PARTY TIME!

Well, it is time to sit back, relax and catch our breath!  The past few weeks have been a frenzy of work, trying to get the house ready for Sheila's 30th birthday party.  I had my doubts, but the guys did it!  Dennis finally got the kitchen sink installed and plumbed, the dishwasher hooked up and working, and the ice maker hooked back up...about 11:00 Friday night.  I had been trying to clean as he worked, but there was a lot that I couldn't do until he was finished.  So we cleaned a little Friday night, then got up early Saturday morning to finish before Stephen's family came over for breakfast at 8:30.

Don't you love my concrete floors?!

Saturday was a full day of activity!  After breakfast, we headed to Weatherford to meet up with Sheila to have family pictures made.  It was a beautiful day (albeit quite warm and humid!) for the project!  Our photographer was super at working with the boys.  It wasn't easy to try to get both of them smiling at the camera at the same time...or to be still long enough!  I can't wait to see what he managed to get!!!  I've been wanting to have family pictures made for a long time.  The last time we had some made was when the kids were still in school.  I'm glad we waited until now, though, since we will have both of our sweet grandsons in them.

So nice to be able to run around after the photo shoot!

After the photo shoot, we let the boys play in the park for awhile.  They loved chasing after the ducks and goose!  It didn't take long, though, for us adults to be ready to get out of the heat.  We stopped for some lunch, meeting up with Heather and Cara, and then came home.  We all enjoyed playing with the boys all afternoon.  I had saved the big box that my sink came in, which the boys LOVED!  It was hilarious to watch them "hiding" inside of it!

It didn't take long until it was time to start getting ready for Sheila's party.  It was so nice to be able to work in my kitchen again.  It is still awkward, because all of my supplies are scattered around between the new pantry, storage closet and guest room.  But we got the food ready and guests began arriving around 4:30.  After most of them had arrived, we played a game of Madlibs that I had made up for the occasion.  I was the one who was taking down all of the answers (and could see what the end result was going to be).  I couldn't stop laughing!!!  I couldn't even begin to read the final story, so Jessica volunteered for the job.  It was hilarious!

Jessica had supplied some giant "30" balloons for the party.  After supper and cake, I let the boys have them to play with.  They were entertained by that for the rest of the time they were awake!  Then after they were put down to bed, the adults started playing with them!  Great find, Jessica!!!

I couldn't get the balloons to be still long enough for a decent picture!

At one point, during the evening, I looked down at the girls all huddled together on the living room floor and was flooded by feelings of nostalgia.  It felt just like when they were all in their teens and early 20's and we'd have a houseful of kids here.  Time sure has flown by quickly!  I'm so very thankful for the special relationship that these girls have maintained over the years!

Folks started drifting away around 10:00 until it was just Sheila, Cara, Heather and I left up.  Cara was passed out on the floor and Heather ended up falling asleep on the couch, while Sheila and I talked until midnight.  I love my special time with my girl!  What a wonderful way to end the day!

Everyone left after morning services yesterday (except for Sheila, who stayed until after the afternoon service).  I crashed for the rest of the evening, and Dennis and I decided to take the day off today!  Time to recuperate a little before getting back into the job of renovating.  Believe me, we will be taking it a lot slower from here on.  No more 10-12 hour days, Lord willing!!!  The whole experience can be summed up by a statement Heather made during the weekend, as we talked about what we had been doing, "You guys are CRAZY!"

Moving at a snail's pace...

Well, I underestimated the time it would take to get the kitchen ready for cabinets!  All of the new sheetrock is up and taped, but it still needs to be sanded and a second layer of mud applied.  After that dries, the texture can be applied...then painted.  So cabinets won't begin construction for another 2-3 days.  *sigh*  On a positive note...when we ordered our formica (actually it is Wilsonart), we were told it wouldn't be in until the 28th!  However, they called yesterday and said it was already in.  So I'm still hoping that counter tops will be completed (on the sink side of the kitchen) and sink installed before next weekend.  Poor Dennis has been working feverishly to get my kitchen "functional" before next Saturday, for Sheila's birthday.  Stephen's family is coming in and a few friends are coming over to celebrate with us, and I would REALLY like having a kitchen that I can use to prepare the food!  This reminds me of when we were trying to finish the den before our meeting last year.  Dennis is getting tired of having to work under these kind of deadlines!  One way or another, though, we'll make it work.  It will be interesting to see how the grandkids react to our unusual house when they get here!

