Monday, October 29th

We are all moved in. Lots of boxes. Lots of mess. Unable to find things. And, no kitchen. But all is well.
Only one glitch with the washer / dryer. Had to remove some shelving and MacGyver the dryer vent to get it to fit.

DirectTV had FIVE guys over here last night installing our satellite dish. I think they were trying to make contact with the international space station!

Gotta get the kids to school so I can go over to the old house and do some touch-up painting and supervise the house cleaners.

Bye for now!

MOVING DAY! Saturday, October 27th

It's 9:30 am. The movers will be here in half an hour and we are right on schedule. Kevin is doing some last minute TV disconnects, and I am loading the car and entertaining the kids. Actually, the TV is doing that, I'm just supervising. Wish us luck!

Friday, October 26th

Sorry, I can't upload any photos because my computer is almost completely packed away except for the monitor, keyboard and mouse. Anyway, the only thing I have to show are piles of boxes and Sydney in her Halloween costume.

The kitchen has been packed so I guess it's dinner out tonight, and for the next week since our kitchen will not be done in time. Surprise, surprise. Had we known that the countertop would take two weeks, we would have worked harder and later to get the cabinetry done on time.

The countertop guys will come on Thursday November 1st so we will have no counter, and therefore, no sink with garbage disposal, no cooktop - and I doubt that we can use the stove or dishwasher until it's all done. So we only really have a fridge, microwave, and a bbq. We can always wash dishes in the bathroom sink right? Yuk.

Did I say yet that moving sucks?

Wednesday and Thursday

Were a blur. I don't even remember what I did. Must have been more packing...

Kevin has given up on the kitchen until we move in. It's just too exhausting.

We move in on Saturday and then our counter top (plus sink, garbage disposal and cook top) will be installed on Thursday November 1st. Suckfest, but it could be worse I guess.

Tomorrow, final packing and our last night in the old house.

Tuesday, October 23rd

Kevin went to work. I stayed home with Syd, watched the fires burn on TV, and did some more packing. Madison went to school, then the dentist, and finally to the pediatrician for her flu shot.

I am so tired of packing. It never stops. The household goods are replicating when I turn my head. There is no end in sight....

Kitchen Remodel Day 39 - October 22

Well, I'm still sick today so I had to cancel my volunteer work in Madison's classroom which really bummed me out. My only trip to the house was to pick up the 4 lazy susans for the corner cabinets and all the Ikea rubber drawer liner rolls so I could measure and cut them from the comfort of my old house. Only down side was that my soap opera was not on today because some place called California was on fire.

I also spent a lot of time on the phone calling various companies to give out our new address and doing some more packing.

When I arrived at the house I found Martin there bright and early and apparently he was there all day as he reported at dinner time that he had completed all of the in-cabinet AND under cabinet lighting! So all he has left to do is the large main panel at the back of the house which is scheduled for tomorrow.

Kevin headed over there after dinner to work on some more spacers between the cabinets. Not much we can do until the counter top comes except keep working on installing the doohickies inside the various cupboards which Kevin doesn't seem very keen on doing and is totally beyond my brain power at this time.

That's all I have to say at this time...

Kitchen Remodel Day 38 - October 21

So we got more done today than on previous days. I doped up on cold medicine and just pushed myself - I'll be paying for that tomorrow!

We replaced the knobs on the hallway cupboards, and installed all the handles on the kitchen cabinetry (looks really sharp). Kevin, with the help of Martin, MacGyvered the hood. We will have to live with a channel of screws on one side, but after all the shit we've been through, I think I can handle that.

I cut and inserted all the rubbery shelf liner stuff in the bottoms of the drawers but am still working on the curvy pieces for the four lazy susans (pain in the ASS!).

Martin installed the living room lights, which look exactly like the kitchen ones but in white instead of silver. NIce.




Kevin cut the oven panel which proved to be very difficult, and then used the spare oven panel to make the spacers as the product they provided us with looked like shit. It's a little wonky, but we don't know how else to do it and Ikea just dropped the ball so we will have to live with it I guess.



