Beech Tree News Network

My kitchen is in my living room.  It is also in my dining room and my sunroom, as well.  We are having new cabinets installed, so it is one of those situations where essential stuff had to be relocated before nonessential stuff could be removed and tossed out.

My microwave, coffee maker, plates, glasses and flat wear are in my living room.  Flour, sugar, cornmeal and Crisco are on the dining room table.  Corning Ware, plastic containers and pans are in the sunroom.  For three days, the stove and refrigerator lived in the dining room, and the dishwasher is on the front porch.

You know how when you start one renovating job, it turns into another, then another?  Well, my family is not exempt from that series of unfortunate events.  We knew the floor near the refrigerator would have to be replaced, thanks to that ice machine debacle from last fall, when water flooded the kitchen.  

When the floor guy started removing the floor and subfloor, he ran into all sorts of issues, resulting in having to remove the entire kitchen floor.  We don’t have a basement, so we were looking at exposed floor joists and dirt.  Of course, Brother and Sister cats rejoiced at the sight of a new play area.  They jumped in and ran under the floor to other rooms on that side of the house.  Even the sound of opening cans of cat food and rapping on their food plates with a spoon couldn’t coax them out.  Their heads would pop up occasionally, just long enough to startle the floor guys, then they were gone again.  Garey had to open a ground vent on the outside of the house to insure they weren’t sealed up under the house for all eternity.

While the floor was gone, new plumbing was installed, which meant sheet rock had to be removed then reinstalled.  All the wood and sheet rock cutting left a soft coat of dust on everything in the kitchen, dining room and living room.  The workers cleaned up after themselves, but there are things Garey and I have to dispose of, like the old sink, bags of old insulation and splintered wood residing on our porch.  

We painted the kitchen ourselves, including the ceiling.  That was a workout.  I’m short, which meant I was up and down on the rungs of the ladder for much of the process.  I’m as toned as I have been in years.   The removing of familiar things from their familiar places has resulted in a loss of five pound of body weight for me, as well.  It is an exercise regimen I couldn’t have dreamed up.  My day starts thusly:  I need coffee.  Where is my cup?  Didn’t I put the coffee pods here?  Maybe, they’re in the dining room.  Not there.  Maybe, they’re in the sunroom.  No cigar.  What are they doing on the washer?  My Pop Tart pops up.  Didn’t I put the plate by the toaster?  Evidently not.  I’ll just use a paper towel.  Who moved the paper towels?  That’s just breakfast.  This regimen goes on all day long.  I’ve started taking pictures of items I use a lot, because I’m exhausted from roaming the house looking for them.

I keep reminding myself to keep my eyes on the prize.  I have a new floor.  I have fresh paint on the ceiling and the walls of the kitchen.  The window frames have been sanded and stained to match the future cabinets.  Soon, I will have new cabinets and an island with bar stools.

After all of this is completed, I will need an island.  Maybe Barbados or Jamaica.  Someplace far away from the sound of a hammer and a Sawzall.