Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Hope yours was a good one.

Mine was. We drove up to mom's house and Me & Rog, Sis & BIL and Mom all went to Crowne Plaza for the Thanksgiving Brunch. Expensive, but good...

Mom's too old to get into cooking (and - to be perfectly honest - she never really was "into" it!). So "Going Out" has been a Family Tradition for years.

I've hosted T-Giving here once or twice - but it's just easier to go the Buffet-Route.

Now, for Christmas this year, we'll go ahead and host it here - what-with the New Kitchen and all! But I'm going for the "low-drag" approach. Boston-Market all-the-way! Heat 'n Serve - Yeah! (I *like* it!!!). I'll probably still do some kinda home-made side-dish (and maybe try to find a recipe for sugar-free pumpkin pie), but it's mainly gonna be a "Cheater's Christmas" for us!

I'll still set a pretty table (gotta use the fine china - from mom - every once in awhile!). But I'm not gonna slave over a hot stove all frickin' day!

"Black Friday" is tomorrow - and all the shopping B.S. will begin (gotta add 20 minutes to my commute - just to get from the freeway to my house - since we live dangerously close to several shopping 'mauls!').

No, I won't be hitting the stores @ 5:00am tomorrow. As I'd mentioned earlier - my Christmas Shopping is DONE! (We're talking "wrapped and everything!")

Nope. Tomorrow I'm actually semi-working (most of our clients are closed - so it should be a quiet day). Roger's off, so we'll get the lights up on the outside of the house (neighbor across the street got his lights up last weekend - Aaaaack!).

I'll wait 'til the kitchen is done before I put the tree up (Living Room is piled high with boxes of kitchen sh*t!)

Anyway.... Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

For Posterity...

I present to you... The Infamous Blue Ducks!!!

Okay, *technically* they may be geese, but what-EVAH!!!

The bottom line is: I hate them and they are outta-here!!!!

After countless hours of scraping and yukking up [what's left of] my fingernails, I am thrilled to see them go!

They will be replaced with NON-sticky "Grip" kinda rubbery shelf-liner mats. So, 10-20-however-many-years from now when someone else takes over this house, they won't CURSE me endlessly whenever they decide to re-do the kitchen!!!

Hey - If I don't manage to check back in tomorrow - Have a Fantastic Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Blue-Duck-Purgatory!!!!

...That's where I've been! (I guess I should snap a photo of the blue-duck contact paper - for posterity!!!)

I'm happy to report that ALL of the kitchen cabinets are empty now (Yay!) - Except for one! And Blue-ducks are *nearly* all-gone!!!

Everything's stashed away - either in the garage-pantry, or in boxes.

I've only got one cabinet left now: The dishes, coffee-cups, and glassware cabinet. I'll run over to the storage place tomorrow and buy proper packing materials. And I hope to get that one emptied-out by Sunday.

I also uncovered a significant quantity of paper plates and plastic cups - so we can "survive" in the interim! They're in one of the previously-empty cabinets - but that stuff is pretty minimal, so they'll be easy to remove...

I did manage to make my Goodwill Run yesterday. Filled up almost half of the bed of the pickup, actually! So that made me feel very good! I got rid of sh*t - and we get a Tax Deduction - AND hopefully SOMEBODY less-fortunate-than-us can put this stuff to good use!

I call that a Win-Win-Win!

Roger's home from his latest Adventure (and hasn't kvetched about the general state of disarray - YET!)... And I'm back in the work-grind now (Busy as hell, actually! I hope that means I've got some semblance of "Job Security!").

The actual Kitchen Work starts next week (Wow!!!). I'm so excited!

Kinda funny to think it took MONTHS to lead up to this (what with the gathering-bids BS I went through) and, now that it's all said-and-done, the work'll be done in a matter of 2-3 days.

Hell, it's almost anti-climactic! Well, except for the fact that the kitchen is gonna look about 1000% BETTER than it does now!

Well, that and the fact that "putting sh*t back" into the kitchen is probably gonna be another ordeal - all on it's own (but this time I really-and-truly WILL be organized and methodical - I swear!!!!).

It's All Good!

Kitchen Reface Project - Pandemonium Continues...

One Empty Cabinet!