The ice cream truck came by, and Sydney enjoyed her Spiderman popsicle. And the new neighbours "Boo"'d us. I have never been Boo'd before, and I'd like to be Boo'd again. The neighbours anonymously left a sweet little pail full of Halloween treats and toys for the girls with a little poem that explains that you should then Boo someone else. Kind of like tag, or what is that concept called? Chain mail? But much better.



One more week 'till we move in, and the countertop/sink/garbage disposal/stove may not be in place by the time we do....

Saturday, October 20th

I'm still sick. Syd is a bit sick too, and now Kevin and Maddie are showing some early signs.

Kevin went to the Sony sale, and luckily for me, the line ups were too long so he bailed on the giant tv. And he had to be home in time to take Maddie to a skating birthday party, which I could not possibly attend because: a. I can't help Maddie skate since I can barely do it myself, b. my cold, c. what would I do with Sydney?

We popped out to a few stores and then out to dinner and I felt guilty for not doing any work on the house today. I did pack up the garage workbench and Maddie's computer, so I guess that's something.

Day 36 / October 19

I just posted some photos from September on the Kodak Gallery website: www.kodakgallery.com for anyone who wants some updates.

Will not have much to blog on the house today as Kevin is back at work, and I am sick and mostly on the couch.

Day 35 / October 18, 2007

Notice I didn't title it "Kitchen Remodel" this time? Well that is because the progress on that aspect is so SLOW! Kevin was suddenly and officially called back into work so now there is no time to complete the project except for a few evening hours and the weekends of course.

It's 9:30 pm and Kevin is over there working on I don't know what and trying to get his head around the hood. The cover won't fit now that we MacGyver-ed it to make it higher, but if he lowers it, he will then have to cut another hole, patch the old one, and move it towards the dining area, and will still likely bang his head on it repeatedly.

The Ikea cabinetry is nice, but the one area where they dropped the ball seems to be the spacers. They give you just a plain piece of wood (with a finish that matches the cabinets) and you are expected to cut them yourself and find your own way of attaching them. One other issue is that the grain on those pieces does not match so it looks like ASS!

Anyway, I spent the day doing things with Sydney and took another load over to the house. The ceiling lights look sexy, so that's one good thing so far. And the kids seem to like their room and have already broken into the boxes to retrieve their toys and "break the room in". Ugh.

Me go sleepies now....

Kitchen Remodel Day 34

Today Kevin went over to the house bright and early to wait for the counter top guy to come out and measure. All went well, however we realized that it will now take two weeks for the countertop to come, and we move in in one and a half weeks! Shit.

Our friend Tiffany told us to tell the guy that I am expecting a baby any day now to guilt him into putting a rush on it!

I spent the day running errands and buying new knobs for all those hallway cupboards. Mama likes to shop!

No pics today, but how about some from yesterday that I couldn't upload before...

Kitchen Remodel /Moving Day 33

Today was more of the same. Fiddling with cabinetry, more electrical and a short visit from the plumber to assess what needs to be done and what caused the two leaks from the fridge. Tomorrow the countertop guys come out to take measurements.

I spent the day packing and Sydney helped...

Kitchen Remodel - Day 32

Today Martin showed up at 8:00 am to do some more electrical work, but we didn't leave a key for him so he broke in! I guess either the patio door was left unlocked, or he is also a keen cat burglar. He worked straight through until 4:00 and tells us that tomorrow we should be able to install some actual lights!

Kevin did some more cabinet work. It is turning out to be a very slow and tedious process.

I just ran errands today to catch up on what I couldn't do when I was tied up with the painting.

Tomorrow, more packing I suppose.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 31

Not much to see today.

I didn't go to the house until the end of the day and that was just to retrieve some things that I prematurely brought over there. I spent the day organizing the girls' clothing drawers and packing my own closet. Packing is even more tiring than painting was!
As much as Grandma Scott amazingly did in her few days here, there is still a TON of stuff in the old house. I hate moving!

Kevin spent the whole day at the house, but felt that he had nothing to show for it as it was all unglamorous things like cutting holes for electrical, leveling, bolting, etc. But he did find a flood in the kitchen when he first arrived there. I guess he hadn't tightened the refrigerator water line enough. The tile is not supposed to get very wet and it had a puddle on it possibly all night but he says the tile seems fine. At least it wasn't the roof from the heavy rain all night...

