Monday Bill stopped by to get our check list of items that need to be finished and tweaked for the coming week and will be back tomorrow to work.  He is now backed up with jobs coming in and those needing to get finished.  This is a good thing to have jobs lined up in a slow economy.

Tuesday Bill cut and installed the shelves for the pantry cabinet, attached the kitchen island to the floor.  Not much to do until Tom comes tomorrow and they work on the cabinets.

Wednesday Fritz came to install the under-counter lighting for the kitchen cabinets.  He had never installed this type of LED lighting before but liked the final outcome.  He also installed the new light for the guest bathroom upstairs and the new fluorescent lights for the garage.  When he removed the light that we had turned off because it flickered all the time, he found the box was burnt and if we had continued to use it, it would have caused an electrical fire.   

Tom began trimming the backside of the cabinet for the kitchen vent hood and installing the remaining crown molding for the cabinets.  Tom is about to return to Alaska to fish so he was anxious to finish up this job.  Tom is all about the little details and making sure everything is perfect or he will work on it until he makes it perfect.  This is the type of person you want doing the finish work.

Thursday Bill installed the closet doors and fixed the wobbly, thrown together, makeshift, haphazard shelves that the previous owner put in the master bathroom.  The new shelves have cleats nailed to the wall to sit on. 

I installed the new handles on all the closet doors except two because counting is not a strong point for my brain and I counted once, twice and thought okay, but I was still short two.  Oh well it will just be another stop at Lowe’s tomorrow.  The trips were getting less frequent but have increased this past week for little things.  Note to self:  install the hardware on bi-fold doors before having them installed because otherwise you must squeeze in between the door and the shelves or clothing to get to the backside when the screws go in the doors.

Friday I had a scrapbook class with Grads so I was out of the house while the crew worked on.  Before I returned, Larry had the guys clear the house of all the tools, trim, the extra paraphernalia, and, even the porch had been cleared of almost everything that had been stored there.  No saws, sawhorses, buckets, or boxes.

The hardware had been installed on the cabinets and they look amazing.  Just waiting to order two knobs for the glass hutch cabinet doors and they will be done.

Larry went to the store while I was gone and bought a card for me to celebrate our new kitchen, and flowers, and a bottle of my favorite champagne, Mumm Napa. 

I have a history with Mumm Napa--The short version:  In 1998 my son Jim and his friend Jennifer took me to dinner.  My sister Mary came over earlier that day with a fur coat and diamonds for my ears, neck, and wrist.  I had already bought a new slinky grey floor length dress to wear and on that day Larry sent two dozen yellow roses.  Larry and I met online through my sister and his sister-in-law and we hadn’t yet met in person, and no one had ever sent me roses before.  After dinner Jim begged off the private art gallery opening at Mumm Napa and Jennifer and I went alone.  When we arrived Jim was in the parking lot waiting for us as a surprise.  He took a short cut.  My everyday work wear, as an elementary physical education aide, was t-shirts, shorts, and tennis shoes with a whistle and stopwatch around my neck and a fanny pack to hold emergency first aid supplies.  This was a very special night to remember for so many reasons--and why Mumm Napa became my favorite winery. 

Wish I could still fit in that size six dress and wear it when we pop open the bottle of champagne.  Maybe my sister would send me the fur coat and diamonds to celebrate.