The little half wall you see in the foreground is where my bar will be.

I picked up my orthotics Thursday.  I'm still in the "break-in" period.  My doctor recommends a very slow break-in process.  So far, I haven't had any real problems, so I'm wearing them up to 45 minutes at a time, a couple of times a day.  Once I can wear them for 5 hours straight, they will be ok to wear all the time.  Even as early on as the process is, I think I can tell that they will help my foot.  I seem to be able to walk with more ease in them.  I've been wearing over-the-counter inserts since I started walking again, so I think that is helping me get used to them.  I didn't do my walking this past week, except for one day.  I've been doing so much standing around on concrete that my foot has been sorer than normal, so I've wimped out!  I really need to get back to 3 times a week!

Sheila is coming over this afternoon, so we can do a CASA visit.  After supper, we plan to go watch "Finding Dora".  She is house sitting tonight, so we won't be staying over, but she'll be back tomorrow for Father's Day.  I always look forward to her visits!  We really miss her since she moved to FW, but she is great about coming back for frequent visits.

Daddy and Bobbie stopped by yesterday on their way from Spur to Saginaw.  They both seem to be doing pretty well.  Daddy has been working in his garden, and Bobbie has been cleaning and reorganizing around her house.  Her shoulder is much better, but she still has pain when she tries to crochet.

Well, once again, I hope my next post shows some progress on my cabinets!  I'm still having to learn patience...seems to be a life-long struggle for me!

No more kitchen

Well, this week has been interesting!  My kitchen is GONE!  No cabinets, no water, no stove, and most of the food moved from the frig to the one in the shop.  So cereal for breakfast and sandwiches are all that this house can offer right now.  We are REALLY getting tired of eating out!

 

 

My new pantry and storage closet are functional (although not finished).  I was able to move everything out of my cabinets and into one of them so the cabinets could be torn out.  I'm storing a few food items in the pantry.  I'll probably move all of my foodstuffs into it next week.  Dennis is planning to start rebuilding the cabinets early next week.  We plan to order the formica and backsplash tile on Monday.  My new sink is supposed to be in Thursday.  I ended up going with a granite composite sink that has a 80/20 split.  I REALLY wanted a large basin, but after hearing everyone's advice on facebook, I decided I needed to keep a second basin.  For my needs, the small one to the side should work perfectly.  For the backsplash, I had wanted to do something that looked like small Austin stone.  After looking into it and finding out it would have to be treated regularly, I took Dennis' advice and decided to go with glazed ceramic tile.  I found some beveled subway tile that I really liked the look of, so we decided to go with that.  It will be much easier to clean!

 

My new microwave/vent hood and my new kitchen light came in yesterday.  I also ordered a new kitchen step stool to reach all of those new high cabinets that Dennis will be adding.  We did have fur downs above our upper cabinets, which was a TOTAL waste of space.  Even though the upper shelves of my new cabinets will require a step stool, I can put most, if not all, of my seldom used items on them.  This kitchen is way too small to waste any space!

 

Even though the guys got a LOT accomplished over the past two days, they have been very stressful and frustrating.  After the kitchen cabinets were removed, we discovered a LOT of mold!  YUCK!  So we ended up having to remove all of the sheetrock from that wall.  Then we had trouble sealing the water lines and it was beginning to look like we'd have to spend last night without water.  Ricky saved the day.  He suggested a type of cap that doesn't require soldering and they worked perfectly.  So we were able to turn the water back on around 10:30 last night, so we could all shower before bed!  Woo-hoo!  Then today, Dennis had a little run-in with a sheet of ceiling sheetrock which ruined a whole panel...after Ricky thought he had finished taping the ceiling.  More sheetrock to replace and more mess to clean up.  (Every time a part of the ceiling comes off, out falls a lot of insulation and other things from the attic that are better left unmentioned!)  Even though we have tried to cover some things with plastic and run Dennis' (shop) air cleaner nonstop, dust settles everywhere!  I went over everything yesterday with a damp rag to try to stay ahead of it a little!  We are constantly wiping dirt and debris from the corners of our eyes!

