Biting the Bullet

We've made a decision. As of this evening, we are future owners of cabinets ordered through Home Depot. HD was running some really good sales (free roll-outs, free sink bases, etc.), so we took a deep breath and wrote the check for the cabinets, island and all. Now, understand that is was no easy decision. Well, it was actually an easy decision for me, but Bill had a harder time with it. Writing a check for something you can do yourself is, to say the least, unsettling. It may take Bill a while to recover from this one, but I'm pleased to announce that he didn't hyperventilate or hork in the garbage can while at Home Depot today. That's progress!

Our new kitchen will have roll out drawers, cushion close slides, fancy-schmancy hinges, a plate rack, a glass-fronted cabinet, built-in wall oven and microwave, large drawers in the island for pots and pans, and--get this--nine other drawers. Yep. You read that right. I am going from two drawers to nine! I'm almost giddy just thinking about it. The only thing the kitchen won't have is a wine rack which Bill can easily build. He's also going to make the crown molding and two decorative cabinets above the sink as well.

The mud room drywaller is coming on Monday, so we're hoping to get that finished in the next week or so. We'll use the mud room as a make-shift kitchen while we gut the kitchen, tear out the wall between the kitchen and living room, and start the kitchen over from scratch. Sledgehammers and safety goggles welcome soon!

Oh, and Elijah has only hit his brother with his cast five or six times (with four of those times warranted by Andrew's antics).

Broken bones and seasick hounds

Sigh. Just when we think we'll have all kinds of extra time now that swim season is over, we squander a day on the boat. Well, perhaps squander is too harsh of a word. We did, after all, finish the day with one broken bone and one seasick dog, and if that's not progress, I don't know what is.

We decided to take the boat out yesterday for a quick spin and to see how Beau would behave on the boat. He did great--at first, anyway. He rode along next to me, calm as could be. Little did I know that he was just calculating when he would hurl. Yep. Puppy hurl. Sorry to be so indelicate, but there really is no other way to say it. Either Beau does not yet have his sea legs or something else was effecting his digestive system, but we'll keep an eye on him.

Now, onto the broken bone. Elijah's version of the story (with our parenthetical remarks): There I was, teetering precariously atop a slippery log suspended twenty feet in the air. (The log was on the ground.) Suddenly, a huge vulture swooped down upon me, trying to pick up Beau and steal him away to feed his young. (It was a tiny sparrow perched on a nearby branch.) In a brave and desperate gesture, I leaped toward the vulture, sending it careering, wings akimbo, to make a hasty retreat to it's God-forsaken nest. (The sparrow pooped and fluttered off.) Slowly, slowly I fell toward a dangerous outcropping of jagged flint rocks jutting from the lake. (Moss, it was moss.) What was I to do? In an innate and skillful maneuver, I thrust out my muscled left thumb to break my fall and save me from certain doom--not to mention save Beau and the free world from nuclear devastation, but that's another story. (He iggied and fell down. It wasn't pretty.) Sadly, there was a price to be paid for my heroic gesture: a devastating break to my left thumb. (It was a hairline fracture which may or may not require a splint--we'll find out tomorrow when he goes to the orthopedist.) Andrew, an old pro at broken bones, ignored the entire scenario--he was too busy building a sand castle and yelling at passing boats for creating wakes which then ruined his sand castle.

We did, however, visit Home Depot once again tonight, and we're getting pretty close to a decent price on some lovely cabinets. It looks like Bill will be making a few glass-fronted cabinets and the crown molding for the kitchen and we'll order the rest of the cabinets. He'll also make the divider cabinet between the living room and kitchen. It's exciting getting so close to a decision. We'll keep you posted. . .

Decisions, Decisions

Thankfully, tomorrow is the last official day of the summer swim season. I cannot begin to tell you how relieved I will be when this season is over! More on that later. . .

