The Remodel's Coming Along

Last Saturday, a friend's husband took out my

old cabinets. My friend bought them for the canning kitchen she's making in her garage. When I finish with my stove, she'll buy it also. I don't know why I'm hanging on to the stove since it's disconnected and I can't cook with it any more. Well, at least it's a convenient place for all the workers to set their tools, screws, and paper work!

With the old cabinets out, I realized just how small my kitchen really was. Those old cabinet outlines just didn't look very roomy.

With the cabinets out, the contractor began taking out the existing back wall. When I asked him if I could swing the sledge hammer, he just laughed. Evidently, busting the wall out with a sledge hammer only happens on the TV remodeling programs. Wayne and his helper carefully and methodically cut out sections of the old wall.

My son Kevin was here all last week, taking a vacation. Boy, what a good thing to have him here to supervise the electrician. I am glad, though, that Kevin resisted the urge to crawl up in the attic when the electrician asked if he wanted to. By the way, the electrician is a former student . . . I'm glad I didn't fail the kid!

After the cans for recessed lighting and an abundance of outlet boxes were installed, Kevin and Corey insulated the addition. Even though insulating only took two hours, I'm afraid it was a miserable two hours for my sons. What a great vacation for Kevin! But what would I have done without him.

While work was going on inside the house, vinyl siding started going on the outside. This picture doesn't even begin to show the improvement in the way my house looks. When I came home the first day, only the Polar insulating stuff was up, and I thought that looked great! The siding is now almost completed and looks fantastic.

While Julie, Kevin, and I went camping with Corey and Audree and the kids this past weekend, the sheet rockers came. Kevin and I came home to the smell of plaster and the echo of a huge hollow room behind a sheet of Mylar plastic. A thick layer of dust still covers all my furniture, and I can't quite face cleaning yet. I managed to wipe off the couches so I could take a quick nap Sunday afternoon.

Even as I write, the guys are back, finishing plastering and texturing. Wayne says we'll be ready to paint on Friday; he'll buy the paint tomorrow. The cabinets come Monday, then we'll get the appliances. Perhaps my next update will be the final product, but no . . . I think I need to blog before that and show family and friends painting walls and ceiling and laying the floor on Saturday.