Everything Works Now

I'm a few days behind in posting this, but it's been rather busy lately. I do now have a fully functional kitchen though.

After going back and forth with Lowes on who would do the plumbing work, I finally had a friend of mine hook up the kitchen faucet and garbage disposal and all the plumbing. It didn't take him very long, and with a couple hours of work it was installed and working. I've even used the stove (to heat up a pizza, but it still counts) and the microwave (for popcorn of course). The only thing I haven't used yet is the dishwasher, only because I haven't had a chance to get any dishes dirty yet.

Now there only remains a couple of things to complete the project. I have to decide on paint colors so I can paint the walls. It looks a little goofy right now with the different colored drywall and patches, and the ceiling needs painted too.

But the end is near. I just need to figure out what color to paint and then find the time to do the painting. The second part of that may be the tougher of the two.

Two Giant Leaps

Well, the last two big parts of the kitchen remake took place over the last couple of days. On Wednesday and Thursday of last week the floor was installed, and today, the countertops were installed. Almost done.

The floor was a two-day process. The first day they laid the tile flooring and got it stuck down. They worked while I was at work, so I came home to find a floor with tile down and all the little plastic spaces in between each tile. It looked sort of funny actually. Thursday they came back and added all the grout to the tile and put the new stove and dishwasher in place and installed. It was a fairly quick process watching them work on the grout. Nothing felt better than watching the stove go into place though. The replacement for 'ol yeller was finally there and in place and in working order. Of course I refuse to use it until the whole kitchen is 100% done. Partly out of wanting it to be done first, and partly because I still have no sink, so if I did use the stove and cooked, I couldn't clean anything up.

This morning, the marble company came and installed the granite countertops. It was two guys, both fairy strong looking, and they struggled to get the two bigger pieces in there. They were pretty heavy. They got them in there and got the dishwasher secured and everything and only took them a little over an hour and a half. It was a lot quicker than I thought it would take, but the countertops are on and the sink is in.

I did hit one stumbling block though with the faucet/garbage disposal/plumbing. I know I had talked about doing that part myself to save money (or more appropriately, having someone I know do it for me), but I thought I decided to just have Lowes take care of the whole thing to make it easier. The contractors talked the whole time about how the countertop people would do that, but when those guys were here this morning they said they never do the plumbing stuff. So I called Lowes and they said it wasn't in the original contact or payment for the job. I looked at my copy of everything and they were right, there's nothing in there about kitchen plumbing installation. So I guess I may have goofed there. I'm going to look into it more because I was certain I decided to have them do it, but I guess it got left out of the work order somehow.

Anyway, what I thought was going to be a fully completed kitchen today after the countertop installation is not quite complete. I talked to a friend of mine's dad this afternoon and he said he could stop by Tuesday or Wednesday to hook up that plumbing stuff for me, which will be great. I'm sure he won't charge me the $350-$400 that Lowes would have charged.

So it's almost over. The long journey is coming to an end. I thought it would never come. And then I realized today I still have a major hurdle left, even after the plumbing gets taken care of. I have to paint the walls. Which opens up a whole lot of other problems in trying to decide which color to paint it. This could be a long drawn out issue because: 1) I'm so particular, and 2) I am the worst color coordinator in the world. Just ask my sister.

Oh, and here's an update on the eating list: Tues 7/13 - Wendys, Wed 7/14 - Macaroni Grill, Fri 7/16 - Red Lobster, Sat 7/17 - Steak 'N Shake, Mon 7/19 - Max&Ermas, Sat 7/24 - Dominos, Sun 7/25 - 54th Street Grill/Dairy Queen (dessert only), Wed 7/28 - Little Ceasers, Thud 7/29 - Longhorn Steakhouse (treated a friend to dinner on her birthday), Fri 7/30 - Steak 'N Shake, Sat 7/31 - Penn Station, Tues 8/3 - Penn Station (again), Wed 8/4 - Racanellis Pizza, Thur 8/5 - Red Robin (Yummm), Sat 8/7 - Milo's, Tues 8/10 - Red Lobster for friend's b-day, Wed 8/11 - Houlihans, Fri 8/13 - Mr. Goodcents, Sat 8/14 - Bandana's BBQ, Sun 8/15 - Pasta House.

Everything is... the Same

Nothing new to report on the kitchen progress. I'm still waiting for them to come do some more work on the whole thing. Wednesday the 11th is still the date set for coming to start work on the flooring install, which will likely be a two day process. Once that's in, the stove and dishwasher should be installed as well. Hopefully I can talk them into helping get the fridge moved back into the kitchen as well. I had to move it out myself, which was not easy. With the new floor, I'd prefer a couple people to get it moved back so it doesn't scratch the floor.

I did play with the new drawers and cabinets and one of their upgrades I got for them. It's so cool. You don't have to shut them all the way. You push either the drawers or cabinet doors to shut them, and after they get so close, they close themselves. It's so cool. you don't have to worry about them getting slammed shut or anything, they just gently glide shut.

In the meantime, I continue to sit and wait. Which includes more eating out. I've added a few more restaurants to the list too, including another duplicate. I ate at Penn Station for a second time, but this time it was paid for by someone else as payment for helping them move.

Current Restaurant Tally: Tues 7/13 - Wendys, Wed 7/14 - Macaroni Grill, Fri 7/16 - Red Lobster, Sat 7/17 - Steak 'N Shake, Mon 7/19 - Max&Ermas, Sat 7/24 - Dominos, Sun 7/25 - 54th Street Grill/Dairy Queen (dessert only), Wed 7/28 - Little Ceasers, Thud 7/29 - Longhorn Steakhouse (treated a friend to dinner on her birthday), Fri 7/30 - Steak 'N Shake, Sat 7/31 - Penn Station, Tues 8/3 - Penn Station (again), Wed 8/4 - Racanellis Pizza (for a date - woohoo!), Thur 8/5 - Red Robin (Yummm), Sat 8/7 - Milo's (2nd date - woohoo again). And since I know the plans for this week - Tues will be Red Lobster for a friends b'day, and Wed with be to be determined for a 3rd date - woohoo again.