Written by The Kitchen Nightmare really has no update to speak of since our last installment. Everything went on hiatus during the holiday last week and after demo of the cabinet, we’ve been waiting on our plumber. The waiting is frustrating. READ MORE »
Kitchen Nightmares, Part 2 (An Interactive Adventure)
Written by > LOOK
Living Room
You are sitting in your living room, and two of your three cats are entirely freaked out at this point. Veruca remains sleeping in the bedroom and doesn’t really care, but Monkey is on full scale red alert and Zion is pacing the living room, muttering something in Siamese that translates roughly to “This is BAD, BAD shit is going down guys, just oh god this is BAD..”
The kitchen door is closed to the south.
A steady thunder rumble can be heard from the general direction of the kitchen.
Your wife is reading funny stuff on the Internet.
Kitchen Nightmares, Part 1
On Saturday night, after a lovely evening meal, Rob helped me wash the dishes. As we stood there, the water in the sink drained slower and slower. Not thrilled with the prospect of having the drain snaked (mostly because of the miniscule digits staring back at me in our bank account), I did what we almost always do: called my dad.
Sunday afternoon, my parents came over to lend a hand. My dad asked Rob to run some water and came back in to the kitchen. “Well, it’s not good.” Gulp. Ok, so we call Roto Rooter? “No, call homeowner’s insurance.” WHAT? See, there’s this pipe that runs down the wall, through the floor and meets up with the main sewer line. And ours is broken. Water is flowing back into the house via that broken pipe.
This morning, I called our homeowner’s agency and within 3 hours, the water mitigation service was here. They checked moisture content in the floor and wall. Sub-floor? Soaked. Wall behind the sink? Soaked. All of these things are complicated by a few things, namely living in old house.
1) Asbestos! Woot! We don’t know yet if there’s asbestos in the wall. They come back tomorrow to test it. If there is, removal is a bit more complicated. We can still stay here but the kitchen will be locked up in the biohazard containment unit (last seen in ET, the Extra-Terrestrial when we all thought ET was dead and Elliot brought him back to life).
2. Original Tile on the floor! See above: Asbestos. Under the laminate floor lies the original tile installed in 1940 when our house was built. Cutting into this tile will release asbestos fibers into the air, requiring the ET biohazard unit again.
So here’s what we know. If the tile has to be cut to get at the water-logged subfloor, they will take out the entire floor. The good news for that is OMG I have wanted to rip out that laminate since I bought this house and never had the money or time or know-how to do it. The bad news.. we will be without our kitchen during this entire process. We may have cabinets ripped out to get the wet lath/plaster out and since they are original to the house, they are solid. The counter top tile will probably be ripped out as well and again, it’s original. I wish there was a way to keep it because I love it. If the floor comes out, the fridge and stove will have to be relocated, as will our chef’s table.
Can anyone come over and help us pack food and dishes and maybe feed us? We won’t be able to cook and I’m really not looking forward to washing dishes in the bathroom sink.
And for your viewing pleasure:
If you don’t cry, you have no soul.
Itchy Feet
It’s no secret or surprise to anyone who knows me well, that I love to travel. I love the planning, the itinerary building, new adventures, packing. It’s been a delicate balance being married to someone who is most definitely a homebody. There are times when I just want to take off and GO but ever the pragmatist, Rob reminds me that we can’t just leave.
The last few months have been difficult but not in the eviscerating way 2009 was. We lost Samson but the rest of our family and our pets are well. We are in good health. We have a solid marriage, great friends. But there’s this underlying sadness, fear for the future, for the present. I try to remind myself to trust that we will be provided for and mostly, I am aware of how much we have and how little we need.
I told Rob today I’ve been thinking about who I want to be in my 40s. My 30s were so transforming: I moved abroad, got married, changed careers, opened a business. What do I want to be when I’m 50? I want to be interesting. I want to be loving, healthy, content, strong. I want to be successful and I want to have good stories to relay. I want to be a good wife and a reliable friend. A work in progress, for sure.