Weekly Check In

or Whenever-I-Get-Around-to-It Check In

We made sure that Leo could get to his favorite window when we were stowing things.

Last night was one of those nights that sleep eluded me for several hours. Sometimes it just happens, but I'm always careful to warn those around me that I'm going to be cranky after one of those nights. I really need regular sleep. If this happened very often, I would have to take up drinking caffeine.  

In other news, work was slated to begin on our construction yesterday, February 1. However, we got a surprise Sunday afternoon that they were coming Monday. That sped up our clearing of the work areas, and we were thankful that Wally was here to help. All was ready Monday morning when they showed up.

When we weren't packing things up, we were out shopping. The contractor is supplying most of the materials, but we are picking up a few things for the jobs we've added. Over the last few days, we have purchased two toilets, two faucets, and a vanity top. Still on our list is a garbage disposal and cabinet pulls, which by the way, are really expensive if you get better than the very cheapest ones. Or maybe it's not so bad, except we need 44 of them.

Before this project, the cats were fed in the kitchen, and it took them a little while to find their new feeding spot in the bathroom. Leo seems nonplussed by the whole operation, but Annie visits the workers regularly and yells at them. I think her message is I don't like you messing with my food because she is more food-oriented than any other cat we've had. But she is chowing down regularly in the new spot.

Here are a few pictures.

We have put stuff everywhere, much of it in the basement. We will move the old fridge and range down there and use that as our kitchen for the duration.

In addition, we have set up a mini kitchen in the living room on the main level.
This is also Ward's temporary office. You can see the back of his computers on the right.
We don't have curtains on the bow window, so he moves poster boards around to block the sun on his monitors.

This is what the kitchen looked like when I went to work yesterday. 

This is what it looked like when I came home.
Some of the cabinets are moving to the basement, and the workmen have taken some of them along with a couple of doors. As it turns out, our appliances are too old to donate to the Habitat for Humanity Restore, so they will be recycled. Everything else is in the dumpster. We tried to minimize what we threw away, but the reality of construction is that it creates waste.

This morning the fridge was disconnected from its waterline in anticipation of the move to the basement. However, the valve that was supposed to turn the water off to that line didn't work, so water to the whole house was turned off. We never used the icemaker in this fridge and don't plan to hook up water to the new one. We are happy using ice cube trays and a pitcher of water on the counter. In addition, the water part of a fridge is notorious for breaking, so we're not going to tempt fate. If we had a house full of kids, we might think differently, but we don't.

So until next time, she says, wishing she had taken a shower before the water to the house got turned off.