We have the mudroom ready to be drywalled, and hopefully that will happen early next week. A friend of ours will be doing the drywall, but his three kids also swim on the swim team, so he's waiting for the season to be over before he does the drywall. (Have I mentioned that I'm really, really ready for the summer swim season to be over?)

Now, we have to make the big decision: Will Bill build the cabinets for the kitchen, or will we have them made? This may seem like a pretty easy decision, but it gets more complicated by the minute.

A brief history: We had Home Depot shoot us a quote for the cabinets. It was a little high, but possible. We had a custom cabinet maker give us a bid; his bid was more than twice what Home Depot's bid was, and he was going to use our own wood for the cabinet doors. He would have done a beautiful job no doubt, but yikes! Next, we had Lowe's shoot us a price, but they were slightly higher than Home Depot. Then, when visiting with Home Depot again, we discovered that the cabinets we were thinking about had a center post inside the doors. Now, if you've ever worked in my current kitchen, you know how aggravating it is to have a center post right in the middle of your shelves. If you haven't worked in my kitchen, I can assure you that it is, indeed, very aggravating! (Now, go into your own kitchen and thank it for not having center posts. Believe me, center posts are really, really bad and if you don't have them, be thankful.)

So, it was back to the drawing board at Home Depot (where the woman we're working with is quite nice and very accommodating). As you might have guessed, it's more expensive to have cabinets without the center posts. Sigh. Then, we had another grand idea: We could order all the cabinets except the island from Home Depot and have Bill build the island (to my very quirky specifications). This seemed like a perfect compromise. We could avoid the hassle of Bill spending every waking moment out in the workshop building cabinets (although perhaps he would like to spend every waking moment out in his workshop rather than bonding with the rest of the family--hmmmm), but still use some of our own wood and customize parts of the kitchen. Anyway, we're waiting for yet another quote from Home Depot to see what their bid will be without the island.

So the swim team. Good ole swim team. Allow me to ramble a bit here. Understand that both boys have participated on a swim team since they were, oh, about four or five years old. In other words, they're old pros at it. So, it's safe to assume that both boys know that they should pack, say, a swim suit for a swim meet. Oh, and goggles. Yeah, goggles. Maybe a towel should make it into the swim bag, and if they're feeling really ambitious, a few nutritious snacks and maybe something to occupy them during the meet between races. It's safe to assume, in other words, that the boys know how to pack for a swim meet since they've been doing it for seven years in Elijah's case.

Bill and I orchestrated the swim meet today with the degree of precision reserved only for space shuttle launches and presidential visits. The plan: Bill, who would be officiating for the morning session, would go to the pool with Andrew who would begin warm ups at 7:30. I would stay home with Elijah and Beau making sure that Beau was all tuckered out and ready to nap before leaving the house by 8:00. Upon arriving at the pool with Elijah, who wasn't scheduled to swim until the afternoon session, I would ensure that Andrew knew when and where his races were and then go sell Heat Sheets for an hour while Bill officiated the meet. Then, when Andrew was nearly done, I would have Elijah get Andrew to his last race so I could go home and let Beau out of his crate. I would then return to the pool with Beau to pick up Andrew (who swam only in the AM) and return home to tucker out the puppy once again before returning to the pool to see Elijah swim a few races. Then, the whole happy family would leave the pool and pick up a pizza and movie for Family Movie Night. Perfect, right?

Enter Andrew. At 7:15, when I was finally getting my shower before continuing to tucker out the puppy, the phone rang. Elijah took the message which explains why Andrew can still hear out of his left ear. (Had I answered, I would have most definitely screamed thus impairing the child's hearing.) The message: Andrew forgot. . . wait for it. . . wait for it. . . his suit! Yep. His suit. NASA, we have a problem. Now, understand that Andrew did indeed take a lot of stuff to the pool. He did not go empty-handed. He had a DS, a towel, a small blanket, pen and paper for drawing, goggles, and many other assorted necessities.

