KITCHEN CABINETS! + Drywall FINISHED! but NO CONTEST ENTRIES

Floating in Back Bedroom

East wall before cabinets


East wall new cabinets

West wall before

West wall with new cabinets

New fashion line launched by Pat's Dad, Larry

FOR THE WEEK ENDING January 28, 2007

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Multiple Choice - Check all that apply

I HAVE NOT SENT IN MY CONTEST ENTRY BECAUSE -

A. I have no idea what you're talking about because I didn't read all the way through last week's blog. It's no longer cool.

B. The deadline is February 4 and I seldom do anything early. It wouldn't be cool.

C. I'm too cool to enter a cheesy contest like this.

D. I prefer to buy my own Starbucks. Thank you very much.

E. None of the above - My reason is ___________________

2. KITCHEN CABINETS are in the house! They were installed Saturday and look great even with felt paper on the floor and only 1 coat of primer on the walls. The first 2 pictures above show the Before and Currently of the wall where the sink will be. What a great change already (and we're still not done). OSHA Babe is encouraged because I think she believes that there is a house hiding in there somewhere.

3. The taping, floating, and texturing of the newly sheetrocked walls was completed on Friday. It was a great learning experience to watch the guys do that kind of work. This probably adds fuel to some of your belief that I am weird and have lost it. Stay tuned for next week's featured article, "The Ecstasy of Watching Paint Dry."

4. Sam, the Plumber, came by and made a list of plumbing supplies. I went by the supply house and paid for them on Friday. In comparison to the labor costs, supplies are relatively inexpensive. Hopefully, Sam and his helper will begin this week and we can make some serious progress. Report upcoming.

5. Cat Report - Grey Boy is getting closer to domestication. He will get right up next to me to eat Whisker Lickins but still doesn't want to be touched. He is hard core but melting.

6. We had an interesting week of visitors. The soon-to-be new owners of the house to our east were there on Saturday "interviewing" general contractors. The young couple, Alan and Natalie, walked through our house with her parents. I walked through their house also. They have a whole bunch of work to be done to get it ready. Our neighbors to the west came through on Saturday after the cabinets were installed and had continuing words of encouragement about how much progress they have seen. They are the ones who said to expect discouraging times during the first 6 months because the work that needs to be done is not particularly visible like paint, refinished floors, landscaping.

NEXT STEPS

1. I need to get the walls primed and ready for painting. I've got 1 room down and 9 to go.

2. Plumbing work will hopefully get going this week. The major categories of effort are: 1.) Install a gas line for the stove and fireplace starter, 2.) Connect the new 1 inch supply lines under the house to the line from the street, 3.) Install the supply lines for the hot water heater and water softener, 4.) Connect the under house supply lines to the lines going into the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry area, and 5.) Check the drains for leaks. As you can tell, we've got a long way to go.

3. We must keep the kitchen moving to completion. That includes among other things choosing granite for the counter tops, installing the glass panes in the wall cabinet doors, painting the cabinets, refinishing the wood floors, replacing one wood sash in the window opening out to the back yard, and installing the appliances.