has declared it “done.” It’ll be interesting to see how the new kitchen changes the dynamic of regular usage. We’re so used to the old layout, that I think the TOTAL change will be harder to adjust to than initially expected. Trying to figure out where everything will go, and how to organize the pantry, is proving harder than we thought. The good news, as I told Denis, is that everything we put away can move to another place if we end up not liking where we put it originally.
We’re still waiting on a couple things – we ordered sliding storage baskets for our pantry, which haven’t arrived yet. Until they arrive and get put in we don’t want to put away all the food in case we have to take everything out and shuffle things around because of the baskets. The right side of our sink (with the garbage disposal) sprung a leak so we’re waiting on a new gasket to come in so that we can use the right side of our sink. We still need to get some cabinet organizers – now that I’m using dish drawers for my Fiestaware dishes, I have to invest in some pegboard organizers to keep them from knocking against each other and possibly breaking when the drawer is being opened.
So while the kitchen is “done,” it’s not “done done.”
In other news, my grandmother and father arrived in town on Thursday night, and on Friday she signed the last of the paperwork and moved into her new apartment here in my neck of the woods. It’s a fabulous complex and I think she’ll really like it. On Friday I attended a brunch with her and despite being the youngest woman in the room, it was a lot of fun. The ratio of men to women was crazy -something like 1:20. Everyone that I’ve met there is very friendly and welcoming. Today I spent the day at her place helping her unpack, and was grateful when my aunt and uncle, and later my cousin and her husband, showed up to help. Without them I probably would have only gotten one room done rather than all three. But my aunt tackled the bedroom/bath, my uncle tackled the kitchen, and I took care of the living area. And voila – we were done! My cousin and her husband showed up near the end and helped us break down boxes and put away stuff that was still out and about. Tomorrow we’ll head back over there and put away the last of her things, go shopping for a few things she needs, and then hang pictures and curtains.
But tonight I plan an early bedtime because it has been exhausting and my body finally realizes that “it’s over,” and I think now that all the stress of the renovation and my grandmother’s move is past, my body just wants to pass out for a few days. Once the kitchen is put away and the housecleaner has worked her magic on the whole house, I just might take a day off from work and DO NOTHING. And I mean it – no hair appointments, no doctor appointments, no taking my car to the shop for an oil change, no trying to “get things done.” I will truly do nothing. And I will love every minute of it.