A Blizzard of Activity

The blizzard turned out to be a huge blessing for our renovation.  Scott was off from Tuesday through the end of the week, so we had 6 days to work on the house.  (Well, in theory.  Several emergencies interrupted that time, but I'll get to that in a paragraph or two.)

Scott's primary focus was the kitchen and all of the electric.  He installed recessed lights in the living room and in the soffit over what will be the new bar area where we removed part of the wall.  He also moved a couple of light switches and installed some new outlets to fit the updated kitchen layout.  Once the electric was completed, Scott finished off the half wall and soffit.  All that is left to do is the texturing, then we can install the cabinets and counter tops.  We are re-using existing cabinets and modifying them to fit the new space.  We found a custom cut counter top at Lowe's that someone decided not to take, so we got it for a mere $42, which was a steal.  An additional $30 for wood gave us the materials we need to do the new counter and bar area.  None of it matches, but I have a fix for that and will let you all in on it next week sometime when we are ready for that part of the renovation.  Scott also finished the oven cabinet and got it stained.  It looks great.

The oven cabinet under construction.  So many possible captions, but I will leave you to your own creativity!

The new, dimmable, recessed lighting in the living room.

While Scott worked, I did quite a bit of playing with the kids.  After all, all work and no play makes me cranky!  We made a great sled run on the hill.  It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work.  Hiking up a hill in 14 inches of snow reminded me how far from young and in shape I am!

Our sledding hill

After play time, I got down to work.  I started with ceiling paint, touching up various spots and then painting over where I had repaired a crack.  Once that was completed, I focused on flooring and managed to finish the master bedroom and closet.  I have started on the master bath and hope to finish the upstairs by the end of this weekend.  To that end, I also ripped out the linoleum in the bathroom and kitchen.

In the midst of the blizzard and our attempt to get as much renovation done as possible, we had to stop and brave the roads on Wednesday to make a trip to the vet for one of our dogs who had her eye popped out of the socket by one of the other dogs.  That was an unfortunate economic hit and a time suck.  The dog had to stay overnight, so we had to get out again on Thursday to pick her up.  Not to waste a trip out in the ice and snow, we were given another reason to venture out.  That morning the hot water started coming out brownish yellow.  Upon inspection of the water heater, Scott determined that we needed to replace it ASAP or it could rupture.  So, we added a trip to Locke and another big, unexpected bill.  That was a very unappreciated double whammy!  Keith Olbermann reportedly Tweeted that all of this chaos was caused by Sarah Palin, but I personally blame global warming.

Oreo and her eye emergency.

Undeterred from the distractions and financial hits, we plodded on and Scott thinks he sees light at the end of the tunnel.  I am just to the point of even seeing the tunnel though!  We came back to house #1 last night to pack up more stuff and get more supplies.  Tomorrow we will head back out to do more renovations - hopefully with fewer distractions and financial surprises this time.  (Well, unless it is a good financial surprise.)  I think by the end of the week we can get the kitchen pretty much together except for the counter top treatment and backsplash.  Appliances should arrive on Monday.  The master bedroom is ready to move furniture in, so two rooms down, 4 to go upstairs.  Despite all the work and craziness, we are really enjoying our new home.  Maybe I do see a little sliver of light after all.

Camping out in the den on blow-up mattresses and the couch

Zoe shoveling the driveway

Zoe enjoying sledding on the hill.

A rare moment of sibling harmony