Living in Limbo

I haven't been posting much because our house is in limbo, thus no cooking.   Here's our kitchen:

The kitchen work started Monday so we've been living mostly in our basement with a microwave, crockpot, rice cooker and our second refrigerator is down there which makes it handy right now.  We also have a bathroom with a large counter we are using for our kitchen sink.  So, it's not really that bad.  The kitchen work involves painting the cabinets, putting in a wall oven, putting in a new cooktop, a new quartz countertop and subway tile backsplash.  To be perfectly honest, I think the kitchen is the easiest part of this whole remodel.  The deck is done except for the railing.  The hardest part has been the electrical work.  We are changing out all the electrical in our house because it is old and we're replacing it with new.  But that entails knocking out all the walls to get to it. 

Hey, look!  An old window in the wall.

Our house was remodeled in 2005 so not all of the electrical wiring needs to be replaced, thank goodness.  However, while they were cutting out the holes for the electricians, they found asbestos and lead in the living room ceiling that needs to be removed -  a new task to add to our list.  Our house was built in 1938 so it's common to find this when remodeling. It was in the dinning room and living room so now those rooms look like isolation rooms. 

Men in space suits came on Friday to work in isolation and will return next week.  We are currently living in the basement and upstairs which is plenty of room for us.  And we've been going out to eat A LOT.  Not that I mind in the least!  We've been enjoying it, actually.  We don't really eat out that much even though there are a ton of great places in Seattle.  I had started a list of all the places I wanted to go try during our remodel and we've been doing a pretty good job hitting them all, so far.  And, of course, whenever an opportunity arises to eat out, like going to a Mariner game, or Lauren taking a day off work like she did yesterday, I immediately say "Let's go out to eat!"  

My problem now is that I need to stop ordering drinks and dessert, like this luscious carrot cake at a new restaurant we tried down at Alki this week. 

The other thing about remodeling is that it gets you in the mood to clean out everything. After packing up the kitchen, I had so much stuff to donate.  Similarly, with living in the basement and upstairs.  Bruce and I have been cleaning out so much stuff lately and it feels so good. It has been a MAJOR spring cleaning frenzy.  We've only lived here four years and I'm already getting rid of stuff that's accumulated.   I'm just eager to start posting "after" photos once the remodeling is done.  So, stayed tuned.  Hopefully, my next post will be "before" and "after" photos.  Or maybe another new restaurant review.