Reno Week #3

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The finished kitchen floor.

This has been “waffle week” for me. I’ve been bouncing up, down and back and forth as the days pass, feeling great one day then dragging the next. I was simply trying to stay grounded as the week flashed by in a heartbeat.  While things were progessing well with the renovation, Friday evening left me disappointed that the kitchen wasn’t quite done and I couldn’t really start moving myself back in. There was the threat of a snowstorm that happily turned into a nonevent on wednesday.  The cold was the biggest problem with wind chills dipping below zero. There was lots of black ice about. The dogs didn’t want to go out much, nor did I.

I began remembering the long, cold winters I spent in Vermont before I moved here to the “tropics.”  I was used to the cold then.  I went cross-country skiing and took care of my small flock of sheep, despite the constant snow and subzero temperatures, often having to visit the barn several times in the middle of the night to check in on ewes who were ready to give birth. Rarely were schools closed because of snow and almost never just because it was too cold.  Mark used to waddle off to school stuffed into a snowsuit, boots, hat, mittens, and a face mask with holes for his eyes and nose.  He was a tough kid, having been born early on a February morning when it was fifty below zero.  But he lives in Virginia now, not far from me, and I imagine he’s having the same kind of difficulty with the cold as I’m having.  He teaches 4^th grade and the powers-that-be closed school for three days this week along with late openings the rest of the time.

The renovation is nearing an end and though I’m hoping to be back home by the end of this week, I occasionally have my doubts.  The truth is, I’m not good at being patient and I’ve been feeling bad about the complaining I’ve done. I kick myself in the butt for it and stuff the rest inside my head until little explosions happen indicating there is no more room for stuffing things.

New shelves, countertop and cabinets in sunroom just off the kitchen.

I don’t like being a wimp over this renovation stuff when the rest of world is suffering through poverty, fear, and war. I try my damnedest to be positive over the long haul. Please enjoy these few pics of the fantastic progress we’re making in the kitchen and the sunroom.  I’m excited and every day I’m more and more thankful that we decided to do what we’re doing.