We just spent over an hour decorating a paper doll up like a mummy for Madison's school Halloween project. I ripped the white sheet up and tried to stain it with tea, but it just ended up looking beige, so Kevin had the great idea of blotting the white strips with the wet tea bag. Genius! So since there are no house pics, enjoy this one...



And in case you are thinking, "Isn't the kid supposed to do the project by herself?" ... the instructions said that it was a project for the WHOLE family. She was the one who decided what to make him, drew the face, helped rip the cloth, and helped blot the tea bags. We couldn't let her do the wrapping as it involved the hot glue gun.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 30

Thirty days! Damn. That's about a month right?

So it's beginning to look a lot like a kitchen now. Today, more cabinet assembly/leveling/fiddling, and more flooring.





We solicited our pal Alex to help with some heavy lifting and got the appliances in place, and ended up MacGyvering the hood so that it woud be higher and Kevin would stop smashing into the glass corners with his head!





Madison decided to make a super cute and sweet Welcome Home sign for the front door. Actually, it was intended for the old house she told me, but I convinced her that it made more sense at the new one.





More good news, Kevin's "artist-in-wait" mode was extended for another week so our work can continue a bit longer. Someone up there is sure looking out for us! It's been a ton of work, but has all gone pretty smoothly considering the scope of the project and the expertise of the people carrying it out!

It looks good, but there is still a LOT of work to do. A bit more flooring to cut, level all the cabinetry, bolt the cabinets together, get all the doors on, shelves in and a TON of drawer/slidy hardware thingys. Then there is electricity still to come, ceiling lights, cabinet lights inside, under cabinet lighting, countertop and sink installation, backsplash, and baseboards, making a support for the computer desk, etc. Then my job of convincing Kevin of all the cool Pottery Barn stuff we now need. I have hung dream photos all around the house of how I wish I could afford it to be....some day...

And Anna, we have NO intention of replacing any of the shitty baseboards like we did with our house in Novato. We are just putting some in the kitchen since the old ones were removed in the demo process. We are not THAT crazy!

Kitchen Remodel - Day 29

No photos today as not much changed.

The morning began dark and early as I drove the Scotts to the airport for their flight to Mexico. As soon as I got back home, I already felt lonely! (sniff, sniff)

Sydney and I went to Ikea to make a return and an exchange. The exchange Kevin made the other day turned out to be the right cabinet, but the wrong colour. I still think some chump from Ikea should have driven it over to our house considering it was their mistake. Pisses me off to have to go there so many times...

I did some touch up painting in the kitchen with my teeny tiny brush again, painted some door trim in the den/playroom and then organized a bunch of the Ikea junk in the living room, bringing various panels into the kitchen for installation.

The living room is still full of all the interior cabinet hardware which looks like an ominous job to me. Kevin seems unphased by it but it scares the hell out of me. He only has two more days of freedom before he has to go back to work full time.

At least the painting is almost done now. Just some living room touch ups to the ceiling and trim, then I can put all that stuff away until it's time for the kitchen baseboards. Ugh.

I can't believe I put 9 bloody coats on that damn den, plus sanded the room twice! I could have been finished last week if it weren't for the evil green room. The previous occupants told us that their mother's favorite colour was green. I suspect that she must have died in that very room, and this is her ghostly way of trying to get us out of her house!

I don't even know if she died in the house or not as they only tell you about the past two years, but there has to be some supernatural explanation for that weird colour phenomenon...

Kitchen Remodel - Day 28

Okay Reynolds, you bugger! I happened to have some visitors in my guest / computer room last night, so I was unable to complete my daily blog, and frankly, too damn tired and achy!

Let's see. Grandma Scott and I and Sydney went to Lowe's, Home Depot and then Vons to get lunch. We didn't have much luck finding lighting or cabinet hardware, but we picked up some supplies for the men folk and delivered lunch to them at the new house. Grandma was double charged for her hooch, but didn't find out until later and boy was she pissed when they wouldn't give her a refund at another location (closer to our old house). They wouldn't even make an exception considering that she was leaving the country the next morning. I've never seen her that mad.

