A Tale of Flooring

I was reading the Quirk Factor today and saw her post on taking down her ugly kitchen wallpaper only to find an even more "interesting" wallpaper underneath. You really gotta go take a look. Reading this reminded me that I haven't posted pictures of our family room.

Here is DQ helping to take up the old carpeting that had been in this room since before we moved in eighteen years ago.


Underneath the carpeting the pad was disintegrating and fairly disgusting. Look what we found when we cleaned the mess up.

Yes!

It's vinyl flooring that is made to look like river rock. Amazing!

So we got rid of that and had hardwood floors put down. Here is the result.

This Warms My Heart

This is what we decided on for barstools:



This is our tile floor in the kitchen. I call it "rainbow trout."



Our microwave and range were put in today!



This is not what warms my heart. (Well, it does a little.) What really warms my heart was when I went in to Kellen's room to say goodnight tonight, he snuggled down under his covers and said, "Jesus loves me!"

The Irritating Phase

We've gotten to the Irritating Phase of our remodel.

First was the Gasp Phase where the demolition started and we looked around thinking "Oh no...what have we done? What have we gotten ourselves into?" This was a very short phase.

Then came a very, very long Survival Mode Phase. This was the phase where we were living in squalor. Holes in the floor, holes in the ceiling...sitting in our house freezing.

After this phase, came the Frantic Pack Everything Up Phase. This phase was no fun at all. We had to put everything we had into boxes and move it into the garage or the portable storage unit sitting in our driveway. This phase was quickly followed by the Evacuate the House Phase where we stayed in a hotel for five nights while the floors were put in. The hotel wasn't half bad.

After the Evacuate Phase was the Hopeful Phase. This is the part where we moved back in, saw our new floors and things looked much better. The appliances, counters, cabinets starting appearing and all was good.

Now we find ourselves in the Irritated Phase which threatens to cross the border into the Extremely Irritated Phase. This is the phase where a lot has been done, but nothing is finished. Our contractor has mainly moved on to another job site while he waits for the cabinet guys to fix all of their errors so that he can put in the microwave and the range. In the meantime his equipment is all over our kitchen, living room and dining room. I can no longer see my beautiful kitchen tile or hardwood floors because they are covered up with sheet rock, tarps, what-have-you in order to protect the floor for when the range gets moved into position.



Much has been done, but only our two bedrooms are habitable, and none of our rooms are completely finished and put back together.

I'm hoping to get to the Party Phase soon. I'll let you know.

Remodel Update (the saga continues)

What's new with the kitchen remodel?

What we have:
counters!
electricity!
lighting!
sink and water!
tile!


What we don't have:
refrigerator
dishwasher
microwave
stove
dry grout on the tile floor
a window I can see out of

In other words, I have a sink with water, but I can't walk on the floor yet...so I can't try it out. Since the grout is still drying, our newly delivered appliances are in the living room awaiting tomorrows(?) installation.

I need your input. Those of you who have bar stools, what kind do you recommend? Swivel? No swivel? A stool with a back? No back? What say you?

What's New?

The Father - Trying to work his 40-hour-a-week job, keep an eye on the remodel work while also putting trim up in the master bedroom so that we can do some touch-up painting and then finally put our bed back together and sleep in our room again. Oh yeah, he is doing all this while also fitting quite a bit of care giving time in with Kellen.

The Mother - Working, working and more working. Not getting much sleep as she has not been able to sleep in her own bed for a long time. Participating in Kellen's IEP meeting today. Spending time with Kellen. Shopping for area rugs so we can keep our new floor looking like a new floor. Has a brand new addiction...The Strawberry Surfrider at Jamba Juice.

The Daughter - This is a HUGE week for DQ. She is graduating from college on Saturday with her degree in political science. If that was not enough...she is leaving for France on Monday. She is going to be gone for an entire month. She started a blog so that the rest of us can keep up with her travels...it's that French-sounding one included on my blogroll to the right ----->

The Son - Not getting enough sleep, but at least sleeping in his own bed. We set his bed up in a "new" room which used to be DQ's and is a tiny bit larger and in a quieter location. Yesterday he visited with old friends and made faces.
The Dog - She is busy being considerate. She knows we have new flooring in this house...she must. This morning she stood in the middle of the room and looked at me funny. Then she started to retch a bit. I ran for the door to the backyard and threw it open. The she literally sprinted for the backyard. She kept running across the patio until she got to the grass and then, and only then, did she vomit. Now that is consideration. Thoughtfulness. Respect. Regard for all that is new, clean and special.

The Bird - Spending time at Camp Grandma until we are done with the tiling and all of the fumes are out of this house (or at least the one related to the remodel.)

The Cats - Just trying to survive this family and spending more time in the great outdoors. Grabbing a lap when they can.

How about you? What's new?

