The coughin', the coughin'....ack

I just eck..can't..ack...say..eck, ack,ugh, eh, ack, ack...a durn sentence...yack, ech, ah, without coughin' my lungs up. This is the worst coughin' sickness I've ever had. Just lately, I had thought to myself, man, I haven't had a coughing sickness since I was 10...sure nuff, here we go. Gosh, it's terrible, and I was sick the entire time I was at CES, and been working everyday, and very late, because I have so much stuff to do. I bet I'm going to infect everyone in my office. I have a virus infection and I'm highly contagious. But I can't leave work hanging - too much to do. So I just hang in there, and hack up bloody loogies, (wow that was graphic).

Anyway, I'm just tired, very tired, and i just can't get enough sleep for some reason.

Kitchen Reno Update - #1

Okie dokie - Last I mentioned was that they started on the reno. Yesterday and today, they finished the demo and cleaned up all the debris. Today they put in a new window for the kitchen, fixed the plumbing, and tested all the receptacles to make sure they all work.

1. New Window - I don't know how happy I will be with this, but it's almost sort of, we had no choice but to do this...the window is smaller than the old one, but the old one was not the original, so they messed up and got a much smaller window that the hole alotted...meaning that the outside looks messed up with a window smaller than the hole its made to go in. Well, on the inside, if we put a giant window, the original size "6ft wide" our cabinet layout would look pretty much, just messed up. We'd have this giant window, and almost no upper cabinets, because it takes up so much room. The new window is 48" wide I believe. It'll make the inside look better, but the outside will still look funny. I just can't win, so I have no choice but to have a small window.
2. Plumbing - they cut out alot of the old plumbing so that the fixtures will be set behind the wall and not sticking up through the floor. I feel like I have to compromise on this alot, because we're just so new at total renovations...like I didn't think about having extra plumbing for a laundry room sink...and I think it's too late to add it now, also, the roughing for the half bath sink/toilet...anyway, I'm sure it'll be ok. We're not living here forever.
   
3. Electrical - I'm trying my best to think of where every receptacle needs to be, but I forgot the OTR Microwave's plug today, and the undercabinet lighting switch...a novice mistake.
4. Demo - they demo'd the hell out of the kitchen. Busted walls all the way to the other side, I was upset, but mistakes do happen, I just know that Scott and I would have been much more gentle.
   

Holy crap! The kitchen just got started!

Can you tell I'm excited? I'm so sick of take out, fast food, restaurants, other peoples food, and eating on the couch!! The one grown up thing I do is I enjoy eating at a table. Unfortunately, we have not had a kitchen in almost six months so far, and it's looking like it'll be another 4 weeks before we will get a kitchen that will have stuff in it. So far, there is absolutely nothing in there.

Today was day one for the start on the kitchen, and it definitely smells like demolition.

Kitchen Timeline:
7 days - sheetrock, electrical, tile, plumbing, and lighting
3 days - cabinets & appliances
2 days - granite & fixtures

Thats the timeline for what the contractors/installers are going to do. We are going to put in the trimwork, door pulls, light fixtures, backsplash, and a few other things ourselves to help us save money on labor costs. But for the most part, the big things will be done, and we'll be able to use the kitchen once again.


Sometimes, I think to myself, maybe I should just flip houses for a living. I just love construction.

^^ view of the half-bath and pantry room w/fridge

^^ view of the kitchen into the laundry/mud room

^^ view of the kitchen w/window

^^ view of the pantry/fridge room

^^ chimney stack in the kitchen area

Pictures of the Exterior Renovations

I just realized that the exterior renovations have been completed for weeks and I didn't post any pictures. Well, these renovations were the ones we had the contractors do - new roof, new gutters, and new siding.

You can see the rest of them here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2258440&id=38403848&l=384b9bbb43

Happy New Year! 2009 came and went in a flash...

On new years eve, Scott and I stayed home, watched District 9, (well, I fell asleep after 15 minutes) then watched the ball drop, gave each other a quick kiss, then went to bed. I'm anxious to see what 2010 holds for us. It'll be quite a year - Scott finds out where he gets into residency, graduation, he starts working this summer, we get married (again) this spring/summer (wait, I didn't mention that before, guess I'll explain in another post), supposedly go on a European tour this summer, and finish renovations on the house sometime this year. Sounds like it'll be a busy year. JB should be quite a feat at the rate we're going. Just have to be patient, and diligent. Yep, I'm looking forward to it. It'll be another mile stone year for us.