Flu & Frustrations

When you have the flu and can barely move the last thing you need is to have to make house renovation decisions, but today that is what I am doing.  I feel awful with the body aches and extreme fatigue and fever, but there is much to be done.  Oh, and I HATE code and support structures.  I'll explain later.

I had planned to take a day off and lay on the couch to watch tv all day; I wanted to really rest my body and hopefully feel better sooner rather than later, but Jeff called from work and told me that I had to buy the column for the peninsula.  He casually mentioned about a month ago that we needed to buy one, but he never provided me with the specifications.  Back in March he got a brochure from a lumber company, so I tore the house up looking for that.  We are so cramped in this rental that organization has fallen by the wayside unfortunately.  I never found it.

I tried looking online.  Most places take at least 4 weeks to ship, and most places don't even offer the size we need.  I never wanted this column anyway.  Stupid code again forcing me to do things to my home that I do not like, and do not want.  The purpose of removing the wall was to have an open plan.  Now this ugly column is going to be in the way.  I guess that's better than having the house fall down though;-)  And not only that--it has to be a column wrap, so there will be a seam.  I hope our team can make it as seamless as possible.  So far I haven't found one that I like.  I like round columns that aren't tapered, and I like a decorative capital and base.  But I have limitations on what will fit on the narrow beam that it attaches to at the ceiling.  So many factors that truly limit what we will get.  I wish I just didn't care.  As someone whose mood is heavily influenced by my environment I have to think about all of these things that we will have to live with forever--this is our forever home.

That has been the biggest frustration with this renovation.  Materials are due by a certain day, and that means off the shelf ready items, and usually I don't particularly care for what is in stock.  I wish I did because my life would be a lot easier.  I do like some of it, but for this column that I never wanted in the first place--I would like it to at least appear intentional instead of like some code mandatory item just plopped in place to hold up the ceiling, and to be decorative.  Most off the shelf columns are very plain and do not suit the existing decor or architecture of the house.  Ugh, I hate how picky I am.

While I was tearing up the house in search of the column catalog, Jeff called again with information from the granite dealer.  They need to know what size range backsplash shelf I wanted.  Well there's a problem because I just don't know.  I didn't really plan on having a shelf there.  My original design was to have a recessed niche in the backsplash to serve as a shelf for my most used cooking items (oil, salt & peppermill, etc.).  I was so disappointed when I couldn't do this because demo uncovered a support beam where I wanted the niche.  I decided on a workaround:  I wanted a 5" wide shelf.  Can't do it because of the range we bought and how it will fit against the wall.  So I figured out another workaround:  decided a 3" shelf would be the minimum width that would be usable--but then that's a problem too.  I have scoured the internet and I cannot find decorative iron brackets that will fit a 3" shelf.  I couldn't even find nondecorative ones.  I'm trying to figure out workarounds for my workarounds.  So now I am wondering if I should just scrap this shelf idea altogether.  Heck, there are moments when I just want to scrap this whole renovation, sell the house, and move to someplace tropical to a rental where I never have to think about any of this minutiae again.  Dream on, Cindy.  All kidding aside I do need a vacation.  Or at least for this flu to run its course and go away.  

We did manage to select the granite layout that suited us best.  Here it is:

That's an actual picture of the stone we selected.  The program that the dealer uses can actually let you select the area of the slabs we picked so that we can determine the pattern in different areas of the kitchen.  Technology is amazing!  Jeff had the great idea for the enlarged window sill over the sink to be made of granite.  That makes me happy because it will be easy clean up for my plants that I will have there (my African Violets and Herb plants).  It will also be an added stylistic element to continue the stone.

Ok, so Jeff just called again to tell me that we need lights for the front porch.  !!!!  Auuuuuuugh!  I asked him months ago if we were going ahead to buy them now or wait until later and focus on the inside.  He said we would wait, so I put it out of my mind.  Now it's an emergency to get them, which means I have to buy something off the shelf just because it is available now.  I really hate that.  I want to choose things with a purpose of selecting what will look best with the house that I love.  Shopping under duress and flu symptoms is the worst.  To add insult to injury--he never told the electrician to wire the back porch.  The communication breakdown has become very apparent today.  Trying to stay positive.  We are trying to handle so much that things are falling out of our minds.  I hope we can get through this week.