Back to the house

Erik has been a big help with the remodel. Kent and him were taking down the upper cabinets so we can start getting ready for the sheet rockers.

It's very strange taking down the cabinets.

Here is where the ceiling will go up a bit and the smaller can lights as well as the pendant lights that will hang over the island.

Pictures that are too cute to miss

Here are a couple of shots that we took while we were down in SLC with Jennie, Mike & Sophia

Accident update

Kent and I have been trying to find out more information on the accident that we found on Sunday morning but couldn't seem to find anything. Today, Wednesday, I received a call from a State Patrol officer wanting a bit more information about the accident. After I gave him that information I asked if he could tell me if the guy made it or not. He told me that he was alive but in critical condition in a good hospital. That was a piece of good news that at least he was alive. So about this same time one of the IT guys in our office was able to search the internet better than I and he found the following story. Then to top it off another guy in our IT department is from Prosser and he knows this young man and his family. Very small world! So maybe we can get some updates on him!

Man in critical condition after rolling JeepYakima Herald-Republic


PROSSER -- An 18-year-old man was in critical condition after rolling his Jeep Wrangler Sunday morning on Interstate 82 just west of Prosser, authorities said.
Amauri Rivera was being treated at Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center, a nursing supervisor said Sunday evening.
Rivera, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the Jeep shortly after 9 a.m. when he lost traction on the sleet-covered roadway and overturned twice, landing on the outside shoulder, the Washington State Patrol reported.
Intoxicants were not believed to be involved, dispatchers said. The Jeep was destroyed.

The long trip home

So we went to SLC to visit with Mike, Jennie & Sophia and had a great time. We also went to go pick up a car that we bought from them and bring it back to Seattle. The trip seemed to go pretty good on Saturday though we started seeing signs that warned there was bad fog ahead. We kept going and didn't know how far ahead the fog was and we thought we had made it as we were just about 16 miles outside of Pendleton. Then the FOG hit! It was very scary and we could not see even 5 feet in front of the car. We finally made it out of the fog and we were so very glad to get to the hotel and relax. Little did we know what was ahead though. So on Sunday morning we got up early and left the hotel about 7:30 A.M. for what should be about a 4 1/2 to a 5 hour trip. As we went just a bit down the road the weather wasn't too good and there was getting to be a bit of slush on the road. There was a roll over accident we passed and a couple of other spinouts. We then stopped in Prosser to change drivers. Kent started driving and just after we got back onto the freeway we saw a jeep that looked like it had spun out. We were driving slowly by it when I saw that there was a person laying on the ground. Kent stopped the car as quickly as he could and we backed up to the accident scene. I got out of the car and called 911. I wasn't sure if this person was alive or not and I was terrified to find out. As I got close to him I could see that he was breathing since the air was so cold I could see his breath. He was unconscious but breathing. I stayed on the phone with the 911 dispatcher to give them our position. It was really scary and I wasn't to sure what to do as we certainly did not want to try to move this young man. He was bleeding from his head somewhere but I couldn't really tell where. His face was covered up by the hood of his jacket and I didn't want to uncover him unless I had to. We didn't have a blanket but Kent was better thinking than I and he took the seat covers from the guys jeep and we covered him with those. Kent also thought to turn off the guys jeep as it was still running. As we stood back we could tell that his Jeep had rolled 2 times and then ended up on it's wheels. The roof of the jeep had come off and I assume that is when the guy was ejected. There was debris spread all over from his Jeep and it looked like he was a college student because of all the books and papers. Finally the aid units came from every direction and they took over. I was so relieved to see them come. We will probably never know if the young man made it or not but I feel good that we were there and could get him help so quickly. Kent took a couple of pictures at the scene of the accident.

The Lighting continues

I know this isn't the lights but I thought I would show what our pantry floor looks like now. We are pulling up all the laminate in the entry hall and hallways so I took a section of it and cut it up and laid it down in the pantry. It actually looks really nice!

So we added 5 recessed spots in the kitchen for a total of 10. They really brighten up the room.

Here is the new light over the kitchen table. We have also removed the big lights over the island and Kent is building a section that will be raised up and include some smaller recessed lights and a couple of hanging pendants. We will be gone this weekend but hopefully next week we can get all of the electrical finished and then get a sheetrock person out. Once that is done we are onto painting and then putting in the floor. After the floor the cabinets and granite will go in. We are going to be without a kitchen for a while but we will make it work!

The cabinet case!

Well for anyone who has ever been in our home you will remember the very large display case we have had in the entry hall. It has been a great place for Kent to display some of his cameras but as we continue our remodel it needed to go for a couple of reasons. #1 we are going to replace the flooring so it had to be moved out of the entry hall. #2 It is just time to get a better looking case. This one I got for $25 from Sears in downtown Renton about 16 years ago. We were closing the old Renton store and moving to Southcenter and this case was available for the taking so I took it! We put a listing up on Craigs list for free and got 4 calls on it. The first guy that wanted it couldn't get a hold of a truck to pick it up but another guy who runs a Junk Hauling business wanted it (he gets things and re-sells them) I didn't really care as long as someone took it. But while the Junk guy was here he asked if we had anything else. I told him I had a coffee table and he said he wanted it. Michael and Rachael had already taken one sofa and love seat and the end table so I was thrilled to get rid of the coffee table. Then I asked the guy if he wanted video tapes. He said yes so we must have given him 200+ video tapes that I had gotten from Thrift Books. All of this being said................ It's nice to get rid of some of the stuff and to be making progress on the house. Later on today or tomorrow I will post pictures of some of the electrical work that Kent has done.

Construction update

While I haven't posted much in a while we have still been working on the house. Last weekend we replaced 2 windows. This one was the one in the "TV Room". Overall it went pretty good but of course we still have to put up trim around the outside of the windows.

When this window was out it was kinda fun just to lean into the house. (kinda reminds me of the Professor from the Wizard of Oz)

You can see a good shot of our messy back porch through our new kitchen window!

Our lighting dilemma

So one of our biggest challenges in trying to envision the new kitchen has been what to do with the lighting. In the kitchen we have had the very ugly light panel. While it provides a lot of light we never finished right so I have never liked it. We think we have settled on the lights we want so you will have to stay tuned to see how it turns out!

Our kitchen table used to sit more in the middle of the run than where we have it now so our light is not centered.

These lights are actually really new and looked good until we opening up the wall. Now it no longer goes with the rest of the room. The good part is that we can use these in my mother's room since we haven't replaced those lights so they won't go to waste.