Kitchen Kapers

Okay, I haven't been keeping up with this, so there's a lot to discuss. Try to keep up, okay?

- Yes, we're doing it, gulp-inducing pricetag and all. And we're not skimping, despite the fact that skimping would bring us closer to NOT being hideously overbudget. We decided that the skimping was going to end up giving us a kitchen we're not happy with, and what's the point in spending large chunks of money to end up with a kitchen that still kinda sucks? I'll compromise on things that don't matter much to me or that are easy to upgrade later on ... like the cabinet doors. We're saving $700 by going with the Stat design instead of the Lindigo design. If we decide we don't like the Stat after all, we can buy Lindigo replacement doors for not much more than the original price difference ... and there's always the chance that we'll like the cheap ones. Either way, I'd rather bite the bullet and get the kitchen that will make me happy ... until I end up in the poorhouse, where I'll be miserable until the end of my days.

- So yes, we're getting Corian, and yes, we're having them tile the backsplash with a design that's mostly cheap tile but includes some expensive glass tiles too, and yes, we're doing (engineered) hardwood floors for the entire entry level of the house, except by the front door where it will be slate.

- Work starts January 7th, so I'll be getting progressively crankier and more manic as that day approaches. Before then we need to empty out all of the cabinets in the kitchen, move out all of the books and furniture and china from the dining room and living room, and set up a temporary kitchen down in the basement. It's sort of like camping, trying to figure out what kitchen equipment we can live without for 6-8 weeks, and what we can eat when we're likely to only have a microwave and maybe a stove sometimes. We've scored some old printer paper boxes from a friend who just moved, and Liza has been having a good time making forts out of them in our living room.

- I'm starting to make some microwaveable meals that I can freeze to have on hand for when the kitchen is out of commission entirely, which should hopefully be less than 6 weeks. I plan to be thoroughly sick of soup by the end of February. By the way, restaurant gift certificates make excellent holiday gifts for me, Jason, and Liza, should anyone need suggestions for what to get us :)

-I'm going to have a giant dumpster and a port-a-potty parked in my driveway for six weeks. THAT'S going to make me popular with the neighbors.

- I'm putting my parents to work over Christmas (so, what else is new?). Mom will be on toddler wrangling patrol, and Dad's going to be helping us paint the living room ... and the dining room ... and the hallway ... and maybe some parts of the kitchen ... This will be the first time in my life that I have purchased paint in a 5-gallon bucket. I can't wait to get the paint up, if only to get rid of the giant test swatches I painted in the living room, the dining room, and the hallway. Incomplete paint jobs make my eyes bleed - and I'm stuck looking at this for another two weeks. Bleah.

- Jason's going to be out of town three different times during the remodeling project. I hereby reserve the right to decamp to a nice hotel if things get too blech at our house while he's gone. I'm sure there's a nice place in Aruba somewhere ...