Upon getting the phone call about the missing suit I was, shall we say, miffed. OK, that's a lie. I was furious. The entire schedule for the morning was ruined. I really didn't have time to finish getting ready, get the puppy situated, and get Andrew his suit. Keep in mind that we live south of Blm and the meet was in north Nrml at ISU. What to do? After reaching Bill on his phone and recovering my speaking voice, we decided to meet halfway and hand off Andrew's suit. After the suit transfer (which was accomplished with all the finesse and precision of an Olympic relay team there in the parking lot of the local Dollar Tree), I raced back home to continue the aforementioned tuckering out (only in fast forward because now I was way behind schedule). I grabbed a cheese stick for breakfast and raced out the door once again to get to the pool to sell Heat Sheets during my designated time.

Whew! Have I mentioned that I'll be happy when swim season is over?

But wait, that's not all! After leaving the pool around 12:00 today I returned home with Andrew to once again tucker out Beau and feed Andrew lunch. The phone rang. It was Elijah. "Uh, Mom. I left all my swim stuff in the back of your car. . ." Could you hear me scream from where you live?

Wiring: Check

Well, in spite of the humidity and heat, Bill is finished crawling around in the attic, splicing wires, shaking off cobwebs, sweating, discarding dead mice, and generally have a swell time. In other words, the wiring is finished in the mud room! Yeah. Quite honestly, when I casually said, "Hey, let's put an outlet here. . . and another one here. . .Oh, and another one over there," I had no idea what was involved or what I was asking. Bill had to figure out where the exisiting wires went, which ones he could splice into, and--gosh, I really don't know what else. All I know is that Bill would occasionally appear in the kitchen, drenched in sweat, covered in dust, and say, "Tell me if this light goes out when I switch off the breaker." But hours and hours of sweat, toil, and almost no swearing have paid off. We have an outlet for the frig, one for above the counter, and another one on the opposite wall, not to mention two three-way light switches and this nifty garage door indicator that blinks a red light when you've left your garage door open and a green light when it's closed. Nice, huh? And during all this work, Bill has still found the time to spoil the cutest puppy ever, Beau.
Speaking of Beau, he's still getting us up only once a night (around 2:00 AM for a quick potty break and then right back in his crate) and then again around 4:45 AM. Potty training is going pretty well--or shall I say, human training is going pretty well. Beau has us trained to let him out every thirty to forty-five minutes (when he's awake, anyway), so we're all very proud of our progress in this area. Only a few times have we had a panicky moment when no one knew where the puppy was: "Where's Beau?! I thought YOU were watching him! Where is he?!?!" Otherwise, smooth sailing. Angus and Dooley remain extremely tolerant. Angus shows some signs of passive-aggressive behavior by occasionally stealing Beau's puppy kong and eating all the yummy paste inside. I try to turn a blind eye to this and let her get away with it, at least for a while. She is, after all, old and very, very patient with the puppy (who finds her tail incredibly entertaining). Dooley just hides in his crate or somewhere downstairs. He's always been afraid of small dogs. Little does he know that in just a few short months, Beau will be bigger than he is--unless Bill's claim that Beau is really just a six year old dog someone pawned off as a Great Dane puppy proves true. He insists that Beau's not going to get any bigger. Dream on!
Coming soon to a blog near you: drywall, flooring, and light fixtures.

And he shall be called. . .

Beauregard--that's Beau for short. Whew! With that weighty decision out of the way, we can now turn our attention to more pressing matters like insulating the mud room, playing with Beau, getting the mud room drywalled, playing with Beau, choosing a light fixture for the mud room, playing with Beau. . . you get the idea. With our new puppy, this mud room/kitchen project may take a bit longer than we had planned, but we think it's worth it.

And there was light. . .

