Temper Tantrums Preggo Style

Yup, I had one. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel better after it was all said and done.

What was it about? What else! The house! I absolutely, utterly, and COMPLETELY lost it Sunday afternoon. No control of the pitch, volume, or sailor-laden language coming out of my mouth. I'm pretty sure I reminded Brett 51 times that we have a baby on the way, that is due in 3 months, that we have not even STARTED putting a room together for. But to be honest, much of it is a blur and I can't remember. It's like I blacked out for a moment.

I have a good man, though. He gave me my space, let me take a nap, and apologized after I woke up (I did, too...I don't enjoy acting like a 2 year old, and I'm certainly not proud of it).

Wednesday (tomorrow) is the magical day, when contractor dude has promised to be back to begin work again on the little things that should only take sheer minutes to complete (according to Brett, anyway). Brett advised me, "I told him 'you HAVE to come or you HAVE to call if you can't...because if you don't, I'm going to die. My wife will literally kill me.'"

So, we'll see if he shows. Needless to say I haven't turned blue from holding my breath yet.

Things to finish:
Paint (just trimming)
Bathroom paint (all of it)
Baseboards (throughout entire downstairs)
Mount dishwasher
Trim the dishwasher
Re-install electrical outlet in my island
Pick out and install backsplash in kitchen and bathroom
Move furniture back in from garage (which only amounts to 2 couches, a leather chair, and the piano)
Move accessories back into the living room/dining room

Relaxing Weekend

Each year about this time, Brett's extended family all heads up to Fort Worden in Port Townsend for the weekend. The events range from sing-alongs on the beach, campfires with s'mores, chasing little ones around the fields, teenagers in the Bunkers, lots of fan-TAS-tic food, and wonderful conversation. Every family has their quirks and their issues, but I truly adore Brett's family. I feel very free to be myself, and I enjoy visiting with them all, and sharing my talents (both in the kitchen and behind a guitar).

Each year, our particular family is usually in charge of breakfast on Saturday morning. Brett's mom is a fabulous cook, and she usually finds 2-3 new recipes to try out on the group each year. However, in years past, we usually were sprung with several cooking surprises that weren't on the usual menu, and required the other females in our family to spend way more time in the kitchen than we wanted to or anticipated. Each year, we try and plan for this, and tactfully explain to our MIL that we DON'T want to be in the kitchen all weekend, we don't want to waste food, and we want to make sure that everyone's food gets sampled. I am proud to say that after 10+ years of the same song and dance, she FINALLY got it. She kept to her menu (we kept to ours), and we had a VERY NICE meal with plenty of food and didn't stress about the kitchen this year. I was so happy that I wanted to kiss her!

The crowd was sparse this year, and it's becoming clearer to everyone that Port Townsend may not be the location of choice next year. There's been a lot of talk about heading out to the beach (Ocean Shores) next year if we can find a few houses on the water to rent. Even though I grew up out there and it's nothing new to me, it would be a great change of pace and a chance for Bryce to enjoy the ocean like I did growing up. We may even be able to begin some new traditions for the newest generation!

All in all, a relaxing, enjoyable weekend!

If It's Not One Thing...

Progress always seems to go hand in hand with setbacks. And I'm having a difficult time coping with this roller coaster in my current physical and emotional state (ie: PREGNANT!)

Last week, painting was finished (minus trimming up to the ceiling and the downstairs bathroom), and the trimming of the cabinets was complete (minus mounting the dishwasher and installing the trim around it). We've been told the dishwasher component will be completed by tomorrow.

I ordered blinds for the kitchen, slider, and fam room window last week, and those should be in by tomorrow as well. If not, Brandon from 3 Day Blinds is going to get an earful from me on Thursday (when I think 3 day Blinds...I think order...then 3 days later, they're on your doorstep...not the case people, hate to burst the bubble).

What is there still to do? Moldings, throughout our ENTIRE house. You see, because we drastically changed the colors (light maple to dark cherry), the trim no longer matches. ANYWHERE. So, we have a choice: try and reuse the trim we currently have and hope no one notices the differences (that's my choice), or buy all new trim for the ENTIRE house (that's Brett's choice). If we do it my way, we need to get nails out of the old trim and strip off the caulking, but then we're good to go and can re-install in only the areas where it was taken off. If we go Brett's route, we have to pull all the trim EVERYWHERE and in each room (even UPSTAIRS!), and then spend money on new trim, likely stain it, wait for that to try, and the reinstall it EVERYWHERE.