 

Well I hope the next post will show progress on the new cabinets.  I'm looking forward to having a functioning kitchen again!

 

 



Making progress...and a big mess

Well, the pantry and storage closet in the dining room are ready to be textured.  Ricky is doing them in the evenings when he gets home, so it is taking a little time to get them done.  (Dennis isn't experienced in drywall.)  The wall between the kitchen and dining room, as well as the one between the kitchen and laundry room are gone, and the overhead beams (for support) are up.  The old pantry is gone.  I'm about to run out of places to put everything that we are having to move!  Sure will be glad to get the new pantry/storage ready to take up the slack!

ready for texturing

old pantry gone

walls gone

The tile in the entry was a LOT harder to remove than the kitchen/dining room.  It was very small tile and was GLUED down.  Ricky spent an hour breaking it up with a hammer, so Dennis could scrape it up.  Shards of tile were EVERYWHERE!!!  The glue is still stuck to the concrete and is not coming up very easily.  What a mess!

The tall kitchen cabinet is already gone, and it is time to remove the vent hood and cabinet above it...as well as the base cabinet where I store my pots and pans.  Won't be any cooking done around here for a bit (we'll be moving the range out of the kitchen while redoing these cabinets)!  The north wall of the laundry room is also ready to come down (so we can move it back a foot).  The dump is open today, so we can also get rid of debris from the past couple of days.  (It is only open 3 days a week.)  I'm hoping we'll be starting on the new cabinets by the end of the week (at least the framework).  So much to do!

It looks like the rainy season is coming to a close.  We really need things to dry up a bit around here!  The yard finally dried up enough to mow yesterday.  We really could have used a hay baler afterward!

My foot continues to "normalize".  After talking to my physical therapist Friday, we decided I was ready to move forward on my own.  So I'll be doing more walking and exercises at home, rather than continuing my therapy.  I walked a mile yesterday and did pretty well.  These hills in our neighborhood are helpful to give my foot a better workout than just walking on the track.  After walking yesterday morning, I also bought groceries at Walmart and also went on a supply run to Sutherland for the guys.  After all that, my foot was definitely complaining!  The swelling has just about quit though.  I haven't been wearing my compression brace much at all.  My main issues now are just flexibility and soreness.

Guess that's about all for now.  Hope your week goes well and you all can enjoy this beautiful sunshine!

Demolition time!

Well, things are definitely getting messy around here now!  The dining room has been demo'ed, and the guys have moved on into the kitchen.  The doors have been cut for the pantry and storage closet, and the insulation is up in them.  Now it is time to finish them out...sheetrocking and building shelves.  Then we can have a place to store all of the stuff we are having to remove from the kitchen while it is being redone.

The tile came up much easier than the guys expected, which was a huge blessing!  It never quit raining yesterday, but it slacked off enough for the guys to haul off the first load of torn up tile and sheetrock.  They almost have another truckload ready!  There is a layer of dust over pretty much everything in this part of the house now.  I'm hoping this part of the remodel advances pretty speedily.  Things are going to be very disrupted until the dining room and kitchen are completed!

I think I'm really going to be happy with the results, though.  The area is going to feel larger, and traffic will flow much better with this more open floor plan.  And my storage space will be SO much better!  We are going to be moving back a wall in the laundry room, too, which will allow the freezer to be turned for easier access.  That has always been a problem, especially when being defrosted!  (That was my middle of the night epiphany.)  I'm so glad that Ricky is able to help Dennis out with all of this.  Having two guys that know what they're doing makes things go so much more quickly!
I sure hope things are usable by time Sheila's birthday rolls around!



Taking out dining room walls

Starting on kitchen

View from kitchen