The kitchen is almost done.  Mike and his crew DID show up the end of last week and worked Thursday-Saturday and accomplished a lot!  All of the missing doors and shelves are installed, and the last 4 (special) cabinets are in place. What remains to be done is minor: finishing work (i.e., adding trim & crown molding), adding more cabinet hardware (I ordered 40 pulls, but we ran short, so we’re waiting for 20 more to arrive tomorrow!), and adding a bookcase over the cabinet that replaces the “Phase 2 Redneck Bar”!  There are a few items that need to be corrected (2 glass cabinets were supposed to have seeded glass instead of plain panes, and since these will be lighted cabinets, the solid wood shelves need to be swapped for the see-through variety!)  Eventually, Mike will also add a tambour door to a countertop opening (the coffeepot was supposed to live there, but the opening was too short for the pot to fit) where the toaster and various other small appliances will be hidden away.  He is also making us a custom wooden door cover for the stainless steel dishwasher, that always looks like oatmeal is running down the front of it! Geez.. where does that come from? (Alright, folks, I’ll spare you another rant about how I really feel about stainless appliances!   :>)

Greg & I will attempt to finish tiling the backsplash this weekend. Then we can decide where to permanently store our homeless clutter, and then maybe we can take some awesome pictures!  (I feel like we will make it, sliding feet first, into Thanksgiving, just in the nick of time, and only by the grace of God!)

Mike truly outdid himself in terms of quality workmanship & attention to detail.  I told him so, and I could tell that meant the world to him. OK…I hear you all wondering if it was worth it, and, now that the remodel is almost over, would I do it again?  The answer is a resounding OF COURSE!

And now that the kitchen is no longer an all-consuming distraction, here are some thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head:

1. My guilty pleasure this time of year is watching those (okay, you are right, sappy might best describe them) Hallmark holiday movies! My sister loves them, too, and we are always comparing notes over the ones we have seen. We both agree that no matter how sticky-sweet or predictable they are, we don’t care.  We just love ’em!
2. Josh Groban is the voice of our times.  He is as talented as many singers much older than he, but in my opinion, his voice delivers a purity, clarity, and emotional quality that just astounds me.  His Christmas album, ” Noel”, is fabulous.  The only thing that could improve it would have been the inclusion of his rendition of “Oh Holy Night”, which tops all other performances of that song, ever!  And, finally, if you have not heard his duet with Barbra Streisand of the West Side Story classic “Somewhere”, please listen to it. Barbra is normally a force to be reckoned with, but her voice is totally overshadowed by the beauty of his.
3. I love The Piano Guys. Their music is really the pairing of piano & cello, and it’s mostly instrumental. They do some great versions of music by One Republic, Coldplay, Jason Mraz, & Taylor Swift. Their first album, IMHO, is their best.  I feel “so-so” about their Christmas album, but “Winter Wind” is beautiful.
4. I am not looking forward to the gifting thing this year (or any year, for that matter)!  For one thing, the time & energy that go into picking out the perfect gifts for everyone is so stressful!  I would much rather spend my time cooking fabulous food for the people I love (and don’t even get me started on the gift-wrapping!) than worrying about what to give everyone.  Must say, though, I did start shopping in early August and am almost finished.  In other words, the pain has been evenly distributed over several months.
5. I really fear for our Christmas tree this year with Bear on board. He will look at all the ornaments we have lovingly collected over the years and think they look just like his Kong toys, which have a normal life expectancy of 15 minutes.

That’s about it, folks.  Hope I didn’t bore you too much with my musings.  Stay tuned for kitchen pics early next week!