What a Weekend!

This is what the kitchen looked like on Thursday -

Everything covered in dust from sanding the walls, tools and materials all over the place, appliances everywhere but where they're supposed to be -

It took a lot of sweeping before we could even think about painting the walls while the boys worked on installing the heavy appliances -
Thursday:
-Sweeping
-Working on the Sink
-Lowe's
-Cleaning of appliances
-Faucet installation

The girls painted the walls while the boys continued to do the hard stuff -
Friday:
Painting
Installation - Oven, Range Hood, Garbage Disposal
Plumbing

Lots of different things were going on simultaneously -
Saturday -
Installation - Lights
Face plates
Finishing Touches
Cleaning
Cooking for the party

Cleaning was still going on the day of the party while we started cooking. We may still be in our work clothes and jammies but doesn't the kitchen look good? -

So the timing was a little off; we weren't quite ready to serve our guests but good conversation was had as some of our friends helped chop vegetables, fill samosas, and watch the stove to make sure nothing burnt while I juggled the different items on the menu!

John served chicken teriyaki -

And brought out the cake -

Which he decorated himself -

My favorite part of our party was telling our kitchen stories, talking about the people who gave me cards and presents, and recognizing those who helped out...and posing for pictures. :)
Later, as we were getting ready to go to sleep, John said he had one more thing for me - a ring that his father had given to his mother on their anniversary the day before John was born. He used it to propose.

I said yes.
And we posed for pictures the next day in our morning faces. :)

March Kitchen Update and other projects

A lot of people have been asking about the status of the kitchen. Well, over two months after starting this ordeal, we still don't have one. Here are some pictures of what has been done so far...

This is the kitchen after we tried sanding and making what was there somewhat decent. We gave up and started ripping this stuff out.


After getting the bar area out by ourselves, we called in the aid of my dad.




All cabinets are out, and the walls have been patched and primed.


And now we have the new cabinets.

We are still waiting for the word on when the counter tops will be installed. Then we'll still need to put up the back splash, lights, finish patching the walls, prime and paint, put up the book shelf around the living room, trim the doors and windows before we'll be able to call this all finished and move our stuff into the kitchen and family room.

You may be wondering what happened to the old kitchen: it's on the patio.


This pile of wood was sitting on our patio, slowly weighing down our already badly weathered ping pong table for about a month, until I spent the whole weekend pulling out nails and sorting.


Now our patio looks like this.


We took a break from working inside to appreciate the weather, do a little spring gardening, and repair the poor old ping pong table.

The table has been sanded, and the backsides have been painted black. I built a frame for each side for better structural support, so when I'm done, we'll be able to use the table for other things as well.

This is the stage they are at currently. I will prime and paint these pieces, and I am constructing some legs which I will attach with bolts to the frames underneath the table top. I will varnish the whole thing to make it more weather resistant.


We also put up a new mailbox. Our old one has been smashed by the fist of a drunk adolescent college kid from next door, warped by someone who doesn't know how to back up a truck, and thrown into the neighbor's yard by a drunk driver. So, we moved it, replaced it, and put plenty of reflective tape on it. Maybe, just maybe, that will be enough to protect it from the ravages of a college town.