Excuses and Kithcen Updates

Yes - I know. I promised to post every couple of days. And I promised to get those Christmas pictures posted for everyone to see. And I promised to get the pictures from Heather's wedding posted too.

Let's face it - I'm behind! There are multiple reasons (aka "excuses") and I'll happily lay them out for you and ask for forgiveness!

The first big one is work. Yes - there was a time when one of the Leengrams was on "Christmas break" and the other one was "winding down the year" at work. Squeezing out a few minutes during the middle of the day wasn't a problem. Now - one of us is in "back to school" mode, and the other has been given a "new project" at work. We are lucky to have time for lunch. So much for posting during the day!

The second big one is basketball. We are now right in the thick of the season! And the Vols are doing pretty good - especially when you consider that they have 4 freshmen and 3 sophomores and 3 juniors in the 10 man rotation. That's right - no seniors! So, with that in mind, a 10 and 4 start to the season is pretty good - especially when 2 of the losses were to a fantastic Gonzaga team and another loss was to last years national champions - Kansas. The unfortunate part was the second Gonzaga loss was at home - snapping our home game winning streak. Before that loss, we had the second longest home winning streak in the country. Never fear - I'm confident we'll get back there. After all, Coach Bruce Pearl is 53 and 4 at home. But alas - the games during the week mean that we get home late (it was about 1am for the Gonzaga game) - no posting on those days!

The last - and maybe the biggest - reason is this kitchen remodel. We went in to this thinking that we could pick some cabinets and countertop and be done. HA! We spent a month just finalizing the new layout! We spent weeks just finalizing the company we were going to buy the cabinets from - much less finalizing the actual cabinets! I kid you not - every day we have been doing one task or another related to the kitchen. Sometimes it's only a few minutes. Sometimes it's a few hours. Sometimes it's all day.

Well - those are the excuses. Add them all together and i can honestly say that this is the third time I've had the computer turned on since before Christmas. And one of those times was to pay bills! But I think we are on the downhill side, and the posts should start picking up again!

Now - on to the Kitchen update!!!

Yes - we have indeed been busy with the Kitchen. Here's the current "state of the kitchen" address...

The design has been finalized. Drawings are complete. Contractors are selected and the construction contract has been signed (that's right - this is a complete "gutting").

The countertop has been selected and the deposit on it has been payed. We decided on a "man-made" countertop over granite. Non porous, more stain resistant, and you can buff out scratches. Sounds good to me! The sink color is still a question - but it will be finalized this week. We know which color we want but there has been some confusion with the name of the color and we need to confirm our choice (with the correct color name). The countertop name is Livingstone "Mesa" - just in case you want to look it up...

The cabinet design, layout, model, and color have also been finalized and ordered! We are going with the "Dura Supreme" brand "Sophia Panel Plus" full overlay cabinet with the soft close drawers and doors. And the drawers are "full extension"! We should find out in the next couple of days when the estimated delivery date is...

And the appliances have all been selected, ordered, and have actually been delivered! They are sitting out in the garage - waiting to be unwrapped. They are black Kitchenaid appliances - bottom draw french door fridge, smooth top stove with convection oven, built in microwave, and a dishwasher. It was a surprise when they came in - I was expecting 2 weeks and it took 3 days!

The latest (and hopefully last) big decision is the tile. We've been to several places and have some ideas. Now we just need to finalize the decision - hopefully this week if everything goes according to plan! I'll keep you posted...

Until then - I promise, I haven't forgotten about the pics. I'll get them posted soon!

Take care everyone!!!