Not Bad...

We had a productive weekend. Friday night we sanded and stained all the base cabinets. Saturday, we started out with a trip to Home Depot for a sink, a faucet, and some lumber. Then, we divided and conquered. While Gary installed all the base cabinets, I finished sanding and staining all the drawers and started the tedious process of hand-sanding the cabinet doors. (Gary's dad later lent us a power hand-sander when he found out I was hand-sanding. Yay!) I gladly stopped to make pierogies with a side of zucchini, yellow squash, and onions and the best yellow wax beans I have ever had in my life. I am in love with the garden!

Sunday, we did something unprecedented: we went to very early 8:00 a.m. mass instead of our usual 10:00! Afterwards, we went out for breakfast at Ike's and back to Home Depot for counter-top plywood and cement backer board. We worked for hours, then went BACK to Home Depot for plumbing pieces, two extended electrical boxes for under the sink, and countertop installation tools and sealer. Here's how far we got:

We decided a few weeks ago that my impatience from this do-it-yourself renovation is because I keep watching t.v. shows on HGTV or TLC where they re-do an entire house in 30 or 60 minutes. After we quit working, we ate frozen pizza and watched the Flip This House marathon. Not a good idea!

We took a short break on Sunday to meet Emily's new dog! Yes, Gary's parents got a dog!! She had a hamster, Pinball, but he passed away on Gary's birthday this past Thursday. Her name is Daisy, she is a 9-week-old Bichon/poodle mix and she is super cute. Emily and her mom came over because we wanted to see the puppy, and Gary's mom wanted to see our kitchen. Gary wanted to introduce our dogs to their new cousin, so they had a nice meeting in the backyard. Pippin was very gentle, and Frodo was really excited and wanted to play with her when she ran. Daisy has to grow a bit first! She should grow to 15 pounds.

The dogs followed Daisy around the yard the whole time. It was so funny.

Gary is having his double bunion surgery on Wednesday, so he's hanging up his tool belt for his recovery on the couch. I think he plans to watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy while he recuperates (he has the extended versions if you're thinking the ones you saw in the theater were long). He also has a J.R. Tolkien book that I bought for him a while back that he hasn't read. I saw a review for it in Time, and LOTR fans love this other book. We'll see how tired the painkillers make him. Maybe he'll let me take before and after photos of his feet for the blog...stay tuned!