Decisions, decisions

We did finally decide on cabinets a few weeks ago.  It took a weekend trip to Tiburon, lugging my backpack of kitchen stuff. All weekend, I tried to lure M into looking at cabinet pictures. After a nap on our second day, he suggested we look at the choices. I had been subconsciously trying to pick something I thought he would like (this, after he told me "Get what you want" at every turn). It turned out I was dead wrong about what he liked. We both liked the same design, in the same finish. It really didn't take much time. And it was a huge load off my mind. With the appliances and cabinets chosen, there couldn't be much left, could there?

Not so fast.  There's the countertops, backsplash, paint color, pulls, lighting, and on and on. We both felt strongly that the kitchen is smallish and won't be getting any bigger from the remodel. Dark cabinets or dark counters would make it even smaller. We knew from the moment we decided to do the kitchen that it would have granite, and now we knew we wanted a light-colored granite. I didn't go a ton of places since I am not the world's most enthusiastic shopper. In fact, I hate shopping. I would take pictures of the small strips of granite at the showroom and bring them home to show M. It's very hard to tell what the color is from pictures, so one evening we headed to the showroom. Fortunately, they also had a sample of the cabinet door, and we used that to make our decision (it's the one in the middle in the photo).

Again, I thought I was done making decisions. I ordered the granite, ordered the cabinets, narrowed down the paint color. And I waited a lot, mostly patiently, for our contractor to call. At this point, I hadn't done any packing, and there's a lot to do since I will be eliminating two china cabinets in addition to packing the contents of the kitchen. But I figured, hey, I still have time since the contractor still hadn't called me back with the proposal.

Until tonight. He heard my plea--I want to be back in the kitchen by Thanksgiving. He called tonight to ask if I want a portable toilet for the workers to use. He's coming on Friday to go over the proposal. He plans to start Tuesday, God willing.

TUESDAY?!! Yikes, why am I writing this when I need to be packing everything in that kitchen and finding space for it in my already-full house? Peel me off the ceiling, I could positively float to bed tonight thinking that we're maybe going to start on Tuesday. And yes, I know that means the refrigerator in the dining room and doing dishes in the bathtub for more weeks than I care to think about. I know it means no vacation (which I really really need) until it's done (and by then, we probably won't have any money left for a vacation!) It means countless strangers in my house, maybe lifting the toilet seat (or maybe not). Worrying about the cat being let out. Angst about this silly house and its hidden defects. Second guessing whether doing this is a good idea as we hang on the precipice of the greatest economic meltdown in generations. But I know I have to get through all those things in order to have the double oven and the cooktop with six (working) burners. The dishwasher quiet enough to turn on before we go to bed. I know it will be painful and it will test my patience and my resolve (not to mention our savings), but I hope to weather it without losing any of the three.  

This weekend will be a kitchen-intensive weekend. I had already committed to make quiches and lemon squares for our PEO event. In between packing and moving boxes, I'll try to bang out a couple of TWD recipes so I have something to post while I am kitchen-less. I'll reflect on the past ten years and all this kitchen has produced. I'll say goodbye to it by testing its limits. And I'll pack and visit Goodwill a lot. I'll let you know what happens as we progress.