Bill spent the past day or two alternating between playing with the puppy and wiring the mudroom. I'm proud to say that the sunroom lights are wired (and they work, too). Now this may not sound like a big deal, but Bill had to un-do one three way switch and re-wire it as a different three way switch if that makes sense. This involved much crawling around in the attic on a hot humid day. I know as much about electrical wiring as I do about neurosurgery--in other words, not much. The two things seem about equally complicated to my way of thinking. But I do know that we now have a three way light switch from the kitchen to the mudroom, another from the mudroom to the garage, and another from the garage to the--um, I don't know. I'm lost. Let's just say that the mudroom is wired, shall we? I'm pretty excited. Time to start shopping for light fixtures.
And the puppy. . . He is still the most wonderful puppy in the world. It's true. We've done an informal survey and he is indeed the best puppy ever! Still only three accidents to his name. There is something to be said for having two older dogs around the house to role model appropriate behavior for a puppy. Sadly, just a few minutes ago, the puppy decided to lie down on the air conditioning vent between the kitchen and the sunroom. Those of you who have been around our house in the summer know that this particular vent is the sacred spot of one fifteen and a half year old labrador named Angus. Yikes! Fortunately, Angus didn't see the puppy lie down on HER vent--not sure what she'll do when she does see him.
You may have noticed that I've referred to the puppy formerly known as Rufus and Ferdinand as "the puppy" in this post. Yes, we're still not completely committed to a name for TBPITW (The Best Puppy In The World). At first, Ferdinand seemed perfect for him because he was so, so mellow for a puppy, just like Ferdinand the Bull was so, so mellow in the classic children's book. Now, however, TBPITW has become a bit more puppy-like. He's wrestling. He's chewing on us. He's pouncing on a clump of crabgrass we pulled from around the patio as if it's a wild boar. So, I've given Bill an ultimatum. (No, I'm not leaving him; it's a puppy ultimatum.) I told him that the sun could not go down until we had a definitive name for TBPITW. He said, "Let's call him Mr. Puppy!" so I had to alter my ultimatum to include include the word appropriate. Now, don't get your hopes up. We have eliminated a few names from contention. TBPITW will not be named Otis, or Egor, or Tiny, or Felix. Sorry, folks. We have our limits. Names still in contention include Augustus (Gus), Rufus, Beauregard, and, yes, Ferdinand. (Bill just came in and asked what Scoobert was doing--sign. Perhaps I'll have to name him myself rather than go the democratic route.) After sundown, we'll let you know the name. The important thing is that he really is a sweet, sweet puppy. He awakens only once or twice a night (if you don't count 4:45 AM as nighttime). He's currently sleeping under the couch, and chances are he won't fit next week. He better enjoy it while he can. More later!

Or is it. . .

Ferdinand? Bill suggested the name Ferdinand and it really seems to fit. So, scratch Rufus; insert Ferdinand. When you meet him, you'll see what we mean! Indoor accidents: 1. Outdoor pottying: at least 8. How's that for a fast learner? He's the best puppy ever!

Introducing. . .

Rufus. He's definitely Rufus. Beyond adorable, he is the sweetest puppy we've ever seen. He's quite a mellow puppy and we're hoping he remains that way. In fact, the people who bred him said he is the most calm puppy they have. There's a slideshow below that shows the many sleepy moments of Rufus so far. Needless to say, both boys are completely excited about Rufus, until, that is, he chews up one of their favorite toys. Then it will be a different story. Can't wait for you all to meet him! Update: He awoke us around 2:00 AM to go out. We played for a while and then put him back in his crate. He slept until about 4:45. Not too bad for the puppy's first night--and only one accident in the house so far. Keep your fingers crossed!

Puppiness

Get ready, get set, puppies! Yes, we're getting close to the time when we get to pick up the as-yet-to-be-named puppy. (Dad A., I don't want you to be disappointed if he's not named Egor--even though you keep referring to him as Egor.) We pick him up at 7:30 tonight. I don't know who's more excited, me or the boys (excluding Bill who just spends a lot of time rolling his eyes and shaking his head). Anyway, as you can see from the pics, we have a king-sized crate which Andrew has already quality tested for us. (Too bad we didn't get the locks on the doors quickly enough!) And although the puppy was supposed to be my only gift from Bill, I received some other thoughtful gifts from Bill and the boys this morning. From looking at the photo, what do you think they're trying to tell me? I'll post photos of the pup later tonight. (I'm SO excited!)

