January 31, 2010

Hut Upgrade

My house is a hut.  That means it's one up from a shack.  It needs all kinds of repairs and since I'm the only income producer in the house (my son is only 16 and wouldn't make enough money if he did work, and no one wants to rent my cat), the upgrades are few and far between.

Today's upgrade happens to be kitchen cabinet resurfacing.  My cabinets were a nasty mess before.  They look older than Central Park dirt (probably were) and the dark brown was just depressing.  The Cabinet Guy came this morning before I could get a picture of before - before he had all the doors off.  He was quick!

Top cabinet before:

Top cabinet after:


Oh my gosh!  What a difference 4 hours makes!  He had the old cabinets sanded and the new laminate on in what seems like no time!  Wow!  I was impressed and started thinking that maybe he would finish in one day, just like he said.

Bottom cabinet before (without doors, of course):


Now that's just scary!  It's been a long time since I emptied out the cabinet and cleaned it out.  I should be embarrassed, but I'm not.  Those cabinets are old news now.

Bottom cabinet after:


Not quite done, like Cabinet Guy said it would be, but darned close.  Cabinet Guy is coming back tomorrow morning and will build sliding drawers so I don't have to dig for my pots and pans.  Won't that be nice?

Dinner tonight was a frozen pizza in the oven because as you can see, there's no sink and no water:


And today was a day of no knitting since I've been all stressed out about having a stranger in my house all day and the mess in the basement , the fact that it's not done and that tomorrow I'm going to have to go through it all again.  Only tomorrow I get to put it all back.

And just so you don't mistake this entry for a home improvement blog, here's how far I got with the sock after I ripped it back halfway when I screwed up the short row hell heel. 



I never get those right on the first try.  It's the math part that screws me up every time.

And before I go, let me just say 'thank you' in a very big way to the ladies at the knitting circle.  They insisted I go to knitting class today, even if just for a moment.  So I left my son in charge and ran there quickly only to get a big surprise.  They were throwing a birthday party - for me!  They really shouldn't have, but the company was great and the food was too!

Thank you ladies!

Back row: Juana, Maria, Baby Mia, Renee / Second row: Winnie, Carol, Yvonne, Jeanette / Front: me and Carmen
(Not present in the picture are Nilda, who took the picture and Miladys who left before I got there)

Ladies, you're the best!  Thank you.

2 comments:

  1. Good god, those pictures bring back memories, of endless years of renovations! I really hope he'll be done today, so you still have some time to relax left.
    The sock looks good, and I have the same problem with the toe up heels as you do.

    You never said a peep about your birthday! Happy belated birthday! What a nice surprise! Lovely ladies!

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  2. Your new kitchen looks great! And Happy Birthday too!

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