THE Kitchen

There are a few plus sides to Michael being out of work. Give me a few minutes and I will get one.  No, truthfully, all joking aside, this has been a good time in our lives.  It is nice to see him being him.  He is able to breathe again. And, between looking for a new job, he is building our kitchen. 

Not everyone builds their own kitchen. In fact, I cannot even count on one hand the number of people I know who have. My grandfather - my Dad's Dad. There. End of list.

In my mind, Michael building our kitchen is so obvious.  It feels like a "right of passage" in this home. It feels like we are honoring the families that came before us.  And, most importantly, he knows what he is doing - and we know what we want.

Let me be clear..this is NOT something I would recommend.  I would not tell my friends this is a great idea.  I would not be shouting "go for it" to anyone. Too long, too stressful, too many decisions.  There are much easier ways to get the job done.

So here it is SO FAR!  Not done, but getting done. 

The cornerstone, I think, is our vintage Munson Slate sink (see previous post).  We saw this sink at an antique/renovation home store years ago.  We called the next day to see if we could get it and it was gone. Gone in the way you want it so bad and cannot believe you did not even have the chance to want it so bad.

The seed had been planted. Michael scoured the internet and found one in New Hampshire at a romantic antique joint "City Girl in the Country." So Michael loaded Maddie in the car and they set off to get the sink. Hours later, the sink had arrived home and we knew it would be the foundation for our space. 

Our inspiration for the space comes from a renovation magazine I have looked at so many times I can practically guess what is in their cupboards. We are building an antique red kitchen - and I am in so deep that there is no turning back.  It may not be the choice for everyone, but it makes sense in this space. Real good sense.

We have recruited "cheap labor" as my Dad calls himself.  Grape soda is all it takes to draw him in.  He used to ask me if we were going to "flip" this house.  I say, we are way past the flip stage - that is for tv shows on HGTV. I actually think my Dad likes helping as much as we like having him help.  And if he doesn't, he does a darn good job of acting like he does. 

The funny thing is at every stage it feels like it has always been like this.  When another thing gets finished there are no fireworks shooting off, no fanfare.  The upper cabinets look great flanking the sink, and the oven has already baked a mean flour-less chocolate cake. The transitions that could have felt awkward seamlessly change.  It is a lesson far beyond the kitchen.  Life moves, things change, make it seamless, don't get caught up in it, breathe.

Our antique hoosier cabinet we bought last year from an estate sale sits in the front part of the kitchen

Walk away from the CRAZY

OK, this has nothing to do with this post

but here is a sneak peek at our sink

There is a lot more built - next post

KITCHEN UPDATE!!

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It has been a long week. Between work, kids, home, and sports it has been a lot to keep straight. Then throw in a visit from a favorite MS friend, optic neuritis. It makes the challenging more challenging. It makes me have to choose. Time to choose between the events and priorities that I can't miss or I will be sad and those that I need to miss and will be sad. The choices are not easy.

It is difficult to explain optic neuritis. My eye hurts - 24/7 - when I wake up it hurts, when I go to bed it hurts, and in between it hurts.  It hurts when I move it and it hurts when I don't. The vision is off. When isolated the colors are markedly different.  It is almost like there is a grey screen over the eye and I get a blurry half glimpse of the true technicolor. But eyes are funny.  They compensate for one another. So when both are working the differences and losses are not as obvious. I think that is true of many things.  We compensate. I do more because I can. And I pray that they day does not come when I can't.

The kicker to make it better is that I have to go on a lot of steroids. Not the easiest. They make it difficult to sleep - a lot of late night tivo watching! They make it easy to cry - a good amount of teary moments. And they make it easy to get annoyed - a fine amount of cut it out you are bugging me moments! But they make it better. So I take the bad with the good.

I missed a fun, crazy reunion with my Kappa sisters this weekend. Thirteen years after graduation, these events are even more special as we not only remember the past but catch up on the present. I will have to wait until next time. I saw my son hit a double in baseball and my daughter run on the soccer field. Those things can't wait until next time.

I received a call this week from a woman whose child goes to my daughter's school.  She asked if she upset me because I was not my "usual friendly" the last time I saw her. If truth be told - I cannot actually remember who she is.  I have to be at events with hundreds of parents and kids as chair of our PSO. Believe it or not, I don't remember everyone.  99% yes. 1% no. She is in the 1% no category. She may not have made an impact in person, but her call certainly did. She was right. I am usually very friendly. I also know that I am very thankful and appreciative and very hands-on. I was taken back. About the same time as her call, the planets aligned and my steroids kicked in. Yes, she made me cry. I cried because I know I was not unfriendly to anyone - even the gal I cannot remember. Maybe she did not know all that I have been going through. Maybe she did not even care to know.

I have run her call in my head over and over. I have decided to walk away from the crazy. Her crazy reminded me that we cannot judge someone without walking in their shoes. We cannot put expectations on other people - A lesson I sometimes have to be reminded of.  And we cannot put expectations on our self.

I am not usually good at walking away. In fact, I don't remember a time that I have walked away. This time I must to be true to myself.

Snack Closet

Maybe our home has been under renovation so long that the not-so-normal is oh-so normal. Michael caught this moment when Michael and Maddie were out on the deck having a popsicle. It is not every house that staging is a place to hang out!

And speaking of moments, I have mentioned that we have had a kitchenette in part of our home while the main kitchen is under construction. Our kitchenette is a small room with our washer and dryer, refrigerator, double sink, cabinets, counters, microwave and a variety of important appliances - a foreman grill, skillet, griddle, and toaster oven.  The appliances that Amercian's can't live without.  I often think, while I am doing the dishes by hand, that this would be a luxury-size space if I had an apartment in NYC.  That is the dream - and I am sticking to it!

So Michael's friend comes over to play last week. It is a rainy day and the two boys are having a mad Mario wii tournament.  They are munching on bag snacks - the ultimate kiddy treat! His adorable friends says to me..."Can I have another bag of Doritos from the snack closet?" I burst out laughing! Seriously, a snack closet! How funny to think that this little guy will go home and say - you will not believe they have a snack closet! All this time I have been thinking this kitchenette would be a hit in NYC - and it took a 9 year old to bring me to reality - I have been feeding my family out of a closet!

Thank god the real kitchen in going to be bigger than the closet! Worth the wait.....