Life at the Marriott

In the midst of all these mini-crises, there was one MAJOR event that I haven't even shared with you yet! How did I forget this one???

A pipe broke in our kitchen (behind the sink), most likely during the last big freeze we had in December. But, since our builder apparently took shortcuts and didn't make the hardwood floors go all the way to the wall and instead stop at the cupboards, we didn't notice the damage until the hardwoods began to buckle and by then it was too late. We are going to have our entire kitchen remodeled. And, because we have continuous hardwood floors throughout our downstairs, we will also be having all of the flooring replaced as well. RRRrrr....

Some photos for your viewing pleasure:




I didn't get any before photos, it didn't occur to me to start taking photos until I noticed the drastic difference of the hardwood color after the island was taken out of its spot:


That's how much our floor had yellowed due to natural sunlight in about 4 years. There is no way to match that now. And now, just how much flooring will have to be replaced?


And that's just one side of the stairs. There's another walkway and hallway on the other side of the stairs. So far, the bids we received are anywhere from 25-27K to repair the damage.

So, of course, we'll be upgrading now. Might as well since our kitchen is torn to shreds.

Because we don't have a kitchen, our house is considered uninhabitable by the insurance company, so they've been paying to put us up at a local hotel. It's like a mini-apartment, which is nice for the 4 of us. And they are paying for the expense of going out to eat (over and beyond what a normal week's worth of groceries would have cost). Honestly, lovin' not having to cook right now.

But, I'm definitely ready to go home, sleep in my own bed, watch my own TV, and just feel more peace in general. We discovered quickly that life in an apartment would suck for the 4 of us, as we're constantly right on top of one another. We're all definitely used to having plenty of space to come and go as we please.

Bryce seems to be getting a kick out of our mini-vacation from home. We can't get him to go to sleep before 10 at night, though, he's too afraid to go to sleep on his own, so one of us has to go in the room with him and lay down until he falls asleep.

Kind of miserable right now, but not having to cook or clean anything for the last week has been like a mini-vacation for me!