Is It Memorial Day Yet?

The electricians should be clearing out today. Yesterday they converted all of the fuses to breakers and hooked us up on the extra energy. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that we only had 60 amps of power coming into the house, whereas most people have 200 or something like that. Jason and I were both astounded that although we were aware that the electric was not up-to-date, we had no idea how bad it was. Oh well, it's fixed now. Thank goodness. When I get home today I should have a plug under the sink to run both the dishwasher and the garbage disposal. Jason ran the dishwasher last night since we had a few dirty dishes in the laundry room sink that had been sitting there for about a week. He used the contractor's heavy duty extension chord. I have to stop for veggies on the way home so that I can chop them up and then scrape the scraps into the disposer. It'll be great!

Jason went out to buy moulding this morning so that the carpenter can finish hanging it in the dining room, hallway, and living room. When he got to the house to drop off his materials, the carpenter was there bringing in cabinet doors. Still no painter. The carpenter claims that the painter has been taking advantage of the nice days to finish outside jobs for other clients. Jason says if the cabinets are not complete by Friday we are hiring our alternative painter. The current painter charges a premium price for unreliable service. The only reason we hired him was because I figured it would be easier for him and the carpenter to coordinate so that the cabinets and doors would be painted before the doors were installed. The carpenter has to be done by Friday because he's flying south for a month. We've all known this from the very beginning. The deal was that the painter would have it all painted and then last thing would be door installation. I'm livid that the painter has slacked on the one reason we agreed to hire him. Perhaps that condition should have been made more clear, but I have no issue with Jason just paying him for what's already been done (the two coats on the doors) and then moving on to the other painter.

I spent most of today searching for a picture to hang over the hideously ugly 3 ft X 1.25 ft grey breaker box hanging on the kitchen wall. At my third store I called Jason to complain. I was close to his work so he came over there on his lunch hour to see what I'd picked out. He didn't like what I'd chosen, nor did I, so he looked around a little with me and we found one that we think will cover it. It was hard to find the right size, the right colors, and one that was tolerable aesthetically. If this one covers the box, I think I'll be able to pull some colors out of it for accessories like window treatments and a cover for the chopping block cart. We plan to restructure our rolling chopping block into a breakfast nook. I think it will be really cute.

I'm starting to be able to imagine the finished product, although I don't really believe that it will ever be finished. Anybody have a saw that Jason can use to install the floor? Anybody want to help install the floor? Just asking!