The boxes bearing the kitchen island have arrived -- they did so on Tuesday late afternoon. Regrettably, the part of the top was cracked right through and along the length of the board. I reported it immediately, and was told they would contact the manufacturer for next steps. Apparently, each manufacturer has different steps for replacement, return, etc. They would get back to me in an appropriate time, or I should follow-up.

When asked, I was informed that 'an appropriate amount of time' would be three days for them to respond. I have two HUGE boxes taking up the corner of my living room -- it's not a large house, y'all, and it irks me. No response thus far. Grr.

It may end up that despite finding what we wanted in a 'kit', the added expense of purchasing the tools we would have needed to build one ourselves might have been more cost effective in the long run.

I'm not terribly patient. As the pin dickgloucester once gifted me reads "Patience is a waste of time."

End saga part one.

The last bits and pieces are being cut and put in place, and in about an hour, the first phase of the kitchen will be done -- except the cleaning of course. I've spent much of my last week organizing, sorting and cleaning, but the end result will be totally worth it. I'm so looking forward to living with the interim version of the kitchen. We've only really replaced the appliances and added some shelving (there will be pictures when it's done) but it feels like a totally different space.

There's much to be said about mounting a microwave OFF the countertop, and I'll skip the paragraphs waxing lyrical about how much difference the extra two square feet make. Just take my word for it.

As for the new cabinets/shelves, they're freaking fabulous. Initially, we thought they'd simply yank out the double wall oven and slap up some shelves until we redid the cabinets next year. However, the size of the new fridge (being wider and taller than the old) meant removing all of the shelves/cabinetry in that section of the kitchen, and tailoring one to suit our needs and the needs of the space. Despite losing the base cabinet beneath the cooktop, we've actually gained enough additional space for everything we had before, plus storage for several things we used to keep on top of cabinets in the laundry.

The kit for the island should be delivered this next week, and once that's built, I'll have room for my knives to be kept off the counter, which will be so nice. In theory, at least. I may find I miss the knife block in practice, but I won't know until we actually have enough drawers to find out! I realize it's a first-world problem, but still...

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

The fridge is here and in place. Shelves are being built around it today. The rather awesome thing is the quality of David's work is so high we may not replace these cabinets/shelves when we replace the rest of the cabinets and countertops next year. We're rather thrilled by this prospect.

In other newsy news, the components for the kitchen island we're building should arrive sometime this next week. Once that's built, Kitchen Phases One and Two will be complete! Building the island will be a family project. I put my filing cabinet together last month, and I'm ready to drill holes, screw bits and pieces together and glue wood! UberGeek, Son 1 and Son 2 are quite handy so the whole process should be done in a day.

We then have to live with the interim stuff for a time before making the next decisions. When making such big decisions, I've learned through painful experience, to take things in stages and test hypotheses thoroughly.

Otherwise, the weather is miserably hot, humid and sticky. It didn't cool off overnight at all, and I hope the flood warnings go away in the next couple of days. However, I am incredibly grateful that we yanked out the room by room air conditioners a couple of years ago and installed an HVAC system for the entire house. What a difference it makes.

Today, we discovered that the location of the refrigerator was once the original location of the kitchen sink! That means all the main plumbing was behind/beneath the fridge. Thankfully, we don't have to relocate the plumbing for the new fridge, but it will set farther out from the wall than expected. I'm more glad than ever we chose a counter-depth fridge.

However, we will have to countersink the electrical outlet which is sort of hanging from the soffit -- it's a very odd bit of jerry rigging (have to check that bit of slang). None of the pre-existing cabinetry on the oven/fridge end exist any longer. Instead there were some chunks out of the wall (no critters ever found their way in, and that's something of a miracle) which will be patched, and new shelving is being built to meet specifications. That will all be blown out next year when we do the cabinets and counters.

The new dishwasher was the easiest part of the day. It's in and works beautifully.

[Post script: have learned the origin of the phrase jerry-rigged. Shan't be using it in future.]

It's the term UberGeek uses for every home improvement we embark upon. Each time we do upgrade something (faucet, dishwasher, etc.) the scope of the project creeps upward and outward into something more, bigger, badder, better.

We have finally bought a new refrigerator. Our current one isn't energy efficient, has no STAR rating, and has had major repairs a couple of times. It's twenty-four years old, and it's finally done, and done. We've been looking at the new models for several months now, and finally settled on a style (French door) and manufacturer LG. It's counter depth which is nice and it was on sale, which is nicer. It will be delivered on Wednesday.

This is where the scope creep comes into play. In order to get a new fridge, it means yanking out the wall oven (which is even older than the fridge, and doesn't heat properly, and isn't insulated well) because we have to cut into the wall space where the oven sits in order to fit the new fridge. It also means cutting into the cabinets above both fridge and oven. So, we have to cut down those cabinets, and then build some shelves where the oven was, and slap on a temporary door (cabinets and counters are next year's project).

But what about an oven, you ask? Well, that means a new range (which my wonderful brother and SIL gave us from the house they just moved out of, because story) which means cutting out the cooktop and cabinet underneath where all the pots and pans are stored. Which then means, yanking out the overhead fan and installing the range's matching microwave vent.

Whew! I'm already exhausted, and I've only just managed to clear out the pots/pans, and above the vent cabinets. I still have all the others to clean out and we have to move the existing fridge to make room for the contractor's team to rip out tile, wood, doors, cabinets, etc. on Tuesday before the fridge delivery on Wednesday.

See.

Scope creep.

Migraines are a rather miserable way to start a week, and for the most part, they're not frequent. They used to be, so finding myself curled up in a dark room for a day is no longer a weekly or bi-weekly experience. Still, the day after is always a sluggish one for me.

Youngest had his friends over on Sunday, and they're the sweetest young men -- although they'd be mortified at hearing my assessment of them. They left late, after much fun and gaming, and our new neighbor stopped by to share a new board game. These days, it seems the new 'may I borrow a cup of sugar' has become 'my BIL's here and we want to play 'Heroes of the Storm' but he forgot his mouse for his laptop. Do you have a USB mouse we could borrow.' Of course we did.

With the upswing of 'soundbyte' stream-of-consciousness social media, I've recently realized just how much I have missed the more personal aspect of LJ. In something of an ivory tower fashion, it was here that I met and became friends with others sharing similar interests. This niche is both more intimate and less personal, and I have missed it.

With that being said, this past year has been the least productive of my life in terms of writing. In order to alter that, I've re-embraced my 'morning pages'. For those who don't know, they're a tool Julia Cameron espouses in 'The Artist's Way' and one I used to embrace daily, and by hand.

After chatting with mundungus42 this last week, I've decided to use my live journal for that as well as spending a little more time in this comfy niche.

It's a little like returning to my Hogwarts House's common room. It's a little bit like home away from home.