I tried Facebook once before and found it boring. I just couldn't see what others were so happy about, so I deleted my profile and decided it just wasn't for me. Then my daughter wanted me to see some pictures she had posted of my grandchildren. Of course to do this I had to sign up again.

Then it happened, long lost friends and relatives started contacting me, now I am totally hooked. It is so enjoyable hearing from everyone, then checking in on their pages to see what is going on with them. How fun!!

Family

Hooray! After 4 long years I had my family all together. The time went by so quickly, and the weather was unbearable, but Ben and I enjoyed having our children and grandchildren together at last. I had grandiose visions of all the things we would do together, but when the temperature soared to 103+ and never being able to get everyone out of bed early enough to beat the heat, we were stuck at the house. But time was spent chatting, BBQ, water gun fights, video games, movies and a wading pool for the youngest.

We haven't continued remodeling the house this summer. The economy just put everything to a halt. We only have the two bathrooms left to do. Ben made the guest bathroom look so much better, he took the doors off of the vanity and linen closet (they are the same ugly cabinet style as was in the kitchen,) and stripped and painted them a high gloss black. They look really pretty and now I don't mind them at all.

This summer was more about enjoying the fruits of last summer's labor. I love my kitchen and the new hardwood floors.

We went from this

to what you see below.

All Done!

We finished tiling the backspalsh over the 4th of July. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. Then we hung the dining room light and brought the dining room table and chairs back in. The granite looks golden due to the afternoon light. It is actually a very creamy color not golden at all. The first picture shows the color the best, but the pictures just don't do it justice. Be sure to click on the third picture and take a look at the backsplash design and the corbels. Oh, and what about those maple foors? Wow!

Even though we'll be on a tight budget for a few months, It is so worth it!




And about those floors in the living room, now complete with shiny new baseboards.

Even the dog is tired

Well, the floors are almost in.  Then we can move all our furniture back in from the garage.  We all miss our comfy chairs, and are very tired of living in the "office."  For now we are thankful for our deck outside.  We have added a covered gazebo and outdoor furniture, makes a great dining room.

The Cabinets are coming!

On May 19th and 20th the cabinets arrived they look great even without the countertops, backsplash or floors. The Granite was installed on May 22nd. The floors were prepped today and installation will hopefully start tomorrow.

Half of my appliances were delivered Saturday, the refrigerator and dishwasher will come after the floors are done. I love the new microwave and wall oven.

Looks like my "start date" will now be almost the date we will be finished. All we will have left to do is design and tile the backsplash. Ben is sure we can do this by ourselves.

New lights

Of course once the soffit was rebuilt, it was let's take out the bar, then the back cabinets, and soon we were down to a pantry and a fridge. But wow, the lighting is so much better! It feels more modern and so much brighter.

That was then.....

March 28, 2008

Here's How it all began....

March, 2008 It's a couple of weeks before my birthday, I walk in and find Ben staring at the fireplace. "This thing is so ugly, I think I can tear it out and we can slap up some nice tile. It'll be a piece of cake!" In a blink of an eye, he was back with an air hammer and began knocking out big chunks of rock and cement!

Hey great, I love doing projects with Ben, except one look and I know the thing I'll get to do is pick up and clean up. That's okay, I've been wanting to do this for at least 15 years. What sounded easy, wasn't. No surprise, whoever built our house wasn't concerned about doing a good job building the firebox, after all who would see it behind massive amounts of cement and big, fake, ugly rock?



Ben got the rock down and chipped at the brick until he got the front equal on both sides. Then we decided to splurge and put granite on it and on the ugly hearth. For my birthday gift Ben went out to the shop and built me the most awesome mantle. He finished and installed it the day before my birthday, I LOVE IT!

Just Setting This Up

I've been reading my son's blog daily since he started posting in August of 2006. I've enjoyed it, but what I learned about having a blog is that it is a very nice way to vent some "issues" of everyday life. The great thing about my son is that he does so with a great sense of humor, a flair for writing and a bit of false drama. Oh, this kid has had a lot of drama in his life, but he cloaks it well.

This blog almost didn't happen. I hate choosing identities, secret names and passwords. It makes me feel very unimaginative, as it always takes at least ten tries to find something "not taken." I got frustrated and the unladylike side of me even tried "OhScrewIt.blog"     You guessed it, it was "Taken!"