Bare Bones

I'm sitting on the refinished living room floor with my laptop. There is nothing else in this room. I wish I could show you a picture, but until my desktop computer is set up...there will be none of those.

Sweet Husband set up Kellen's bed today, but that's it. Kellen needs something familiar. The rest will have to wait a little longer for the floors to cure, for a little painting to be done and for some new trim.

We're back at home...but it's b-a-a-a-a-re bones.

Two Nights Down, Three More to Go

We are staying in a hotel about 6 minutes from our house while our new flooring is put in. It's really strange to be staying so close to home, yet not at home. Kellen had a hard time the first night, but he seems to be settling in now.

As I write, he is sitting on the bed, eating a sandwich and watching a soap opera. This is what life has come to!

Don't worry, his day will get more exciting later. He spends the afternoon with Mr. Heffalump at the mall. This evening he goes with his dad to play Risk with "the boys." He loves to sit at the table, eat snacks, enjoy the manly banter and roll the dice for his dad.

Happy Weekend everyone.

No One Gets Left Behind

This weekend was rough on Kellen. We spent most of it packing up our entire house. As we went from room to room, Kellen followed us. I could tell that he was feeling insecure and at loose ends. I could hardly blame him...all that's left in his room is his bed. No television, no dresser, nothing in his closet. It was stressful for him.

About three times over the long weekend I heard him say quietly, "No one gets left behind."

I have never heard him use that phrase before. The more he said it...the more I realized that he was expressing fear. He was feeling unsettled with all of the remodeling and packing going on. He wanted to make sure that he wouldn't be left behind. I reassured him the best I could that he would go with us wherever we would go. I told him that we will be going to stay in a hotel with us this week and it would all be okay.

This morning I started getting curious about where he heard the phrase..."No one gets left behind." Doing what I always do...I googled it. It's from the movie Lilo and Stitch. The entire phrase goes "Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten."

It amazes me how resourceful Kellen is. He feels a feeling and connects it to a movie he has seen. He quotes the movie and is able to express himself.

Amazing.

Memorial Day

The old and the new. This picture used to hang in my great-grandmother's dining room and my mom has good memories of eating at her grandmother's table and looking at this painting of strawberries in a bowl. I'd love to find a special place in my house to hang it, but for right now, it's hanging out in my kitchen without counters.

We're packing up our entire house this weekend so that we can lay new hardwoods this coming week and refinish the old ones.

The old and the new.

Remodel, Roosters and Amazing Grace

It's been a wild day so far. Here are some highlights:

First there was the calm before the storm. This is the part where Kellen was still asleep, Sweet Husband was already at work and the contractor hadn't arrived yet. This is when I asked myself...do I have time to shower or will someone arrive while I am indisposed? Got showered and dressed...now do I have time to run to Starbucks and back or will people arrive while I'm gone and be upset that I wasn't around to let them in? I went to Starbucks and back before anyone arrived.

Then everything...and I mean everything happened at once. It is now all such a blur, but I'll try to recap. First the contractor arrived. He was not at all happy with how things looked with the cabinets and island. The workers who installed those spoke Chinese and communication was non-existent. Contractor pointed out about six problems to me that he saw right off the bat. After this disturbing experience, Kellen wakes up and I help him get his bath water to the right temperature. After he gets in the tub there is a knock at the door and it is the delivery of the storage pod which goes in our driveway and will hold all of our worldly goods while our floors are refinished next week. The contractor answers the door and our dog runs out. It is impossible to catch her once she is loose and I can't possibly worry about it right now...so she takes off.

Then I find out that the pod will not fit in the section of the driveway where we had planned to put it, so we'll need to hitch up the contractor's trailer and move it out of the driveway. The only thing is, with our house in such a disarray, I have no idea where the key is to the padlock on the trailer. A call goes in to Sweet Husband who tries to help me find the key over the phone while in the back of my mind I am concerned that Kellen is still in the bath and could decide to walk out naked any minute. The key is found, the trailer is in the process of being moved so that the pod can be placed. I run back into the house to find Kellen standing up in bathtub...upset...because some shampoo or soap got into his eyes. As I am trying to help him out he cries "Amazing Grace!" at the top of his lungs. This makes me laugh so hard...and then the cell phone in my pocket rings. I figured I better answer it even though it isn't the best time to take a call...because it might be some important remodel information...or whatever.

I answer the call and it is a parent who needs help with problem-solving around his son's new diagnosis. I am about to launch into my "work mode"...when I realize...there is no way...I am going to be able to do any quality active listening in the state I'm in. I let him know that my dog just got loose, my son has shampoo in his eyes and we're in the middle of a kitchen remodel...and ask if it is alright if I call him back later. I get off the phone and know that he is probably thinking...this lady needs more help then I do.

...and that was my morning.

