Thanksgiving 2008 Recap

Wow, did we ever have a great Thanksgiving.  The girls adored playing with their grandparents, we ate a fabulous smorgasbord meal, and even banged out some more on the kitchen project.  Wanna see?

OK, to refresh your memory, this is where we last left the kitchen.

Not bad, right?  For the most part, the upper cabinets were installed.  The lower units….not so pretty.  The sink corner was still the original worn oak cabinets and we had slapped the old linoleum counter top back on leaving odd gaps and tipsy surfaces.  But it was workable.  In addition to the old cabinets, I still had that awful paint all over the walls.  Picture the sky on an overcast cold day.  Now paint that on your walls.  Because really, everyone who lives in the NW needs more reminders of dreary rain days, right?  

With a few days off, Papa and Kevin decided to tackled the next phase of the kitchen.  Install the final sink base cabinets and counter top.  This was an ordeal because it meant they had to removed my sink for a few days and I had to take everything out of the cabinets.  Chaos, chaos, chaos.

First, the sink and old disgusting cabinets were removed leaving a very large and ominous hole.

To make this space, everything had to be jammed all over the place.  This is where the chaos started.  What you see below is the dishwasher, kitchen table, displaced stuff and the kitchen sink sitting on saw horses.  Not so nice, right?  But do you see the new paint job?  Sunny yellow!  Yes!

The men worked quickly and professionally and after only a few days, order was restored.  Here, now is the first official reveal of the beautiful new counter tops.  Enjoy…

Pretty, huh?  I was debating waiting on the counters and going spendy with granite but I decided to give these butcher block tops a try.  The price difference saved us, literally, thousands and Kevin & my dad were able to install them in a day.  What a deal.  Now, when I enter my kitchen, instead of moldy and grey, I see sunny and beautiful.  I’m so so so happy. 

OK, there is still on thing missing.  Can you spot it?  The back-splash tile.  I need to find me a tile store pronto so I can put this kitchen to rest finally.  I’m thinking white with blue flowers or maybe a twining vine.  We’ll see.   But seriously people, my kitchen rocks!

Of course, while we were working in the kitchen, Tutu was off running interference with the girlies.  I don’t know what they were playing but I know they were having fun.  Can’t you tell?

Racing Day

I haven’t been here much lately.   Sorry for the lack of updates but I’ve been racing away on all my Christmas projects.  They are coming along very nicely but I’m beginning to get a tad winded.  My parents are coming down for Thanksgiving and I thought I could save a trip to the post office by stuffing their suitcases with Christmas present for them and the folks down in San Diego.  I guess that was a tad ambition because I don’t think I’m going to get it all finished in time.  I have to remind myself that it’s ok, I can still mail it, but still, I’m feeling a mite frantic to tell the truth.  Add to that the fact that my little work space is undergoing a major overhaul and things get crazy fast.  Kevin as finished Phase 1 and Phase 2 to my new craft table and it is perfect.  Unfortunately, craft supplies are still floating about in limbo as I haven’t had time to sit down and find a new home for all my stuff.  So when I want to work on something, it means shuffling piles and boxes around to find some open space.   Of course there is also my crafting curse that isn’t helping.  I have (no exaggeration here) six presents that are languishing at the 90% done stage.  Instead of finishing them off, I toss them aside and begin something else!  So that’s six more piles to work around!  Deep breath.  It’s still November, right?  Plenty of time…..plenty of time.

Wait, Seriously?

I went to the library today to check out some books and the librarian told me they were due back in December.  

What!

How is that possible?  December is, like, weeks and weeks away, right?

Right?

Oh man, I am in so much trouble…..

Poor Baby

We got hit with the first cold of the season this weekend.  Leina brought it home on Friday but mustered enough strength to manage some trick or treating.  She’s like her dad with an incredible immune system so she’s pretty much up and running again. Baby, however, isn’t doing so well. She is of a much more delicate constitution and colds really knock her for a loop.  She was up all night coughing and spitting up phlegm and is just hot and miserable today.  Thank goodness for the TV.  There is nothing harder than having one kid bouncing off the walls while the other is feverish and lethargic.  I’m sure I’m next in line for this bug but I think it’s pretty good that we made it all the way through October without a single illness.  Count your blessings, right?  So please forgive me for the delay in Halloween pics.  Right now my mind revolves around Kleenex, baby Tylenol, and momma snuggles.  The perfect trifecta for beating a nasty fall cold.

Inspired

The Bend weekend worked wonders.  I am now totally inspired to hit the sewing table and get some stuff done.  We picked up a ton of cute patterns and fabric to help with the inspiration.  The weather was out of a movie.  As we drove up the mountain pass, leaves the color of gold gently dropped to the forest floor around us.  It was sunny and nippy and glorious.  I’ve decided I need to buy a little cabin up in the mountains.  Something tiny and hidden amongst all those trees next to a babbling creek would do just fine.  Kevin thought I was kidding until he found me cruising the real estate sites for Linn County late last night.  Then he became worried.  But after a few minutes seated next to me, he was quickly on board.  All we need now is an extra couple of grand and we’re golden.  Ah well, a girl can dream, right?