Sheesh, seems like it’s only been a week since I last wrote. I guess time flies when you’re having fun! Seriously, this summer has just flown by- faster than any I can remember. Hard to believe we are inside of 2 weeks before Labor Day.
We have been having some delightful weather since I last wrote. Most days have been sunny and in the 70’s, with a few in the low 80’s. The humidity has behaved itself most days as well. I guess the only complaint I have regarding the weather is that I have not been able to enjoy it as much as I would like to. There have been days where 5 pm rolls around and I have not even been outside! I have been in the shop all day, working on the kitchen cabinets.
Truth be told, I usually can only work around 3-4 hours a day on them and then run out of steam. So I kind of have developed a groove to the day. Wake up by 8, have breakfast and then be a bum for around an hour, take a shower and then go down into the woodshop and put in an hour or two. Then it is back up to the apartment for lunch and then back down into the shop for a few more hours. The evenings are spent chilling with Nora and/or watching a movie with Grace. Plus there are days where I have to go to town and do not get to work on the cabinets at all.
It’s been a battle of wits to not get stressed by the slow progress of the cabinets. If I were in 100% health, they most likely would have been done a month or more ago, but the reality is, I can only do so much at this moment. I am getting better at just walking away when my body and brain begin to tire, it just can be frustrating sometimes.
The good news is that I am very close to having all of the base cabinets along the walls done. There are already 3 of them over at the house, in place. That allowed the plumbers to hook up the kitchen sink and dishwasher. The other two I am currently working on go on either side of the range. Each has 6 drawers in them, so that is 12 drawers total. Yesterday, as I was putting the actual drawer boxes together, I figured out that there was a total of 120 parts for all of those drawers, that does not include the drawer slides, just the boxes and fronts. I have no pictures of them or the others that are at the house already, but will be sure to take some shots for the next entry.
The rest of the house is almost ready for move-in as well. The plumbers just need to install the utility sink in the laundry room, as well as to bring in the fridge-freezer and hook the water line to it. There is electrical work to be done. Several lights still need to be installed, as well as some switches. They also need to move the standby generator from the shop to the house and hook it up. We did get the power hooked up to the house around 2 weeks ago, so gone are the days of using extension cords from the temporary power pedestal.
We also got the main delivery of furniture around 2 weeks ago. Grace has been busy putting the smaller things together and is doing a great job! Here is a shot of her desk in her room. Here she is joined by a friend in the assembly of something for her room. I think that was actually a hammock! Her room is so large, it can have a hammock without crowding things! She deserves it though, as she has not had a real bedroom since 2019.
So, it is looking likely that we could be moving in sometime late this coming week or weekend. Besides the two cabinets I need to finish, I also need to put up some closet rods and shelving in the master closet, as well as Grace’s closets. I also need to put up some shelving in the pantry, but all of those tasks can get done in a days work, even one of my days of work!
While I have used the phrase “I did…” I would be a real jerk not to recognize all the work that Nora and Grace have been doing. In addition to assembling the pieces of furniture that came via UPS/FedEx, they also completed the monumental job of emptying out the shipping container that held all the stuff that is to make the move from the old home to the new. I am also so grateful to the neight bors that have helped me with different tasks. A week ago, two of them, along with one of Nora’s brothers moved some of the larger/heavier things that were in the shipping container into the house.
This whole building process has really shown me just how blessed my life is. While Nora and I have had some disagreements in the process, the vast majority of things have gone without any friction at all. We are fortunate to have very similar tastes in things. I have nothing but praise for our contractors. They did an amazing job of things and rolled with any of the changes we made along the way. It’s a beautiful house, inside and out. Jake is really a special place, with very special people living in it. Grace is just an amazing daughter. Just thinking of her can bring tears of joy to my face. She is growing up so fast. We all attended a wedding last weekend and she looked so grown up dancing with others on the dance floor. I used to think that when it was time for her to go off to college, I would be just fine with it, but she is now 4 years away and I know they will absolutely fly by and I will be a puddle when she goes off to a university. Just another reason to live each and every second like it is your last. Take nothing for granted and appreciate everything, even the challenges that life throws at you.
Good Night From the Keweenaw..
–JD
