Kitchen Magic: Continuing Saga

Oh, my gosh!!!  What a mess.  A naked kitchen!  And we were going to have only this tiny little bit of change made so we wouldn't have to crawl around on the floor to use the base cabinet area . . .

This morning, Charles was not to be done out of his coffee and bagel.  He is not a man to let a little thing like no available kitchen stand between him and his breakfast.  Ever the clever one, he brought the electric kettle and toaster into the hall bath and set up his make-shift kitchen on the vanity there.  When I stumbled down the hallway and saw it, I couldn't stop laughing.  In fact, we both laughed until we had tears on our faces.  I took my seat at the oak table and was presently served my morning cup of tea and bagel.  To the more important point:  CHARLES had his morning cup of coffee and bagel.  As we have suffered a number of hesitations, hiccups and a major pause in the forward motion of the kitchen, his only comment was, "Those suckers better show up today!"  That was a reference to our 10:30 appointment to have the countertops installed.

Our builder, Dennis, was here, Johnny-on-the-spot, with his help, and they immediately set to ripping out the last of the trim on the old cabinet bases, full of assurances that the cabinet people would be here shortly.  A very skeptical Charles watched with a slight rise of one eyebrow.

I decided to be far, far away if there should be fireworks, so I went to the downstairs office and burrowed in to download photos from the camera.  A little ahead of schedule, I heard voices, the signal that the countertop had arrived!  From there, it was a series of bumps and groans and tramping feet overhead that let me know the progress was unimpeded.  I waited downstairs in an excess of patience while the work went on.  An hour into it, I couldn't wait any longer, and I crept upstairs (I don't even want to tell you how long THAT took!).  My first impression was to be stunned at how clean everything looked!  My kitchen had moved from cream and dark brown to white and bright, and life suddenly kicked up a notch.  In my pleased amazement I happened to glance down.  Oh, dear, but the floor, in a lovely pale beige tile, looks in need of replacing. . . God, cut out my tongue, please.  Don't let me even MENTION that to Charles!  Especially since the drawers and doors haven't arrived yet!

Earlier this morning I was feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't make the trip to Knoxville for the Freestyle Meeting today (at Carol's house, and all dressed up for Halloween!).  I think the excitement here was a gift, to help me through what might otherwise have been a really long-faced grumpy span of hours.