I am the general

Well, let's just get right down to it. I've been talking about remodeling our kitchen for a very long time--years in fact. Just ask my girls. I'm pretty sure they didn't believe it would really happen. I'm postive Dean hoped it would never happen. And it kind of almost didn't happen. Full of new enthusiasm, resolution and determination after the first of the year I decided this was the year the kitchen remodel would happen. And if it was going to happen, by God it was going to happen right. So I hired a kitchen designer hoping to come up with that perfect plan. There were several meetings with her, discussions about what our dream kitchen was, selections of cabinets, countertops, flooring, appliances, etc., etc., until we finally sat down with her in April only to discover that the "perfect" kitchen plan was going to cost us in excess of $75,000.00. Whoa Nellie!! That put the brakes on the whole project. Fortunately there was plenty to keep us busy between Leslie giving birth to baby Pierce, visits with grandchildren, and Dean discovering the deck was pretty much rotted. Replacing the whole back deck pretty much took our minds off of not being able to remodel the kitchen and ate up our whole summer.



Oh, and our water heater broke so I already have practice washing dishes with water heated on the stove. This time I'll just be using a different sink but I'll have hot water. The deck is now completed----for this year. Dean's really excited that next year he can build new new rails and steps. NOT!

Since we were always outside working on the deck, most of the summer dinners consisted of cold sandwiches, salads, cereal, toast, etc. and cleaning the house just didn't happen. If there was time to cook or clean we were either too hot or too tired to do it. In September, after the last screw was drilled in and the water-proofing was completed the silence of the power tools and the thought of unfilled hours was more than I could take so I said, "let's remodel the kitchen!". After all, we're used to cold sandwiches for dinner, drawing pictures in the dust on the furniture is entertaining, and what would we do with all that time now that we don't have a deck to work on. Dean said, "yippee!"

Here's what the kitchen looked like before we began.

We are an army of two. We are the kitchen designers. I am the general and Dean is my private. We have a plan that does not involve vaulted ceilings, new doors, new windows and moving sinks. I plan, I worry, I coordinate, I schedule. Nobody makes lists better than I do. And there is no greater pleasure than crossing something off your list. Dean is excellent at dismantling and removing all kitchen parts and pieces. He has an amazing ability to work out the puzzle of how some of these bits and pieces need to be moved. I say, "oh, no, this has to be removed by ___ because I've arranged for ____to ____. How will we ever do that?" and he quietly goes about the business of doing it. And I get to cross it off my list. Amazing how different skills work together.

So here's where we are so far. After we picked ourselves up off the floor in May when we saw the initial kitchen remodel costs, we had a new patio door put in. We opened up the doorway between the living room and dining room by ourselves and rewired some light switches. Now it is September.

Here's how this past weekend went:

Friday Dean began the removal of the soffits. Don't believe the internet websites that tell you it's a simple project. Those soffits were built to stay for years. Okay, they did stay for 30 years but taking them out is not a question of just removing a few screws and poof, down they come.

Saturday, once the soffits were removed, we tackled the cabinets and linoleum.



We finally ended ended the day by removing the overhead lights.


Sunday, since every muscle in our bodies ached we opted to spend the day organizing the chaos of all the kitchen stuff that no longer had a home.



You may wonder what happens to all the old linoleum, cabinets, and general kitchen garbage when the owners of said garbage do not own a truck and dumpsters are booked for the next eight weeks. Once again, even though he is a lowly private, Dean puts his wits to use and manages to dispose of an amazing amount through creative measures. Get out the saw, chop it up, fill the garbage can and watch the pile shrink through weekly garbage pickups!

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I am the general