ok, enough of this secrecy...

When I said I on facebook that we had decided to use our money form the long weekend trip we were going to take and use it on something else that came up, I didn't realize what a disaster my life was about to become. I must tell you now because I have to let it all out. Just to let you know, I think renovations stink! It should be worth it in the long run but going through it (especially when you can't just turn it over to someone who can devote hours each day to it) is no fun. I might not be so cranky about it if I wasn't woken up until 2-3 in the morning with the sounds of air guns, drills, saws, shop vacs or whatever else they're using. But since it's hard to get good sleep, I am cranky. Adam and Barry are working hard and I'm not really having to do much at all so I shouldn't complain...they've got it worse than I do.

So, here's what happened. When I cleaned the kitchen and posted pictures of it, I knew that that would be a before picture of this project...but I didn't realize that nothing in the picture was going to be in the kitchen in less than 72 hours or I wouldn't have scrubbed the floors, back splash, or vent hood. I would have washed the dishes even though there wasn't a full load ready to be washed. I took that picture on Thursday, the first day of our vacation. The day before, or two days before (not sure), Adam found out that a certain style of cabinets, which were cheap to begin with, were on sale for 75% off. Home Depot was going to stop carrying them though they were still going to be made by the manufacturer. We knew we were going to have to redo the kitchen cabinets eventually since we had changed so much in the kitchen and we wanted it to look good for resale. Adam was out at Home Depot talking with a kitchen designer. He got a list of 15 different Home Depots in North Georgia that we were going to have to visit top pick up all the different cabinets we needed. Since the cabinets were on sale, people had been getting what they needed and only a few were left in each store. He got the few cabinets they had there at that Home Depot and came home and picked me up. We went to the Aquarium (which I need to blog about still) and afterward went to a couple of other Home Depots. Well, Adam did, I went back home. That was the night I forgot to feed the dogs.

The next day, we spent all day driving to different Home Depots. I think we made it to 10 of them that day and got the majority of the rest of them. We were out very late! I was still having sinus infection problems so not the greatest day ever but at least we got to spend a lot of time together. We passed through a town called Maysville. It was very small and had a main street with a few shops. Outside, in front of a shop, were two benches and 5 old guys were sitting on them talking. I fell in love with it instantly! That is truly one of those small Southern towns I've heard about.

The next day, Adam says that he can have the top cabinets up before our vacation is over. So he started emptying our cabinets on two tables. All the food we owned (and it turns out we have ALOT) was out for Tucker to eat. He never touched it though, even when we left the house with him still in it. We managed to get up 2 of the 13 top cabinets up before I was just too tired to continue. The next day we got up the rest of the top cabinets, except two which have to wait for some wall repairs to be done first, and Barry and Lanette came over to see and Lanette helped me get the food back in the cabinets so I could leave for work the next morning without having to worry about what Tucker was eating.

The backsplash was the first thing to go.

One cabinet down...yes, that was only one cabinet. These were custom cabinets and there were only three of them. One above the fridge, the rest of that wall was one cabinet and this wall of cabinets was one cabinet.

Nothing left on the walls.

Corner cabinets go up...you can see how high above the old cabinets they go. The corner cabinets are 1 foot above the other new ones which are about 6 inches above the old ones.

A beauitful view from the living room and of the food tables.

The impact drill that Adam was using was so loud I finally asked for ear plugs. I wore those the rest of the day and the dogs (when they were inside) were up in the bedroom trying to escape the noise.

What a hard life for the dogs.

Last cabinet (well, last one of the uppers that we can do until the wall is fixed)...Adam was taking a nap to celebrate.

I was naive in thinking that that was the end of the work for a bit. After all, Adam told me that there was more prep work that needed to be done before the base cabinets could go in. We are moving the sink and dishwasher so the pipes have to be rerun. He was going to keep the stove and sink in place as long as possible. Well, I came home from work on Thursday (his days off this week were Thur & Fri) and everything was gone, the sink had dishes in it still but it was sitting on the carpet. Even the linoleum and the boards the linoleum was still stuck to were gone. When I say everything was gone, I mean it wasn't in the kitchen. The wood pieces were out on the deck but everything else was crammed into the already full (with base cabinets) dinning room and in the living room. Only the sub floor remained...and some of it was rotted so it was going to have be replaced. I feel asleep to the sound of a saw taking out the floor boards. Or maybe that was Friday night...I can't quite remember. I do know that when I woke up this morning, after sleeping off and on through the sounds of air guns, saws and vacuums, the sub floor is almost complete. I have no idea what the next step is going to be yet.

This is what I saw when I got home...

kitchen

dining room (there's actually no room at all to stand in that room)

living room The dining table is now set up so we can eat at the couch and table at the same time...a real time saver!

Now I fel a little better after letting it all out. I am no longer alone. Seriously though...working outside all of yesterday helped a lot but getting all the mees out of the living and dining rooms will help even more. I just don't know when that will be.

This is what it looked like when I woke up this morning...progress