Grandma made us a FANTASTIC pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, yams, corn, gravy yum yum yum dinner, took care of the girls, and still managed to do our laundry and more packing! That woman is crazy, but we love her anyway.

The boys worked on installing the hood over the cooktop area, though it turns out to be quite low and someone is going to take an eye out on that thing for sure!



They also began installing the floor but didn't quite finish it off before night fall. Lookin' good boys...

Kitchen Remodel - Day 27

So, another slow day at 20034 Grevillea Ave. Mama Scott and I packed in the morning, and I did a run to Uhaul for more boxes. Kevin started to cut the carpet that curved awkwardly in the kitchen to reveal a mess underneath. He ended up having to go to the hardware store for more plywood. I guess it won't really take one day to lay down that snazzy new floor now will it?



I painted the final coat on the office - same as the bedroom - a color that looks like tea with milk and caramel in it. I also put a final coat on the yellow kitchen. And finally today, I officially gave up on the colour green. The third paint job looked like a breath mint and it too had to go. So the den/kids play room is now beige like the living room and hallways. And I know, when I find the time, that ugly ceiling fan has to go too!



It makes sense anyway since it is not technically a "room" but more of a glorified hallway, so at least we are now consistent.

Grandpa Scott arrives tonight and then both folks leave on Friday morning for Mexico. We've been working Mama pretty hard, so they will get a much needed and much deserved break.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 26

Today Mama Scott and I did some packing. We headed over to the house around Syd's nap time so that we could get some work done while she slept. Mama cleaned the two bathrooms, I went to the paint store yet again, and picked Maddie up from school, and Kevin worked on more cabinetry. Tomorrow he has to go back to Ikea to return some things and get new things.

When Syd awoke, she did some light dusting.



I painted that damn green room again and I STILL HATE IT! Aaaarrrggghhh! Never paint a room green. Never do it my friends. It will only cause you pain and sorrow. The office will not be gray afterall, but a tea with milk color like the master.

I have one more coat to do on three rooms, plus some minor touch ups and trim and the wretched painting will be done! Then, more packing as the truck is now scheduled for October 27th and Kevin goes back to work full time next week.

And to expand on my conversation with Dominique (demo pal) who popped in today, we always use Benjamin Moore paint as it just goes further. It took one gallon plus one quart to paint the master, yet two gallons of the Lowe's Valspar to do the girls room. Plus the dick heads at Lowe's don't know what they are doing, whereas you have to buy Benjamin Moore at paint stores where they help you with all your painting questions. It costs a bit more but it is SOOOO worth it!

Kitchen Remodel - Day 25

No pics today. Got some paint touch-ups done and Kevin put together the last cabinet and installed some more. One big snafu - he installed the two bottom corner cabinets only to find that the cabinet that is to go in between them will not fit. Somewhere we lost one inch! Shit.

Meanwhile, back on Van Horne Lane, Super Grandma packed a ton of boxes, did our laundry AND cooked us an awesome dinner! I could get used to this....

Kitchen Remodel - Day 24

Today I woke up at 7, grabbed some cereal and headed over to the house while Kevin was on kid duty. I painted the kitchen a nice creamier yellow and Kev and the kids went to Ikea to get a new cabinet.



Syd loves to stir the paint.



Maddie helped daddy build the cabinets.



The first cabinet gets hung!!



Yes, I am so anal that I am using a tiny art brush to touch up areas of the ceiling and trim where the paint bled under the masking tape. Sad.



At the end of the day, more cabinets are up, and there is only one more left to build!

Mama Scott arrived safely so let the fun begin...

Kitchen Remodel - Day 23

Today we got off to a late start. We slept in, and then went to our friends house to visit with the new baby. They kept Madison for a few hours while we went back to the house. Sydney napped while I painted the last coat in the master bedroom, so that room is officially done. Then I rolled one coat of white primer on the yucky green den/playroom. So now we still have to find a new colour for that room.



The office colour is still up for debate and the kitchen needs to be at least partially painted asap so Kevin can begin hanging the kitchen cabinets. He started to hang one today when I reminded him that the paint has to go on first. Guess that is tomorrow's job.



