Stupid Plumber

I don't know where to post this. The remodel stuff has spilled over into the adoption blog because right now, they are wound together. But to try to keep the adoption blog about...well...the adoption, I've decided to give the dreaded remodel update here.

After MUCH drama (which I don't think you really want to know about), our plumber did not show up. I suspected it was going to happen since they had not returned any of my many messages or e-mails. Thursday night my dread hit a crescendo but there was still a nagging hope that they might appear Friday as scheduled. Friday afternoon I began negotiating with myself to give them "just one more hour." The mental negotiation began at around noon and finally, at 4pm, I officially gave up. Fortunately, another plumber who had bid on the job is able to start next Friday putting us just 1 week behind. (If you don't count the 6 weeks we waited for the last plumber to start.) Admitting defeat is tough for me but somehow I'm finding peace with it. What's a week in the scheme of things? Ugh, don't answer that question.

Last night as we doodled on the paper tablecloth at our favorite little neighborhood Italian place, I kicked off a game of hangman. The answer was "stupid plumber." Jeff got it after only 5 guesses...clearly we're both thinking the same thing. As my final act of vengeance (as if evil thoughts and hateful hangman answers weren't enough), may I encourage all of you to ban Prestige Services, Inc.

The weekend hasn't been a waste by any means. I'm working on refacing a brick fireplace and Jeff has been tearing out a soffit in the living room. The soffit was one of those things that several contractors knocked on and said it would be no problem to remove. Once Jeff tore off the drywall and exposed the ceiling joists, we realized they were very wrong. That sucker was load bearing. Ugh again. But the rest of the room has exposed beams so we decided to lift it to the ceiling to match the other beams. With some expert help from our neighbor (who happens to be a contractor), the beam was in place in a matter of hours. It's so nice to sit on the couch and have an unobstructed view of the tree tops through the now visible skylights. And it really opens the room.

Despite this setback, we continue to move forward. Here are some recent pics of the chaos that is our home.

Goodbye soffit, hello skylights!

Cabinets with crown molding. That space on the right is for our monster sized fridge and freezer! Yipee!!

Replaced a slider with french doors. Oh, and the pool is gone. In about 10 years, our kids are gonna be really mad when they find out there was a pool out there!!!