Swim Meet Hiatus

Due to a swim meet last night, little progress was made yesterday. I did work for a while in Bill's shop organizing stuff so it's easier to find tools and such, but that's about all we have to report for now. We have our friend, Jack, coming out tonight to eyeball the mud room drywall job, so hopefully we'll have drywall in the near future. We still haven't decided whether Bill's going to make the kitchen cabinets or if we're ordering them. We'll let you know once we decide.
Oh, and both boys swam great last night! Andrew beat almost every one of his previous best times! He was like lightning in the water without the bad side effects of that natural phenomenon. And Elijah swam really well, too. He's a powerhouse in the water--all muscle.
Tomorrow, we're making a special trip to pick up the newest addition to our family--a Great Dane puppy. Yes, we are completely insane, but that keeps life interesting (and stressful, and chaotic). We'll post pics of the puppy later on Thursday night. We're currently taking suggestions for names. On the table so far are: Tiny, Rufus, Otis, Felix, Seymore, Augustus, Max, Thor, Pavlov (ha, ha), Neptune, Woodrow, Ares, and Stockwell. You are welcome to share other suggestions or vote for your favorite! (I'm leaning toward Augustus because then I could call him Gus, but we may have to wait until he's in the house for a day or two to really know his personality.) Let us know your pick for a name!

We Have a Wall

Yes, we have a wall. Considering that Bill worked all day and didn't start building the wall until after 4:00, that's pretty good progress! Meanwhile, Angus remained dejected and wondered why there must be perpetual chaos in her life, and Andrew took some time to bake his first lattice-topped blueberry pie. Not bad progress for one day. Next, we have to move the massive wood pile in the shop so that Bill can get to the other wall to put the boards on it. That sounds like a perfect job for two strapping young men, doesn't it?

New Room = New Tools

Well, one benefit of building on a new room is that Bill has a good excuse to buy new tools. Today, it was an air nail gun thingy. Now, I know that there's a more tool-ish name for this what-cha-ma-callit, but that's the best I can do right now. I know that this thing-a-ma-jig connects to an air compressor and makes hammering a lot more easy--and noisy.
We didn't get much done today: we had church and then a yummy family birthday meal in Morton, but we're ready to put up plywood along the outside of the wall studs and then insulate. Then, it's on to drywall. I can't wait!
Oh, and I think we found a color that we both like for the (sigh) Mud Room. (Sorry, I'm afraid that Mud Room is going to be the official name. I tried to use the name Pantry, but it just never stuck in my mind.) Anyway, the color is quite lovely. I'll try to post a sample of the color or give ya'll a link to a website with the color in a different posting. We're hoping the room can be drywalled within the next week or so--yeah! More photos tomorrow, hopefully.

We Have a Floor!

After a team effort involving both boys, Bill, and me (the photographer and mover of stuff that's in the way), we have a mud room--oops, I mean pantry--floor! And we didn't even start to work on it until after dinner (a mighty tasty dinner of almond parmesan tilapia with mango chutney, homegrown cucumbers, and a fruit salad--yum!). Both boys voluntarily helped out by cutting wood, applying liquid nails, and nailing in the floor boards. They were a huge help! Only once did some pseudo-profanity escape Bill's lips--he uttered "Sugar-Honey-Iced-Tea" at one point, but I don't think the boys quite knew what he was talking about. Thanks to the Gray side of the family for that handy little acronym! Oh, and Angus helped out (yes, she's STILL alive) by stealing hot pads from the lazy susan in the kitchen. There's another slide show below which shows the progress for the day.

