Last May, the last day of the school year at about 3:00 p.m. when I figured we were more or less done, we started removing the doors from the kitchen cupboards to begin our kitchen facelift. It was supposed to be a short (week or two) diversion, the first little thing in a summer of construction.
Nothing ever turns out as it should, does it? It took us most of the summer to refinance, so we still haven't started the three bathrooms that we thought would be the centerpiece of the summertime. But we did get the exterior painted (I love it! even if I did have to sacrifice my shinbones) and the kitchen is so improved.
The last two weekends we've been working on installing the bargain kitchen flooring. It's so beautiful. Our kitchen table is in the piano room which is a minor temporary inconvenience, but will be so worth it. We're just about a half hour from done, but we had to stop early on Saturday because when we pulled up the old flooring in front of the back door to prepare it for the new flooring, we saw the subfloor had quite a bit of water damage. So Emma and I hopped into the Suburban and drove an hour to Home Depot while Blaine and Christian took out the back door and cut out a section of subfloor. When we got home they patched and replaced the subfloor, but all we could do was set the new door (with a window! natural light in my laundry room! oh squee, I love it) in the hole. B had to install that yesterday.
The door is the sort that has a miniblind right in the window, so I never have to dust it and it doesn't bang against the door when the kids slam it. I hope we'll finish the last remaining bit of the floor in spurts in the evenings after Blaine gets home from work this week. The kitchen still isn't done—needs trim around the base, around the windows and doors, but I love it anyway. :)
We're working with a plumber, I believe we'll begin the bathrooms in the next couple of weeks. Lots to do there, and we're doing the bulk of it ourselves—but that was going to be the case even during the summer, if we'd gotten the start we'd wanted to.
We're all beginning school next week. I imagine the swimming pool will have to come down sometime this week—nighttime temps are falling, the water is getting pretty cool, and after school starts the kids won't swim anyway. Oh, I hate to see another summer pass! I love summertime. I love the warmth, and I love the ease in my schedule. But I love teaching the kids, too; Kyrie is crazy excited to get started with kindergarten this year, and of course I need to make the most of the school year with Christian as it's the last year before he follows Emma to the Academy.
We took a trip to Priest Lake for a week, we went camping with my extended family in May, we took a number of day trips up to SLC. The McManii came and stayed with us, and I saw my high school/college friend Janae and her family. Christian was able to take over the job of tugging hoses, setting sprinklers, and keeping the lawn green. Emma and Christian were responsible for all the mowing. The kids kept their bedrooms clean (mostly) and stayed up on their housework jobs (mostly). We've had great vacations and done a lot of hard physical labor this summer. Seriously, it was one of the best. The kids were active, busy, and helpful, and so much got done. I'm happy. I do sort of wish it could continue another three months at least, but there's a sort of magic to autumn and learning and rearranging the schedule to fit in what's most important, as well.
Summer of 2009, you were a great one.
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Now playing: Muse - Uprising
via FoxyTunes
2 comments:
Wow you are busy bees. You know Sean is just up the road. . .just sayin. We can cut things and puzzle things together too. But its coming out really nicely.
AND is that a PF Changs bag? Mmmmm. You lucky girl
That kitchen is looking sweet! Such hard work. Your diving and skiing skills at the lake are also SWEET! :)
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