Then the dog came back home. Then the counter top man came over to do measurements. The contractor was still there so he helped me explain to him all of the problems there are with the cabinets and how those will probably effect his measurements. The only thing is the counter top guy speaks Spanish. We do our best...by I can tell between the Chinese and the Spanish...our contractor is about to blow a gasket.

In the midst of the measuring we hear a loud cockle-doodle-doo. I...am...not...joking. I look at the contractor. The contractor looks at me. The Spanish-speaking-counter-top-guy does not even bat an eye, just keeps measuring. We hear another cockle-doodle-doo. I am beginning to wonder if it is the roosters that were in the garage of the Mexican family next door. Maybe they are coming back to haunt me? Then finally I figure it out. The counter-top-guy must have a cell phone that has a rooster ringtone. Sure enough, he whips his phone out of his pocket and answers it.

By now, the contractor and I trying very hard not to laugh...but it's a losing battle.

The day can only get better from here.

Progress

It's beginning to look a little more like a kitchen with the addition of some cabinets today.



Kellen had a meltdown this afternoon. I'm not sure if it was because the workers were making so much noise as they installed the cabinets, or if it was the people arguing on television, because he still doesn't feel well....or just maybe it was because part of his room was packed up today and stored in the garage in preparation for getting our floors refinished. One minute he seemed fine and the next he was sobbing.

It was a good opportunity for us to take a break in the backyard, give each other a big bear hug and practice our deep-breathing. That seemed to help.

Nobody Knows the Trouble I Haven't Seen

I walked into the house this morning and this is what I saw....A Window! Which was so exciting! Much better than the plywood covering the hole in the wall. My excitement was short-lived, however.

It was short-lived because as I walked up to the window I saw the view I would see if I were standing at the sink.
I am five-foot-two.
This will not do.

A five-hundred dollar mistake
This I cannot take.

We are going to need to order a new window. A picture window with no bar through it.
This window is going to end up on Craig's List.

The rest of the kitchen looks like this.


At least Kellen is happy.

What's New?

Today was day one of a three day training on IEP facilitation that I am participating in. Parents or school districts in our state can ask for an impartial, trained facilitator to come out and lead an IEP meeting. I recently heard about this service and thought it sounded like a great idea which is long over due. I'll let you know how it goes.

We've picked out the tile for our kitchen floor (I'm calling the color "Rainbow Trout") and tomorrow we'll pick out the paint color. The mudding and taping of our walls is in progress. I feel so much better not having a gigantic hole in our floor and ceiling.

Sweet Husband called the owner of the house next door and let him know about the pitbulls and chickens the renters have. He was genuinely surprised about the three dogs and then when S.H. told him about the caged chickens in the garage there was a pregnant pause. He said he would stop over for an inspection. We put our living room couch out on the front lawn with a sign that said, "Can Haz?" The neighbors knocked on the door and asked if it was free and when we said yes, carried it back to their house.

What's new with you in six words or less...?

Squalor

On Sunday we went through Starbuck's drive-thru on the way to church. The perky young woman at the window asked how we were in the perkiest of voices. When she turned away from us to get our drinks, Sweet Husband said under his breath, "living in squalor."

Yes, it does feel like we are living in squalor right now. For several days this week, due to the kitchen remodel, we had a gigantic hole in our floor where they were working on the plumbing. Our water was turned off and our house was freezing as the workers kept the front door open. We were living in squalor. We still are.

This is not fun. Yesterday I had a mini break-down. All at the same time, S. H. was leaving for work, I needed to leave for a meeting, my mom stopped over and one of Kellen's caregivers came to work with him. Kellen really seemed to be feeling the affects of all that is going on and was a huge grump. The caregiver tried to take him for a walk, but he was just not into it. He ended up letting out a loud tension-relieving noise and I watched the new caregiver's eyes widen in surprise. I then started to feel very overwhelmed and had a ten minute pity party.

Fortunately my mom offered to take Kellen to her place overnight to give him a break. I got to go to the meeting and come home to an evening by myself. I decided to blast some music and clean the bathroom like a mad woman. I needed one clean and sparkling place in my house. Just one! I immediately felt better. It doesn't seem like we are totally living in squalor if we have a sparkling clean bathroom.

After we got our coffee on Sunday, Sweet Husband and I were talking about the remodel some more. He said, "Yes, this is bad, but it is not your kid getting heart surgery and living in a camper in the hospital parking lot bad." Oh yeah, we did that in July of 1991 didn't we. Wow, that put all of this squalor into perspective. Sweet Husband is good at that...and making me laugh too.

Kitchen update

No cabinets
No sink
No countertops
No flooring
No appliances
No walls
No kitchen

Very little patience

Lots of meals from a box
Lots of meals from a bag
Lots of mess

My Kitchen

Just in case you might be feeling bad about the state of your kitchen today...I bring you the state of my kitchen:








Only about two months to go!!