Us v. the House

In the last two weeks, we've had the heating element in the oven go out, and the kitchen sink outflow plumbing completely fail (read: no dishwasher, no rinsing of anything, basically, instantaneous kitchen shut-down). Combine this with a moderately busy lawyer schedule, E's start-up, a brother in the hospital, and general life stuff... and well, we've been eating out a bit.

I suspect the house may have harbored some reservations about the modifications we have been discussing. There will be some major changes in the near future. Some of them, like the hardwood floors, were already in the works (in fact, brother was supposed to install the floors the week after the accident...).

But others, like wall removal, doorway widening, and ramps instead of level changes -- I can see why the house was probably a little bit scared and chose to hit us where it could hurt us the most: The Kitchen.

Thankfully, E fixed the oven after diagnosing the heating element problem. The failed element makes a very nice conversation starter.

And then, brother's friend T and his family came to visit brother and stayed with us this weekend (seriously, T&H's 2 children have to be the most well-behaved children I've ever encountered!).

While here, T rebuilt the plumbing for our kitchen sink (primarily from spare parts he just had lying around), explaining along the way exactly how messed-up it had been in the first place. Then, he helped us assess the future construction project.

Finally, while at the hospital visiting brother, T loaned us his truck to go pick up the flooring. In case you were wondering -- it is best not to wear a skirt while borrowing T's truck -- I had to back my back to the seat, grab the oh-shit handle, and hoist myself up with my biceps until my butt hit the seat because to step up to the floorboards would have required my foot to be above my waist...

Anyways, it was a very productive weekend. Several big items with the house were crossed off, and I for one, feel much less overwhelmed now that the kitchen has been fully re-righted. I can only hope that the house agrees.