Took some pics, but no time to upload them right now as the babysitters should be here any minute so we can enjoy a night on the town. Can't wait!!!



If I can finish the painting this week, then I'll still have almost two weeks to pack which I hope will be enough time - but then I suppose I don't really have a choice do I ?

My dad had a double knee replacement this week and is recovering nicely in the hospital. I wonder if they will serve Thanksgiving dinner there? I'm sure mom will sneak in some pie...

Sydney Scott Pretends to Read

This is what Sydney does every night. Madison and I sit together in the chair and take turns reading, but Sydney will have none of that. She takes a pile of books to her own big girl bed and pretends to read them one by one.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 22

Same old stuff today. Went to the paint store for the umpteenth time.



I painted our bedroom with one coat, and started to re-prime that damn green room. You can see that I have to use a brush for every groove of that frigging paneling. I think it may end up beige as it just seems to keep fighting the green. This room has had so many coats of paint, that it's literally starting to slide off of the walls! If you don't believe me, just look at the photo!



The cabinetry is slowly filling up the living room. The kitchen has fully primed walls and nice white ceilings now. I made Kevin paint the ceiling as my back just won't have that. I figured out that the average room is taking me about 5.5 hours to paint, but when you paint one room three times, and prime it twice, the math is all shot to hell.

Scotts, please come sooooonnnnn!





And one final note, this is what my fingers look like daily. The masking tape rips my nails off and they ache as I type because they are so short. And I can only get the paint off with hot soapy water and a scrub brush, which doesn't help the fingernail situation. Yuck.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 21

The internet was down last night, as was I...

I can't even remember what I did or accomplished yesterday. I do however remember that I suggested that Kevin take the kids home for bath and bed time while I stay alone at the house to work. Bad Idea.

I don't generally believe in ghosts, but there is a small part of me that does and being alone, in a strange house (it doesn't feel like ours yet), with strange sounds, working in a room where I know that a man recently died, FREAKED ME OUT! I was constantly angling my body so that I wouldn't have to have my back to the door in case the spirit floated by!

What an idiot I am, but I have never liked being home alone in any house at night, ever!

Anyway, I managed to mask 2.5 rooms before I ran out of there like a bat out of hell!

I do also remember that both Kevin and I decided that we had officially run out of steam. A friend suggested that we take a one day break from any work, which is a really good idea - only I would die of guilt and anxiety.

Then Kev suggested a job switch - I assemble the cabinetry while he paints. Another great idea, if only I had half a brain left! No amount of instruction will ever make me capable of a task like that. Pathetic....

The photos show Kevin painting the kitchen ceiling, and the nasty green paint, with other greens on top - which all suck. Those top two are from Lowe's. We pick out a swatch, bring it to the guy and ask for a sample can. He gives us some muck that does not even come close to matching and tells us that the colors were not in the computer so he had to color match them. He claims that he did it via the computer, but it looks more like it was eyeballed by someone who is color blind! And of course, it took him about an hour.

So then we had to go to the paint store and buy Benjamin Moore versions of the two of them, and the smallest you can buy is a quart. The pile of full cans that we never intend to use are piling up in the garage and the money continues to flow...

Kitchen Remodel - Day 20

No photos today. Nothing much to see. I did a second coat of white primer on the kitchen and did the edges of the ceiling but I absolutely refuse to paint the ceiling and have told Kevin he must do it. My back cannot handle that kind of thing right now.

Kevin did a bit more cabinet assembly and we both agreed that the green den/play room and the kitchen colors must change. So we went back to the damn hardware store, but this time bought some wee little tester cans of several colors and will try a few more out before we paint the whole rooms again. Stupid people. But we didn't know they even had those little sampler cans and no one at Lowes would ever thing to mention it as the customer service BLOWS chunks!

Anyway, here is a photo of my friend Tiffany with her new baby that I visited at the hospital today...

Kitchen Remodel - Day 19

Today I did the final coat of green on the play room. It's way too "apple" and way too dark, but I'll be damned if I'm going to go try and pick out the right colour for the third time, and paint that stupid room for the third time.



I also primed the kitchen walls that will house cabinetry. Probably needs one more coat.