But, there are bigger fish to fry. We can't put the molding back in until the floor issue is resolved. Floor issue, you ask yourself? What floor issue? Apparently, the hardwood installers (who we were told were the "best in the business") took the easy way out and totally f'ed up the installation of our floor. There are now zipper joints, the wood was laid to close to the walls (and therefore won't be able to expand without causing damage to the walls), and something about the width not being laid to industry standards. This was all noticed by a friend of Brett's who used to lay hardwood floors, and supported by a real-life, full-fledged hardwood inspector (who, for a nominal fee, will inspect your floor and write a report that is admissable in court, if it goes that for...and yeah, and he'll testify for you too). When approached with the issues, the guy who sold us the floor came over (before the inspector did, mind you) and told us he didn't see anything wrong with the floor, and then demanded we pay the remaining 50% balance. Ah, young grasshopper, you apparently have never dealt with a Monahan before. So, now, depending on how the flooring company wishes to proceed with us, and what the inspector's final recommendations are (deal with it but get your money back, or it has to come out due to structural issues), it may be QUITE some time before we have a finished house. Harumph.

But, Brett's letting me move all of my furniture back in from the garage, so it'll at least feel SOMEWHAT put back together. For awhile anyway.

Behold the Granite

WE NOW HAVE OUR COUNTERTOPS! We just got them installed mere hours ago. They look GREAT in our kitchen and mesh well with the wood and colors we've chosen. This is a HUGE relief! For those of you wondering, we chose the Tropic Brown color. It's apparently very popular and in stock at most granite places.




This is the island...

A large shot of the entire kitchen...mostly put back together...
And a nice shot of how the granite ties in nicely with the cherry cabinets and the tigerwood floor.

Items left to complete:
Last sand and refinish of the floor: Scheduled for Friday, 4/3
Paint the remainder of the house: next week
Hook up/install the sinks and faucets: Tonight, if Brett is in a good mood
Move my oven back in from the garage: see above
Finish trimwork: probably around the end of next week
Backsplash: Hopefully within the next few weeks
Move the rest of our furniture back into the house: whenever paint/trim is done.

There is still so much left to do, but the big stuff is done. I should be able to cook in no time!

Photos Galore!

I apologize, I have been SO TERRIBLE about getting photos up. I noticed at least twice previously that I mentioned photos would follow and then they did not. So, here ya go. The first photos are the 16 week shots of Baby James Princess. By the way, please note that you may want to check back on March 30-31st, as we have our 20 week ultrasound, at which point we'll be able to find out if we have a James or a Princess. :)





And now, onto the photos of the kitchen remodel. The first couple are the floor as it was put it (but not sanded and finished). The last few are the finished floor which is beautiful Tigerwood, and our cherry cabinets, almost completely installed. Also, my brand new dishwasher, which I ran for the FIRST time tonight! Who knew you could get so excited over a dishwasher, eh?







Our countertops are due to be installed Wednesday of next week. There's more painting to do, some trim work, and we still need to get my oven and microwave in this place. Then, one more coat of finish on the floors and we're back in business! Whew!

I'm Better Now

After force-feeding myself toast, applesauce and watered down gatorade, I am ALMOST back to my old self. The stress of life is waning at the moment. Paint in the kitchen, cabinets in the dining room (making their way to the kitchen tomorrow!), everything is ordered, just a matter of getting countertops templated out and cut to size and installed. Should be back in business by the end of next week!

The best part is that Our whole downstairs (minus one or two small, inconsequential rooms) are getting painted! Woohoo! No more white-washed walls! We picked a very nice carmelly-brown color, which a hint of taupe. LOVE it.

I'll be posting pics soon. As soon as I can find my damned camera. It's been lost in the kitchen mess in the office. :)

I Need A Bigger Plate

There are just too many stressful things going on right now, and I'm ready to explode. Either in tears, or I just may strangle someone, I'm not quite sure which yet.

We are now over 2 months without a workable kitchen. The floors are in, and were sanded, with two coats of finish on them. This is forward movement, yes, however, my house now WREAKS of the finish they put on it (think a very strong, obnoxious nail polish remover odor, mixed with paint thinner...absolutely awful). The fumes were gone, so it is safe to be here, but the stench makes me nauseated and gives me a terrible headache. It hasn't been exactly balmy here in the PNW, but my windows have been open 24/7 since Tuesday as if it were. I'm starting to wonder if it will ever go away. Oh yeah, and there's one more coat to go...

We were told our cabinets would be in the week of the 16th...well, that was pushed to the 23rd. Yeah, yeah, only one week late, which as far as construction goes, may as well be on time. But, still, after 2 months of this GARBAGE, I can't take things being delayed. I just want my kitchen back.

We still haven't decided on granite for the countertops. We've been to the slab warehouse twice and though I found several I liked, Brett found none. And, he's unwilling to take time off during the week to go look elsewhere, so that means that we're down to a small amount of time next Saturday to look (ie, maybe an hour, after a mandatory meeting I have on Saturday for my church council). Why Saturday? Well, because the cabinets come in on the following Monday and I swear to GOD, if Brett is the reason why we have another delay, he'll be swimmin' with the fishes.

