Step Whatever: Home Stretch

WE HAVE A FULLY FUNCTIONAL KITCHEN! Gary was here yesterday morning hooking up the dishwasher and sink (with a little help from my Construction Supervisor, yet again. Perhaps he can join Gary's crew!) I have missed the sink more than I ever thought I would - having to bring everything to our tiny bathroom sink stinks. We were spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to use the same plate more than once, and I'd started taking sippy cups and water bottles over to mom's to wash them, because I felt like they were getting a better scrub.

It is so nice to just rinse a dish and throw it in the dishwasher. Or use a serving utensil, wash it, and throw it back in a drawer. In celebration, in the past 24 hours I have made two pecan pies (because my Grandma's pie crust recipe makes two pie crusts easier than one, and two pecan pies is a whole bottle of Karo syrup) and a lasagna for dinner tonight, because it is my boyfriend's birthday. He's turning 33 on 12/12/12, which is delightful and a little creepy.

Ellie is VERY excited about her daddy's birthday. She climbed up in with us today and gave him lots of hugs and kisses and told him happy birthday, and then we listened to the Beatles "Birthday," which is a family tradition. Then I made everyone pancakes, and because it's Tim's birthday, not mine, I even made him pancakes that weren't raw in the middle.

Ellie helped.

Then she insisted on wearing her apron through the rest of the day. Over her velvet Christmas dress, and to music class and the park. It was good though, because it allowed her to do some light house keeping at Gigi's house when we stopped by to celebrate with the Gardening Angels.

I'm so excited that things are coming together! We unpacked most of the dishes last night and the majority of the pantry. Things feel so clean and organized. The painters have been through to touch everything up, and now we're waiting on the under cabinet lights (hence the random wires still hanging out) and then some last minute wood work - mounts around the lights, some baseboard pieces, the thresh hold. Hopefully most of that, and a few cabinet fixes, will go in tomorrow and we can get fully settled. Then it's just final touches, final payment, and starting to think about whether or not we do the bathrooms before or after Lambeau. While I'd like to have them done before (and Glen thinks he can get them done) I am mentally exhausted at the idea of picking things out and putting them in again. We'll see how I feel after I get a chance to mop the house and have it be clean for more than 14 hours.