The Beauty of a Contractor

So, we started the day like this. Well, mostly like this. The beloved espresso machine was on the counter there above the dishwasher and the toaster was plugged in so we could make some breakfast. Then I cleared off the counters and revealed more open space than has been seen since we moved in, 11 years ago.

See, vast expanses of openness. Despite the 1949 Formica, the avocado green sink and the hide glue on the walls, it's almost appealing. Almost.

I left home to pick up Ben from school and take him to guitar lessons. I returned home to find the heinous sink in my driveway, and the image below. Even more open area. In fact, the boys discovered it made an excellent dance floor. The echoes helped.

Isn't it glorious in all its hideousness?

Gerdie the wonder fridge was disassembled and relocated to the dining room, along with the much used and much loved espresso machine and the toaster.

The "two days in and potentially greatest contractors ever" moved and reinstalled the fully functional but ugly (and not so clean) stove to the basement, next to the newly installed brew sink. Yes, those are the dishes waiting for Travis.

Yay! No more brewing mess in the kitchen. I think the placement of the stove next to the treadmill might be a message, but it's one I'm choosing to ignore.

Sadly, the real dishwasher sits unused (sigh) and alone in a corner of the basement. Travis sits alone on the couch.

Can't wait to see what happens while I'm gone tomorrow!

A Pair of Troublemakers

"Ry, where are your socks?" I asked, on a very chilly Sunday morning.

"They are in time out."

"Why?" I inquired.

"Because they keep kicking me on my booty."

Countertop Conundrum

Finally getting on track with the kitchen. We hired someone to help us and are pretty stoked to be moving forward. I've gotten a quote for the countertops that I really liked. They are in my budget, so I'm pretty happy. It's a big chunk of the budget, but it's a doable chunk. But, now I must make a decision. I'm rather partial to color, so I've selected two fairly bright options. Both would look lovely atop our white cabinets.

The first option is Apple Martini and it looks a little like this:

The second is the original Ocean Blue that we were so drawn to originally:

Please take a moment to post your favorite.

Happy Thanksgiving!

For the bounty of yumminess we are about to enjoy, we are thankful.

For the last Thanksgiving meal prepared in this kitchen, we are thankful.

For the family and friends that will be joining us, we are thankful.

And for the joy that these two boys bring to our lives, we are thankful.

Plague Stricken

As a special treat last week, Travis brought home some nasty germs from work. He spent a couple of days quietly harboring them, feeding them, making them grow stronger before passing them to Ben and to me. He was kind enough to not share them to Ry. As a result, there was some of this:

Then there was some of this:

Finally, some of this:

I have to pass along my heartfelt appreciation to the clever people at Netflix who came up with the whole streaming video concept. It's brilliant. And, it allowed Ben to rest while Ry (who made up for Ben's lack of energy with 137% his normal activity level) was entertained.

Guitar Lessons

Ben has been wanting to start guitar lessons for a while. We decided to wait to see how the school year was going before over-committing him to another activity. So, once he settled into the weekly homework routine and soccer started to wrap up, we enrolled him in some lessons at Ethos Music Center. After his first lesson, he came home and showed us what he'd learned.

Ry wanted to get in on the action, too. Ethos does have some drumming classes, but they don't work with the school schedule right now. Besides, if I were to take him to those (they're parent/child classes), I'm pretty sure he'd lose whatever rhythm he currently has.

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