New Kitchen, New Lease on ....Cleanliness?

Around April or March of this year I turned to Gene and said, “I hate this kitchen. I think if I had a new kitchen, I’d keep it cleaner.” Clearly desperate for a cleaner kitchen, he readily agreed with my hypothesis. I walked into Northeastern Kitchen and Bath’s showroom, stated I hated my kitchen, and I haven’t looked back since!!

We’re now in the throes of construction. Ron, my contractor, is steady and deliberate breaking only to eat lunch (I supply some stale bread and room temperature water in a three ounce Dixie Cup) and to take the occasional call from another client (the nerve!) or his wife (good thing!) He and his helper work while Sesame Street or Scooby Doo is blaring from the family room TV, or Cathy is asking them to please stop using the nail gun because she can’t hear said TV, or Xena is laying in the worst conceivable spot and they have to get her to move; sometimes having to enlist my help 'cause when Chickie don’t wanna move, Chickie AIN’T movin’! But I just give her the stink eye and the gravelly-voiced “let’s go, Xena” and voila! Clear path…for at least the next couple of minutes anyway.

Then we have Mike at Northeastern who is quick to praise my good taste or shoot down a bad suggestion. I’ve called him from Home Depot’s lighting department, I’ve called him while pouring over sink catalogs, I’ve called him whining about the price of granite. He takes my call every time. My husband doesn’t even do that! Maybe if I pay him….?

At any rate, at the end of six days in, I have seen the last of the vinyl-covered cabinets, the blue formica countertops (yes, that’s right, I said BLUE FORMICA COUNTERTOPS), the dishwasher that lost a piece of rack at every wash, and the crusty range with the burners that had three settings: high, higher, and holy crap get the fire extinguisher! I’ve lived through the panic of having to find additional floor tile for a floor put in almost three years ago (thank you Avalon Carpet!) I watched my half-empty garage fill up to the rafters with boxes and boxes of cabinetry until it resembles the closing scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark then watched my once 80’s-style, completely empty kitchen fill up with absolutely beautiful cherry cabinets. Sweet.

I do miss my kitchen sink though. I miss microwaving in the kitchen as opposed to the dining room. I miss my countertop…well, I should say I miss a place to put stuff down ‘cause Lord knows it’s not the blue I long for! I miss, most of all, my dishwasher. Even though I know it’s only for a short time, cleaning dinner dishes in the laundry room slop sink and setting them out to dry on the top of the dryer is a drag.

Yes, I’m complaining about being inconvenienced while my dream kitchen is installed. I know, I know, what nerve! What can I say? I’m human and slightly anal but honest. I’ll keep my impatient foot tapping and laundry room whining to a minimum but I can’t guarantee a full cease fire!

-Eileen Cassidy Bishop