New Kitchen Unveiled

I apologize in advance to those of you who have seen some of these photos previously. Then again, I had to look at this view every single day for 12 long, dark years.

Enjoy!

Old floor

I can powder my nose by looking at this floor! It's so shiny it's like looking in a mirror!!

Old sink..

New sink! New cupboards! New squiggly handle thingys! New counter!

Old drawers, and old space for a drawer that fell apart.

Look! A drawer with a front! And an extra cupboard!

Old pantry, view 1.

Old pantry, view 2. It had a certain je ne sais quois.

New pantry, view 1. (With doors! That close!)

New pantry, view 2.

Old cabinets.

New cabinets.

Ugliness.

More ugly.

Still ugly.

And, here's some ugly parts.

I CAN SEE!

Total: $5,950

Construction by Dila Construction; started on a Tuesday, finished the following Tuesday.

Is it possible to be in love with inanimate objects??

Clean Sweep, the Not-Born-to-Run Kitchen Edition, Part Two

You ask, I deliver!

You might remember my BEFORE kitchen...we'll wait while you go check it out.

And in case you don't have the patience to click, here's a few before shots just to refresh your memory:

Shudder.

Oh, look away!

Kitchen is EMPTY.

OMG NEW CABINETS!

OMG NEW FLOOR!

MORE CABINETS! and MORE FLOOR!

STILL MORE CABINETS!

Total cabinet tally: 7, Home Depot in-stock: $1,000.

But just wait...wait til you see the final product! I could perform surgery in this kitchen! In fact, I'm making Number One Daughter scrub before she's allowed to set foot (that would be a bootie-covered foot) in this inner sanctum!!



Stay tuned for the finished, final, granite-bedecked kitchen that I want to sleep in. Watch this space!

(Obligatory Tri Note: Sunday, June 21: International Triathlon Union, Sprint Tri, Washington, D.C. I am Very Nervous.)

(Obligatory Housewives Note: I really like Caroline!)

Clean Sweep, the Not-Born-to-Run Kitchen Edition, Part One

Yes, it's time to come clean, so to speak. You've seen bits and pieces of the NBTR headquarters over the years. Well, here it is, in all its glory, I present, my kitchen:

Yes, the floor is missing a few pieces.

Not enough cabinets resulted in this delicate solution of baskets and a metal shelving unit.

About oh, 8 months ago, Number One Daughter started stripping the wallpaper, step one in our "oh-we-surely-can-remodel-this-ourselves" phase. There was no step two.



So, a while ago, the top drawer sort of fell apart. It's amazing what you can get used to.





There you have it: 75 square feet of what has to win the prize for the "kitchen in most need of repair."

And I'm sure I would have lived with this depressing miserable workplace for a long time to come if I didn't have a crazy goal to rent my place out and move into the city. And if Number One Daughter's imminent departure weren't so...imminent.

I started saving and squirreling away every spare penny, and talking to contractors (fun! Not!). It's not like I was looking for a dream kitchen here. I had no interest in over-improving the place (a good thing, given my budget and the free-falling condo market). ALL I needed was 7 in-stock Home Depot cabinets, a new floor, new light fixture, and new countertop. And I didn't want to spend more than $5,000.

IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?

After MONTHS of looking, I finally settled on this firm, which works primarily on Capitol Hill, but which agreed to come out to the hinterlands of Bethesda to do this job.

Wait 'til you see what happened next. You WILL NOT BELIEVE IT.

Stay tuned....

14 Miles in the A.M.

We are really ramping up the miles over here at NBTR headquarters, with 14 miles on the schedule tomorrow. I am NOT looking forward to it (really? no kidding?) as last week's 12 miles was horrifying. Luckily I ran with two women who would NOT allow me to stop. Of course I was bleeding to death last week (TMI? Sorry!) so it's possible things will go better, but if I didn't expect the worst, then, well, I dunno what might happen! The world might stop spinning.

Meanwhile, let's drop in on what I've charmingly dubbed:

PROJECT INACTION 2009!

When we last visited, our heroine was avoiding numerous mundane and stultifyingly boring or exciting, but scary, tasks. Let's see how much progress she's made:

Kitchen: None.

Taxes: Um, nada.

Match.com: Wrote to a few people, no reply.

Pick a tri, ANY TRI: Uh, try try again. (heh)

Submit bills to insurance: Nope! Although I did put them in a pile.

Write upstairs landlord about falling-in bathroom ceiling: Did. Nothing.

Start writing short story for contest, deadline of March 16: I did actually open Word. I wrote one sentence tonight, then decided I needed to blog.

Swim coach: Posted query on D.C. Tri forum, contacted one coach. YAY!!! I ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING! WHEEE!!!

Let's add another item to Team Inaction!: All my New (old) Tri Program peeps have signed up for DC Tri's Half-Ironman Training program. It's only $50. I have no desire to do a half-ironman, and I think the training would be too much for me. So what's the problem, you ask? I have no plan, and I think it would be fun training with these people. SO, you ask, WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

The problem is I seem utterly unable to make any decisions.

Sigh.

In other exciting news, I saw the President today. His motorcade went right by my office. His daughter goes to school just up the street from where I work, and he and Mrs. O. attended a parent-teacher conference. (Seriously, can you imagine? "So, your daughter is having a tough time fitting in. Anything going on at home we should know about?") So they closed the street (not an easy feat), there were about 200 cops, motorcycles, PLUS a helicopter, and everyone came out and watched and waved. It was exciting.

The Morning After the Day After Christmas

I finally found my camera cable, but all the Christmas photos are on Number One Daughter's camera, which of course I don't know how to use. We had a great Christmas. I got an I-Pod AND an electric blanket and earrings and so many other things I can't even remember, and NOD got socks and sweaters. Hmmm....

I can't remember the last time I didn't have a workout scheduled for a Saturday morning. It's a weird feeling. I have no idea what to do with myself (here's a hint, Jeanne: WRITE YOUR DAMN CHRISTMAS CARDS!). Yesterday morning, I ran five miles at a numbingly slow pace (58 minutes. Come on!!!). I will never understand how I can get so slow in one week. NEVER. NOD has guests (elementary school friend and her husband) staying for the weekend, so she insisted we clean the house on Friday. So bossy. I spent the rest of Friday cleaning and baking. And baking. Tally so far: two loaves of yeast bread, two loaves of quick bread, lasagna, french toast, pecan pie. That's a lot of food to come out of this dump place:

I like to call this shot "Hell's Kitchen." You can clean this kitchen as much as you like but somehow it still looks like an unmade bed. Notice the artful tower of pots and pans. That I washed several hundred times. Notice also the missing drawer. It's much easier to the get to the second drawer this way. Eliminates all that sliding open and closed. It's possible that we're a bit behind on the renovation plan.

Lasagna, made from an authentic ancestral recipe, and Eggnog bread, on my NEW STOVE.

My Major Award for coming in 2nd place!

Major Award, frontal view.

There are many more photos showing off my homemaking skills, but you'll just have to wait for them.

P.S. Old School Runner has a fantastic post about unusual Christmas songs. I wish I'd thought of that. But I was far too busy cooking up the carbs. Leave him a comment with your nomination.