A Normal Life

After nearly a month of feeling like a guest in my own home, things are nearly back to normal.

The contractor's guys finished grouting the new tile on the backsplash over the kitchen counter, put the handles on the kitchen cabinets and a few other little things. I spent the evening dragging stuff up from boxes in the basement and putting it away-- and cooking.

Some people find cooking a drag and a hassle. I love to cook. I find it relaxing, and I can cook healthy, tasty meals for a fraction of the cost that take-out or frozen meals would cost. I've missed it for the last month.







There are still a couple of things to do. There's a cabinet missing-- there should be one over the coffee-maker, to the left of the sink. The contractor mismeasured, and so it had to be remade. It'll be a couple of weeks. Also, Kim and I are going to buy some more shelves of our own to put over the extra counter we bought.

I know it must sound totally bourgeois, but while cooking and putting stuff away tonight, I was thrilled with a bunch of things.

First, it's nice to have a stove that heats quickly, and doesn't shoot flames out when the pilot light fails to light the gas in the stove. My best friend Jim lost his eyebrows one night to the old stove, when cooking a pizza while watching Adam for me a few years ago.

It's also great to have a lazy susan to store our big pots and pans.



Also, the new sink is much bigger than the old one-- my big roasting pan fits in it with ease, and my big Calphalon pan as well. Those were always a headache to wash in the old, small sink.



One other thing. When I bought Kim the new refrigerator in December, I spent a little extra money and got the automatic icemaker with it, although we didn't have a hook-up for it. By spending the extra money, it bumped the price up to where delivery was free and they hauled the old one away free as well. And in the renovation, they installed a hook-up for the icemaker.



And on top of it all, we have a pantry with shelves that don't sag at a 10 or 15 degree angle.



The bathroom also looks great.





Oh, one more thing. On the way back from IKEA to buy the countertop a couple of Sundays ago, we stopped at a couple of stores and managed to purchase what was probably the last patio set left in Chicago. It's a beautiful wrought-iron set with a granite table-top. The set was on clearance, so it set us back only $89.00 and tax.



I'm sitting at it now on this lovely July Chicago night with a glass of Malbec, writing this post.

Tomorrow, I'll tackle organizing the pantry and finish putting everything away there.

Next month, I'll be here in this place 9 years. It's funny-- when I looked at this place the first time, I found the 1950's kitchen charming. Now I'm thrilled to be done with it.

Also, the day after I moved in here nine years ago, I started my first "official" teaching job, at Spencer Elementary, and was excited and nervous about it. This week, I'm working my last day as a teacher, and am excited-- and nervous-- about that.