(As I was typing this, Andrew was standing nearby and gave this account of the work tonight: "Humbly, the Great Andrew saved the day and single-handedly built the whole mud room floor with time to spare." Some imagination, that kid has!)

No Progress Today

Due to a swim meet tonight, we didn't make any progress on the Room Formerly Know As Bill's Shop (TRFKABS). We do, however, have a kind of walkway/path across the floor joists (is that the right word?), so we're not at a complete standstill. Hopefully, Bill will get some floor boards down in the next day or two and then it's on to the walls--how exciting.
Oh, and the boys did pretty well at the swim meet. The meet was inside a non-air conditioned pool, and may I just say, it was stinkin' hot--and humid. Because Bill worked as an official and I was the Head Timer, I decided to put Elijah in charge of getting Andrew to his races on time. I've had better ideas, to say the least. Andrew missed one of his races (backstroke, probably his fasted stroke), and now Andrew claims that Elijah swore at him (the D word, to be exact--gasp!). Sigh. Lesson learned: Elijah isn't quite ready to "babysit" his brother, and Andrew isn't quite ready to be "babysat" by his older brother. Does it ever end?
Hopefully we'll have some photos of progress on TRFKABS to share in the next day or two.

All Work and No Play . . .

Took the day off to take the boys to Lake Clinton. You know what they say about all work and no play. The good news is the cement footings are ready for the floor, and get this, it's level. Go figure!
Check out the slideshow at the bottom of this page to see some action shots of the boys on the tube. After one particularly big wave, Andrew made up a new rule for the tube: "No drowning the Andrew!" He's no fun.
Oh, and Bill wants to know if you think his swim trunks make his a** look big. Feedback on that will be appreciated.
Hopefully we'll have some progress on the room to show you tomorrow. Please be thinking about what color the mud room/pantry/secret annex (a la Anne Frank) should be. I love the dark blue that Mom Gray has in her laundry room, but I'm not sure I want to carry that color through to the kitchen. Do I have to coordinate the mud room/pantry/ancillary room with the kitchen or can they be different colors? Bill suggested the room be white. I said, "Nope." Then, he suggested eggshell. Sigh. He has no color imagination. Suggestions from those of you with more daring color taste would be appreciated.

Bill had to pour cement footings for the floor of the mud room/pantry. Thanks to Dad Gray for the idea to use concrete forms & cement to support the floor. Here's Andrew getting in on the cement action. He wants to use the left over concrete for who knows what--but it's bound to be bad. Don't worry--we won't let him play in the cement!

So, after just a day or two of clearing out the garage and working on the mud room/pantry, we have a clear space, the frame for the floor, and the cement footings. Not bad for a holiday weekend, huh?

I'm now taking votes as to what we should call this room addition. Your choices are:

A. The Mud Room

B. The Pantry

C. Bill's Former Shop (ha, ha. He's not happy about giving up the space, you know.)

D. Other ideas?

So, let me know what you think the room should be called. Hmmm. Now that I think about it, maybe we should give it one of those really long story-like names like they give racehorses. You know, something like, "Pennie Whined and Complained and Finally Got Her Way." It's kinda catchy, huh?

The Mud Room

Or shall we call it a pantry? We're adding on a 12 x 6 room off the kitchen where we can keep the extra refrigerator, the recyclables, and other stuff. For those of you who've seen our garage, can you believe that there's actually empty space? We've already filled ten large garbage bags, with more to come. I keep telling Bill that he's not losing shop space, but I don't think he believes me. . .yet!

The Kitchen Before

Note the missing door. The scratches on the cabinet doors are from our ridiculous bloodhound who claws at the doors until he gets them open. He raids the garbage on a regular basis--it's no fun having a smart and determined hound in the house sometimes. Oh, and don't forget to count the drawers. You'll only need two fingers! Yep, we're definitely due for a remodel. Check out the slideshow at the bottom of this page for more photos.

Here's Bill planing the cherry he saved from a pallet mill. The wood should be beautiful!

You can never have too much sawdust, we always say.