Are you the criminals?
From the statistics??!
One of the few ways I can get all my kids on board with an adventure is to go camping in Idaho’s Central Dark Sky Reserve. I scheduled a couple of campouts for us in the Sawtooth Mountain area back in April, 10000% confident that my kitchen would be done by then.
Please cue the canned laughter.
I don’t think I’ve ever packed for a camping trip while essentially camping inside the shell of my own home, but here we are. It was nice!
The stunning Saw Tooth Mountains are just out of frame to the right of that photo because my kid did not get the memo when I handed him the camera, but we will celebrate mom actually being IN one of the pics regardless.
💔💔💔 Sadly, this whole are is now on fire. If you are an Idahoan or nature lover and are able, there is a fund raiser for the owners of the Red Fish Lake Lodge. There’s also a benefit concert in Ketchum on July 19th if you are in the area.
I came home DETERMINED to make more significant progress on the kitchen.
Before leaving to camp, we’d been able to get the sink cabinet in place which meant jimmy rigging extender hoses to make the temporary utility sink & drain work. I have no photos of this literal duct tape and glue set up because it was awful. The drain extender routinely broke and flooded the kitchen with dish water and even I was ready to light a match and call it a day.
I sifted through my very expensive bids for countertops and decided to go the prefab route to save a bundle. I visited a stone yard specializing in prefab slabs and was informed I could install them myself by a man who also said I was gorgeous. I reacted not unlike this:
I mean, thanks? But also, you’re full of lies? And are you just flattering me so I spend 2k on stone sitting in your yard? I mean, it worked, because I did spend 2K on stone sitting in his yard.
But look! It was pretty!
He said it was harder than marble (true), about the same hardness as granite (false), promised it wouldn’t etch or stain (false), and kept assuring me I could handle three large slabs all by myself and could also magic the tools out of thin air to cut them to fit my space.
I told him that I was sure he was full of nonsense and would surely regret all my life choices the first time I left a lemon slice on the counter top, and asked him to please recommend an installer since I was not about to try to install these by myself.
Said installer spoke very little English. We made it through with heavy use of Google Translate but it was rough. The sweet man kept apologizing for his poor English and I was not having it. “You speak two languages!” I shouted, defaulting to speaking louder so he’d understand. “I only speak one!” I called myself “tonto” which is apparently the masculine form of “dumb nut” and he clutched his chest as though I had mortally wounded him. “No! Me! I’m tonto! No habla Espanol!” Google helped: “Las escuelas americanas son terribles!” He appeared slightly less concerned and went back to trying to explain why I couldn’t have diagonal seams between slabs (I’m still not sure why).
He had me cut and install these boards (below) to lift up the countertops for reasons that were explained in rapid Spanish. Google Translate kept telling me it had something to do with a dog (perro?) functioning, but I still don’t know.
I panicked when I realized installing the countertops would trap the above wire for the outlet on the end of the peninsula. We had to pause everything while I got the electrician out there to run it through a conduit.
Guys, people hire general contractors for a reason. I didn’t fully appreciate that I’d been married to one. (Sobs in HELOC payments).
Anyway, there were some hiccups, but voilà! I have counters and a sink!
The dishwasher and disposal are hooked up to plumbing but are still waiting for electrical. The electrician is waiting for me to finish the backsplash (I started it last night) and then he’ll come finish the outlets/switches, under cabinet lighting, over-sink light fixture, the plug on the end of the peninsula, and (the WORST JOB) move the pendant lights in the ceiling (one hangs too low and the cabinet nearest them can’t open).
After that I’ll need more drywall patching & a whole ceiling paint job as I have been unable to match my ceiling paint (my attempts look terrible). 💸💸💸 (Seriously, Eric saved us so much money over the years, I cannot even.)
It took FIVE ATTEMPTS for RTA Cabinet Store to get their supplier to deliver a backing piece for the peninsula that wasn’t broken in sixteen places. It’s finally here and my cabinet helper guys from Renovate It are here finishing it out for me. They’re a local company that sells the same cabinet line (I had no idea or I would have shopped local) and helped me with the crown molding and light rails. They’ll be back tomorrow to build a box for the microwave vent pipe.
I had grander plans for the backsplash, but decided to save hundreds and just go with good old white subway tile. This and this were in the running — both very pretty, but quite a bit more money. I had white subway before and liked it just fine. I’ll grout it in white.
How the dolomite countertops will hold up is anyone’s guess. If you have them, hit reply and tell me all your horror stories! There’s wildly conflicting information on the internet, though I think this article is the most accurate. From what I can sort out, they’re a close cousin to marble, but you have more time to wipe up spills that will etch the stone. I’m girding my loins for etching and stains — the kids have already baptized them by leaving an olive oil ring next to the stove. I did not take it well. 😭 We did have them sealed, will reseal every year, and I’m using a cleaner/sealer combo (AF link to Amazon) every time I wipe them up.
All things considered, I don’t think I’ve done too badly. I started everything mid-April and it’s now mid-July (what? how?) Three months and we’re close? Close-ish? The laundry room is going to take me a lot longer to sort out (I need to let my budget recover) but it’s at least functioning.
Would I do this again? Ooh, that’s a painful question right now, but, yes? I think? The kitchen layout is SO MUCH BETTER. But I’d probably hire a general contractor from the get-go.
Stuff I’ve liked/enjoyed etc:
Collapsible camp sinks. I have had these for years, along with this collapsible dish rack. Every time we go camping with family, they are impressed. (Both AF links)
Solar Charger! We have long needed one and I finally picked one up. It works so well you’ll think it’s magic. Kept our phones charged on our camping trips so we could take photos (no service up there) and listen to audiobooks at night.
If your body also hates you and you have to eat gluten free, these Goodie Girl Mint Cookies are actually GOOD! They’re the closest thing I can get to Girl Scout Thin Mints. Have I recommended these before? I don’t know. They’re that good.
Tall girl find: SEVEGO Women’s Hiking Pants in 30”, 32”, 34”, and 36”(!!!) inseams. They are glorious, I have them in two colors. (AF link)
Another tall girl find: BALEAF Women’s 15” Inseam Hiking Shorts. I’m in that weird post-Mormon space where I no longer have to wear garments down to my knees, but missed that window of time where I might have liked having my thighs out (I have lipedema (early stage 2, so I’m extra lumpy). These are great without feeling too matronly.
How to Keep House While Drowning. This has been on my TBR pile for ages and I finally listened to the audiobook. Geared slightly toward young moms with little kids, there are still really great things in here for the rest of us. Written specifically with neurospiciness in mind, the chapters are short and sweet and have quick take away points. Really good ‘keep your head above water’ advice for anyone struggling with self care and household tasks during widowhood, depression, ADHD overwhelm, etc.
I love a documentary and recently watched & recommend: Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini (Not at all what you’d expect when a pretty young blonde disappears!), Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence (I will be digesting this for a LONG TIME. HOLY CROW), Under the Banner of Heaven (this was a re-watch for me. I also highly recommend the book [AF link] and these news articles).
New Girl is a comfort re-watch show for me and I’m really enjoying the Mess Around Podcast with Lamorne Morris and Hannah Simone. I’m not much of a podcast girl as podcasts don’t count toward your books read total on Goodreads. (Haha, no but really. Someone recommends a podcast and I’m like… mmmmmm, no.) But this has been really fun.
Post title & subtitle apropos of absolutely nothing. It’s Schmidt. He’s the greatest.