Brett wants to purchase a $450 faucet for our kitchen sink. WTF? Are you f'ing kidding me? I found several VERY NICE faucets, all within the $100-$200 range, which frankly I still think is too much money, but much more reasonable that $450. Why so fancy? Well, it looks like an ornate lunchroom cafeteria kitchen sink hose. You know, the ones you can pull down from the ceiling and spray 1000 lbs psi to scour the mystery meat off the casserole dish. AND, it has a magnet within the faucet to boot, so that after you're done power washing your siding, it will self-retract and hold itself in place with the magnet. HOLY CRAP.
Frankly, I think you could pay me $450 and I could MAKE one that looked and functioned nicer than this. THIS WILL NOT BE GOING IN MY KITCHEN.

On the bright side, we did have someone finally come in to do some electrical, plumbing, and insulation/drywall, so I'm not staring at the bones of my house (aka the studs). We have picked out a sink, a dishwasher, and the paint color for our entire downstairs. However, despite this progress it gets worse:

My pregnancy has shifted from nausea (yay, I have my appetite back) to a constant feeling of pelvic pain, pressure, stabbing, sharp, miserable, can't-get-comfortable, crap I'm only 17 weeks and have at least 22 more to go, misery. These complaints brought about a slough of diagnostic testing from my OB. Nothing's wrong. Much like my dizziness months ago, this is just another symptom of my pregnancy, which may subside, stay the same, or God forbid get worse as time goes on. I recall feeling this way with Bryce...but I was about one month away from delivering him. I am already so tired, but everytime I lay down, I feel like someone has just kicked me HARD between the legs, and they are repeatedly doing it. So, no rest for the weary. No amount of pillows, large or small, seems to be easing my discomfort. I envy women who have easy pregnancies. Frankly, I'll be the first to admit that I hate being pregnant, and I only do it for the end result. I don't enjoy any moment of this. I didn't with Bryce, and I'm not with this one. But, the end result is MORE than worth it. So, you'll just have to put up with my rants from here on out.

Brett's been super busy at work (or so he says), and can't seem to get his ass home before 8PM. This creates havoc in my life. First, Bryce's bed time WAS 8PM ( I say was, because he really wants to see his dad at night, and I feel guilty putting him to bed before dad gets home most night), but has been pushed back, sometimes as late as 9:30 during the week. This means less alone/couple time for us. It also means that Bryce has been whinier than ever due to the fact he gets to spend little to no time with dad, and then he's super cranky in the morning when everything starts back up at 6:30 AM. Second, I get NO help during the week with the daily routine of meals (which currently amounts to a TON of driving around to figure out what "sounds good"), cleaning, bathing, and entertaining Bryce. I've tried to be understanding, but it's difficult when your husband is OBSESSED with money and his job is commission-based. I once jokingly called his boss a slave driver (we have that kind of relationship where I can do that without any retribution) and he was very quick to point out that everyone else leaves at decent hours on most nights and it's not him that's making Brett stay. So, basically I married a man that would much rather spend his evenings under cars than with us. Resentful? You bet. Tired? Duh. Upset? To say the least. His little schedule comes in waves. He starts staying later and later, under the guise that he just HAS to get these cars done, and then I finally get fed up and tell him he needs to leave because it impacts us all negatively. HE IS ABLE TO LEAVE BY 6PM when I threaten him within an inch of his life, for a couple of months in a row, before the cycle starts all over. I just can't understand why he's doing this NOW. I am pregnant, our house is completely torn apart, we haven't finished making decisions to complete our kitchen, Bryce just got his cast off and misses him like mad, yet he still stays. Boggles the mind.

Anyway, I know this was a long post, and there is even more that could've been written here that is complicating my life at this juncture, but this would be an inappropriate venue to divulge the remainder, so I remain mum. Just know that if you don't hear from me for a few weeks/months/years, it's because I'm either in a mental institution suffering from a nervous breakdown, or that I'm in prison. :)

I've Got Wood!

Floors! GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER!

Our hardwood floors were delivered on Tuesday and they began to install them today. THEY LOOK AWESOME!!! Pictures will soon follow. They will finish the install tomorrow, give us the weekend and then send us away early next week while they sand and finish them. Then we will be 1/3 of the way back to restoring our lives as we knew them!

YAY FOR US!!!

Demo Day, or Valentine's Day, You Be The Judge...

Brett spent the entire day with our nephew Michael and friend Dan, ripping out cabinets, floor moldings and all of our hardwood floors. Some photos and video for your viewing pleasure.

It was noisy and aggravating, but it's now over and we can begin putting our life back together.