Then, I primed the rest of the kitchen/eating area in a tinted gold colour. Again, too bold and too dark but I can't bear to pay more money for more wasted paint. It's not bad, kind of mustardy. Just bolder than I imagined it in my head.



Kevin started to assemble the IKEA cabinetry and realized that he miscalculated on the top cabinets so now we have some reconfiguing to do and I guess a trip back to that nice yet evil store.



Tomorrow, I have no idea...

Kate's Sad Day (also known as Day 19)

I should have known it would be a bad day when I stepped outside and found cat vomit mixed with undigested chunks of food in my driveway.

Today I finally had my first emotional breakdown. I spent the morning running errands with Sydney, which is becoming increasingly difficult as she becomes increasingly like a typical two year old. (I never went through this with Madison.)

I dealt with so many slow, mean people and felt overwhelmed by all the tasks before me, and realized that I cannot keep up this pace much longer. On a typical day, I wake up at 4, 5, and 6 am with back pain. I finally cave in and get up at 6. I race to the shower before the kids hear me. I wake the kids up, wrestle with them to get sun screen and clothing on. Plop them in front of breakfast, assemble the lunches made the night before, prep whatever food and snacks Kevin, me and the kids might possibly need that given day because there is no food at the new house. I head off to the chiropractor (which doesn't seem to be helping the back problem), then speed over to the house to start painting. Often some miscellaneous errand side tracks me, and I end up frustrated that I can't get started on my painting early enough.

I paint like a fiend, and then try to scrub the paint off my skin so I look presentable as I race off on my 20 minute drive to pick up Sydney at daycare two towns away. Then over to the after school care to get Madison, who asks, "What's for dinner?" Most days, there is no answer because there was no time to grocery shop, meal plan, or prepare a damn thing. So all too often, we end up eating fast food amongst the paint fumes. Then, we race home for bath and story time.

The kids are now in bed, not necessarily asleep though. Time to rest now? Nope, no time for resting or watching one of those cool-looking new TV shows. Time to make the damn lunches for the next day, publish the blog, respond to emails, set up delivery appointments, pay bills, etc. etc. etc. Or in Kevin's case, go back to the house to do MORE work.

The kids are getting so neglected and acting out because of it. I feel like a horrible parent right now.

Sad. Tired. Guilty.

But today, an angel appeared. No, not the ghost of the guy who died in the house. It took the form of grandparents!!! The Scotts are coming to the rescue!!!! They heard our cries for help, and so starting on Sunday night, we will have babysitters for a few days before they head off on their pre-planned trip to Mexico. And not only that, but they will come back next month on their way back from Mexico! Bless you. Bless you. Thank you! You guys are the best!

And one more positive came out of today. My good friend Tiffany had her overdue baby. Finally. Her baby boy, Adrian James was born at quarter to 6 in the morning and weighed a little over 8 pounds.

But once again, wouldn't you know it, I felt badly for not making it over to the hospital to see her. I guess that's the plan for tomorrow then...

Kitchen Remodel - Day 18

Today I put one full coat of paint on the den wall. Only problem - it was a yucky yellowish beige instead of the light green I was expecting. I waited for Kevin to arrive to get a second opinion, and he agreed - it had to go. So off to the paint store and then the hardware store. I didn't like ANY of the swatches so Kevin had to choose. We ended up with something really green and a little too dark, but it will have to do because I'm getting fed up with this whole painting thing. The swatches look completely different in the store under all that flourescent light versus outside, versus in the actual room. It's ridiculous!

You can't tell the true colour from the photo, it's much much darker and greener. I was running late to pick up the girls so Kevin actually picked up the roller to help me finish the first coat.



Kevin did a bit more mudding and sanding, and now, at 9 pm, he is sorting through the large pile of boxes in the living room that is our kitchen cabinetry which was just delivered today. That ought to take a few days to assemble.

The hood also was delivered today, only it came when we were at the store, so now, no hood. At least they didn't just plop it on the doorstep like UPS does.

We ended the day with a sampling of fried, greasy appetizers from Chilis that we ate on the living room floor with Martin. We have been eating out a lot these days and it's getting pretty gross.