May 20
Janice is pumping out ideas—lots of pullout trays so I won’t have to crawl into cabinets anymore. She comes up with a fabulous use for extra space at the end of one of my pantry units. We’ll put shallow shelves there for displaying big platters. I knew I loved Janice!

June 25
Project starts. The guys started tearing down the garage. Oh my, here we go…

July 2
The old garage is gone and already the house feels much different. Now we’ll be able to put a double window above the sink in our new kitchen. The crew cleans and stacks all the bricks so they can use them to rebrick the exterior where the garage was attached.

July 22
I visit a stoneyard to look at granite for the countertops but don’t fall in love with anything. I prefer something with rich color but not too much pattern. I’m also considering quartz-surfacing, but I’m torn about color.

August 23
Giant tree stump by the back door is finally out. They had to dig a hole the size of a Volkswagen to get it out, and now we have a mountain of mud where we once had a backyard. What a mess. Now they can pour the footings for the mudroom addition. We’ll be living with a mountain of stinky mud in our backyard for a while. Yuck.

September 14
Old basement stairs are no more. The crew builds new ones under the stairs to the second level. The kitchen seems bigger already. Dave sets up a temporary kitchen in our family room, using a piece of countertop salvaged from our old kitchen. We move the refrigerator right next to the TV armoire. Boy, do we look classy now.

September 27
The old cabinets are gone and the kitchen is gutted. I took a black marker and drew on the floor where the appliances, island, and countertops will be. Now I can walk around my imaginary kitchen. It’s like playing house.