FROM "HOMEWOOD SUITE HOMEWOOD" TO "HOME SWEET HOME"

After more than four weeks in a hotel, we moved back home tonight.  The kitchen restoration project is not yet finished, but it's good enough for now.  The baseboards will be installed next Tuesday, the countertops will be installed next Thursday, and the job will be done.

 



 

The hotel was incredibly accomodating during our stay, but it is now history.

APPLIANCES

When I arrived at our construction-zone-of-a-house this morning to do some laundry, I immediately knew, as soon as the garage door opened, that things were going to look significantly different in the kitchen.

 

The baseboards, which we had hoped were going to be installed yesterday, were not.  But I'm okay with that.

 



 

When the garage door opened this morning, my mouth curved into a smile.  When I left the garage two days ago, it contained a refrigerator, a range, a dishwasher, a microwave and a new sink.  This morning they were noticeably absent from the garage, which meant only one thing:  They must be in the kitchen.

From the living room, the installed appliances can be seen.  The baseboards cannot be seen.  They're not in yet.  We decided to replace everything with black since black will look better with the soon-to-be-installed granite countertops.

The old refrigerator was the culprit causing the destruction of the floors and cabinets in the first place.  We didn't realize it when we moved into our seven-year-old house, but the refrigerator was twenty-one years old.  A leak in the water line to the ice maker caused all the damage.  This refrigerator is bigger, better, newer and non-leakier.

Range and range hood/microwave.

Black sink.  The temporary plywood countertops may allow us to move back home before the restoration project is completed.  Maybe before next weekend.

Black dishwasher.

BASEBOARDS NEEDED

The installation of our new floor, which began yesterday, was finished today except for the baseboards. 

 

Hopefully, they will go in tomorrow.

 



 

This is how our dining room and kitchen floor look today.
 

The flooring in the entry was also replaced so that it would match the kitchen and dining room floors.

HERE COMES THE FLOOR

After living in a hotel for over three weeks, the installation of our new floor began today.  It may take two or three days to complete this phase of the project.  Once the floor is in, the appliances will be installed.  Then we can move back home.  I'm guessing we'll leave the hotel at some point next week.

 

Our kitchen and dining room, as they appeared this evening.

REBUILDING BEGINS

Tonight Debra and I stopped by the house to pick up a few things.  The kitchen has been gutted for a couple of weeks now while the damp floors have been drying.  The cabinets had also been removed and returned to the cabinet shop for repair.

Today the repaired cabinets were reinstalled.  Tomorrow the hardwood flooring is scheduled to be installed.  The granite countertops are scheduled for Monday.

After living in hotel for seventeen days now, we are ready to go home. 

Our Valentines Day kitchen.

WHEN YOU NO LONGER HAVE A LAWNMOWER

A few weeks ago I gave away our lawnmower.  But our back yard has a strip of lawn about 8 x 50 feet.  That left us with a decision to make.  Either get a new lawnmower or get rid of the lawn.

We chose to get rid of the lawn.

From the side yard, a small section of our new patio can be seen.

The view from one side of the yard.

The view from the other side of the yard.

Slightly off-center view from the same side.

SHOCKING SELF-DISCOVERIES

Tonight Debra and I watched four granddaughters so that their parents, Gordon and Josie, could go out on a date with another couple.

When they returned from their date, Debra and I were both terrified when we discovered what the future holds for us, according to the technology available on Gordon's phone camera.

Gordon took this photo of me before he and Josie headed out the door for an evening of bowling and dining.

This is what I'll look like as I continue losing hair on the top of my head.

In the year 2045, if I'm still alive, I will actually look pretty good for a guy in his nineties.

I have a beautiful wife.

If she's still alive in 2045, she'll still be beautiful.

This is what I would have looked like if I had inherited a large portion of Debra's genetic makeup.

This is what Debra would have looked like if she had inherited my genetic makeup.