It took me days to pack up our kitchen and dining room when we started the home repairs and renovation. So I should not have been surprised that it took another four days to try to put everything back in place.
The house is like a big jigsaw puzzle... and there are still pieces missing. The microwave hood could not be installed because the venting that had been in place for the old hood came out when we removed the old cabinets.
"They'll put a new one in," my husband assured me.
No. The microwave installation I paid for when I bought the thing at Lowe's does not include venting. It is supposed to be already in place, and at the time I purchased the appliance, it was -- so I did not think about it again.
The time to have done it would have been BEFORE the new cabinets were installed, or maybe when the roof was off. My husband has been trying all kinds of options to do it now, and so far, none of them fit. So the new microwave is sitting in a corner of the dining room while the old one is taking up space on the counter and I continue to cook without a hood, which is okay as long as it's temporary but I have reason to fear that I'll be stumbling over that appliance for another six months.
On the upside: getting our big comfy chairs back in the living room was like seeing an old friend. Ditto with the dining room table, chairs and china cabinet. And I felt a real sense of accomplishment when I unloaded the last of the large cartons taking up space in the home office.
I'm not posting any pictures yet: We still need curtains (we've had big plastic sheets duct-taped to our windows since the renovation began). I've been shopping and have yet to find something I like that's affordable. My friend Mary Ellen (who is a brilliant seamstress) has offered to make them for me, and I may take her up on that... which means we're not likely to have them until after January.
I also have two large framed lithographs and a mirror that have to be put up and I'm not sure where they will go (the wall one of them was on is no longer there and there's a new wall above the fireplace). The living space is a little cramped because we had to move a chair to make room for my husband's Christmas tree we purchased Sunday night. It's still bare because we've been so busy putting stuff away that there's been no time to dig up the ornaments. Gareth tells me it's traditional to wait until Christmas Eve anyway, so I guess we'll be decorating the tree tomorrow.
Christmas shopping? Haven't done it, so there's nothing to put under the tree. I never got around to sending cards either... that's just the way this year has gone. I guess we'll take care of both those activities tomorrow. Thank goodness for e-cards.
In the meantime, my sister and her family are driving down to Los Angeles tonight so they can spend the holiday with her mother-in-law... but first, they will stop here for a holiday dinner. This will be their first glimpse of the nearly finished renovation and my only opportunity to see them before they leave for Cuba. So I will be spending my day cooking (which I enjoy) and cleaning (which I dread - but at least, the living room/kitchen are easier now).
And even though I don't sound that way, I'm actually pretty happy. We got through it and once my sister gets here, we can all relax and enjoy the holiday... and the fact that this crappy year is coming to an end.
Recent Comments