Demolition Girl!

Hi everyone. Back from another hectic (but fun - and filled with people I love) weekend. I'd love to tell you all about it, but I really owe a post about the kitchen! So I'm sure you remember it in all its dingy black-and-white glory??? Well I'm proud to say that's totally gone. In its place? A large, cavernous dust cave. How appetizing! Now, if you're even 1/2 as obsessed as we are with HGTV (honestly Mike Holmes is like a god in our house), you will probably assume, as I did, that demolition is this fun little activity that never takes more than 20 sped up seconds to complete. You will then stand in the middle of your clean empty space and admire your work without a speck of dust on you. Biggest. Lie. Ever. So far our demo activities have been progressing for OVER A WEEK now! It doesn't help that the old owners were the kings of band-aid solutions. B spent a whole day just removing the disgusting paneling and cabinets, only to reveal multiple layers of "kitchen" themed wallpaper and plaster walls. He also discovered a "secret door" (i.e. a doorway that had been paneled over for convenience). So far we have removed:

• All cabinets, counter-tops, and appliances
• The entire ceiling - drop ceiling installed 15-18" below horse hair plaster with slats
• 3.5 of the four major walls (one wall is being completely removed and the living room side still has to come down, hence the half) - paneling, three layers of horse hair plaster with slats down to chair rail height, with hard wood wainscoting below.Oh, and there were even two layers of backsplash... total hack job!
• The entire floor - 4 layers of linoleum, and a layer of hard wood (and no, the hard wood is not salvageable *weeps*)

I don't have all my pictures with me, but here are a few. 

Did I fail to previously mention the incredible spaghetti pile of electrical wires? My bad. 

The doorway on the left edge is the secret doorway. The doorway on the right is the former kitchen entrance. Good view of what the inside of a horse-hair plaster wall looks like. Hopefully this wall (the final frontier) will be down tonight.

I will have to draft a second post with more pictures for you when I get home. Till then, put on a nice clean white t-shirt for me, and go dice some veggies in your nice clean kitchen. ;)

Flashing Lights, lights, lights.

Wow, what a great 4th of July weekend. The weather cooperated in a major way as we got a weekend of beautiful sunshine and a light sea breeze in Falmouth. I even managed to swim in the ocean, you know it must've been really warm (see below for proof!)

I believe this picture was taken just AFTER Josh got in trouble with the lifeguard for a flip contest with the little girl on the platform. Perhaps Dinna and I scoring them wasn't helping either. Needless to say, B was seated firmly and securely on the beach with Mrs. Levy, SCAREDY CAT!

The barbecues were indeed plentiful and delectable. A huge shout out (again) to the Levy's for hosting us, and being so generally awesome. So glad Ando and Shazam could also join us for the occasion. Here are a few more shots to sum up the great time...

 Being "pink" with the ladies next to one of the fanciest Oak Bluff mini-houses EVAH!

 Strange grown up prom picture of us!

Renovations and Celebrations!

I guess its not looking good for this blog so far! A week with no posting :-(  Anyway, in celebration of another great week here in MA let's talk about some exciting upcoming activities...

• July 4th!! Yes, this means cool beer, hot BBQs, and the beach. The weather report seems to be lining up well for the occasion. B (my better half) and I will be guests of the lovely Levy family! Josh and his fiance are some of our most awesome friends, and after spending a weekend with his parents last year I can see where he gets it from. I'll attempt to take some pictures and post them early next week. Until then, you can find us at Shucker's in Woods Hole. 
• Kitchen Renovation!! For some reason unbeknown to us, B and I apparently have an affinity for gutting various parts of our house on major holidays (a future post will surely show our bathroom, which was ripped out last Thanksgiving). I'm guessing this phenomenon is due in part to the vacation time from work, and our collective inability to sit still for very long. Below you can see some pictures of what it looked like before I left this morning (and for the preceding three years). 

• Why yes, that IS the cheapest ugliest linoleum HD offers for sale! What a great eye you have for the aesthetically unpleasing :-) Also, please note the washing machine that is doing double duty as a countertop.

• See that big white wall of paneling there? And that ugly commercial drop ceiling (completing the black and white look)? I anticipate the disappearance of these items by COB today.  Eventually EVERYTHING will be coming out, and I can't wait to update you on our progress. But for now, I'll just let these ugly images burn your retina's for awhile. 

Well folks, gotta break for now, but I promise to be more diligent in my quest to update the world with my doings!