We came home today to find that our cabinets were delivered! The kitchen work area is filled with them, and I assume the installation will start this week. If it's of interest, I posted photos of cabinets stacked up around the construction area.

I like them even more in the house than I did in the store when we picked them. They look to be great quality, and I am really looking forward to seeing them installed and in action. I guess our counters shouldn't be too far behind.

In other news, Brian said that our new estimated completion time is the week of Sept. 16. I'll be REALLY HAPPY if it's done by then.

And, of course, Lee spent more time on the phone with Sears about the frig. It seems that GE may have a bisque one, even if Sears doesn't have one, and it's *possible* that GE could ship it to Sears to deliver to us. Lee should find out more tomorrow. ...

Pool & Patio called to say that our first fabric choice for the kitchen furniture we picked -- one that I think we selected at Wilson's as well -- was indeed discontinued. However, our second choice is still in stock, so that's a go.

The carpenter told me this morning that when I came home from work tonight, our construction zone would look like a kitchen. And it does!!! At last!!!

There was major progress on cabinet installation today. For the first time, we can see the layout of the work and storage areas and get a good idea of how it will be with appliances, counters, etc. Finally, those plan drawings are coming to life.

We were really bowled over, it's SO MUCH nicer, more efficient and bigger than what we had before, it doesn't even feel like the same house. WE LOVE IT! Love the cabinets - color, layout, quality, everything. Love the layout. Love the look and feel. After all these weeks of inconvenience, a taste of the actual payoff at last!

I've posted a few photos.

Meanwhile, The Refrigerator Saga continues. Sears has indeed discontinued the bisque model of the refrigerator we ordered back in February (when they had it, but screwed up our order and gave us a white one). They checked with GE (I'm unclear whether GE has stopped making it or not), and GE has *2* of them in the correct color, size and door handle side. So, the plan is for Sears to purchase one of the two from GE, GE to ship it to Sears and Sears to deliver it to us. I'll believe it when I see it.

Also -- Computerworld colleagues, take note -- it turns out that the Sears order system will not accept this transaction because orders cannot be entered for discontinued merchandise. So someone in the Chicago headquarters needs to manually change their database in order for this to go through. I think hospitals have ordered entire working CAT-scan devices with less effort than it's taking for us to get this refrigerator...

In any case, major progress today, and we think we'll have something interesting to show all our visiting relatives who will be in town this weekend.

In other news, I had some fun while taking my morning walk this week. Not surprisingly, I have a higher-than-usual interest in home improvement activities at the moment. There's a huge second-story addition going on at one of the ranch houses around the corner, and as I stared intently at the work while strolling by, one of the construction guys invited me to come in and take a look!

*That* was pretty interesting. The whole house is pretty much a shell inside right now (owners have moved out), both old first floor and new second floor. Interesting layout -- there are going to be *6* bedrooms upstairs and 2 bathrooms (one with full tub one with shower) as well as a bath and a half on the first floor.

I couldn't help asking for a ballpark figure of how much it would cost to put a second floor on one of these neighborhood ranch houses. The answer: $150K to $160K to start. Well THAT sure answered my question as to whether for the same money we were spending on the kitchen could we have gotten a whole extra floor (NO). He said for these houses, it's a lot less expensive to build out than build up, because everything has to be strengthened and re-supported.

The latest news in the endless Search For Our Bisque Refrigerator is that we are supposed to get the frig we ordered on **Sept. 10**. That, apparently, is how long it will take for Sears to change their database to accept the transaction for our now-discontinued model, get it shipped from GE to Sears and then have Sears send it to us.

Lee believes that the problem has FINALLY been solved. I, of course, will not believe it until I see the correct appliance -- undamaged and in working order -- actually inside my home. (MY theory is that they picked Sept. 10 so that if/when THIS delivery gets screwed up, we'll be overwhelmed by the anniversary of Sept. 11 and won't care enough about a wrong-colored refrigerator to yell at them....)

The initial incorrect refrigerator was delivered to our house on Aug. 8. So, this will have been going on for more than a month by the time Sept. 10 rolls around. To put this in context, In the same time it's taking Sears to figure out how to get us the single refrigerator we ordered, our contractors have gone from starting work on the shell of our demolished kitchen to doing loads of plumbing & wiring, insulating the walls, putting up sheetrock and plaster, and beginning cabinet installation. Unbelievable!

In actual kitchen construction news, nothing too dramatic today. The cabinets closest to the dining room were installed (they weren't there yesterday), some additional work was done where the dishwasher will be, and the tall wall cabinets that weren't attached to the wall yet yesterday are now attached today. No new photos. But more to come....

Before my walking buddy Marian had her kitchen redone, Design Expo gave her a video to watch that cautioned there would be emotional high points and low points during a major home renovation project.

That came to mind yesterday as I was dwelling in the Grand Canyon of emotional low points.

From a misplaced sink order to closet doors mistakenly thrown in the dumpster (they were rescued), the house left in unusual disarray (there was good reason but it was still disconcerting) to a mixup over our payment last week, it seemed that after things had been going so smoothly for so long, every problem was saved up for now! All these things have been or are in the process of being fixed, and each individually isn't such a big deal ... but the cumulative effect definitely ended up pinging my cranky meter.

After the thrill of seeing the cabinets and kitchen layout come to life on Tuesday, by yesterday I didn't even want to look at the construction in progress anymore. I JUST WANT IT FINISHED AND ALL THIS CHAOS OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!

As I told Ken at work yesterday, if, after the thoughts of all the aggravation fade, I somehow decide I want to do another home remodel project: STOP ME!!!

Lee assures me that this, too, will pass ... and I hope to get some of the excitement back as our visiting relatives see it for the first time this holiday weekend.

The major infrastructure problem at ConstructionWorld yesterday actually has nothing to do with the project itself: The roof over the old portion of the kitchen is leaking. Argh!!! An electrician working in the attic noticed water spots. Looks like we can't wait until next spring to replace the roof, but it needs to be done before winter. That was definitely NOT in my FY '02 budget....So now we're in the process of getting estimates for roof replacement. And I'm also trying to find a painter who can come in October, which apparently is not as easy as it sounds.

The cold, driving rain didn't help my mood in general yesterday, as not only was the ambiance dreary and depressing, but now I'm worried about how much water is leaking into our attic.

There was a bit of good news today as well, though. The dumpster was finally removed from our driveway!! I'm sure our neighbors are thrilled, and I was especially appreciative coming home with piles of washed and folded laundry I'd dropped off this morning ... meant I didn't have to walk from the street across the muddy grass in the rain, but could park in the driveway!

And, Lee reports that our electric bill was about half the usual amount this month. Amazing what not having an oven, washer, dryer or dishwasher will do for that -- not to mention air conditioning half the usual amount of space.

In actual work progress yesterday, some appliances were moved into place (although not installed) and trim work began. I posted a few photos (third row on the page).