I've decided to stop referring to this as Phase I. 'Cuz, let's face it, if I'm breaking this into Phases that would "imply" that there is some sort of "Order" to this whole project and - well, "Order" just ain't my forte!

I am an Organization-o-phobic! I need a Support Group, dammit!!!

Actually, I just went to PhobiaList.com trying to see if mine is a named condition, and, sadly - it's not!. Closest I could find was "Symmetrophobia - Fear of Symmetry!" (That ain't it. I didn't see anything for "Fear of DYMO Labels, either!")

* * * * *

I emptied ONE cabinet yesterday. But it was a Hum-Dinger! It was the lower "blind-corner" cabinet. The one where you literally have to get down on your hands-and-knees with a flashlight and actually CLIMB INTO IT to get to the far back corner. That's where I kept my bakeware (and discovered a whole bunch of other sh*t I never knew we had!). I've added a whoooooooole lot to the "Donate" pile!!!

After completing the one cabinet (well, it's not completely-complete - I still need to scrape the rest of the @#$% Blue-Duck Contact-Paper off the bottom shelf), I bailed-out on the Kitchen Project for the day. Sharon (BFF since childhood), returned my "SOS" call. See, it's very rare to have Rog out of town on the weekend - and that's the only "free" time that Sharon ever has - so we never really get to have any Quality Girl-Time together. So she called me back and I begged her for ideas for "Things to Do" ("Just get me OUT OF THIS KITCHEN!!!"), She came through with flying colors! (I'll post about that separately, I think).

* * * * *

I'm back in the kitchen today...

Right now, it's "B&B Time:" Break & Beverage. As of this moment, I now have... Let's see... Five (count 'em! Five!!) empty cupboards! The garage-pantry is stuffed to overflowing!!! Originally, I was all proud of the fact that I'd (ahem!) sorted and separated (but *didn't* alphabetize!) things by category, right? Electrics on the bottom. Canned goods above that: soups on the left, canned meat-like substances to the right of the soup, then veggies, then side-dish kinda canned-stuff (baked beans, chili, etc.)... Beverage-like substances were on the eye-level shelf (12-packs of soda, coffee, hot cocoa mix, powdered protein shakes). And "dry-goods" on the top shelf. (See?!! Heavy stuff on the bottom, lightweight stuff on top! Don't want Nancy pinned under a 7' cabinet when it topples over!)

Ohhhhh, I had such High Hopes!!! Especially at the beginning - when you could actually open the doors, look inside, and clearly identify what you were looking at!

But Noooooo! That's not how it's meant to be! I'm back to "shove it in any available open space" mode. Primarily because I have no choice! I've GOT to get the kitchen cabinets emptied out - and I realize (sadly) that I'm going to have to go through this exercise again - After the kitchen work is done.

Oh, yeah. And now that the garage pantry is full, I'm reduced to shoving sh*t in boxes. So far I'm doing "okay" with keeping stuff segregated properly. I've got one BIG box of Bakeware. Annnnnd (it was a challenge!) I was even able to tape it closed and have it retain it's rectangular shape (meaning I've gained another "horizontal surface" to pile sh*t on!!!). Ditto the "baking goods" (flour, sugar, cooking wines, vinegars, flavorings, little envelope/packets of sauces, etc.).

Like anyone cares about this stuff, right?!!! (Hey - there *might* be someone else out there who's going through a kitchen project themselves! Surely I can't be the ONLY one suffering!!!)

Anyway, the garage pantry is full; I have several boxes filled and - Aaack! - have run out of boxes!!! I sure hope I get some more Amazon shipments tomorrow! I actually do have one box left, but it's filled with Christmas Gifts ("Yes" she says in a sanctimonious tone "My Christmas Shopping is DONE!" "Nah-nee-Nah-nee-Nah-Nahhhhh!!!"). If I'm forced to use that box, I'll have to stop what I'm doing and start wrapping gifts instead (b/c - obviously - I can't have Rog see what I got him!)

Ohhhhh... And I have two HUGE piles in the garage (taking up about half the floor-space of a car!). One is designated: "Storage Locker" (that pile isn't all that big - thank goodness) and "Donate." The Donate pile is pretty big. Thankfully, this whole endeavor has put me solidly into a "GET RID OF IT" mindset (that happens VERRRRRY rarely!).

My New Manta: "F**k it! Chuck it!"

So I found a ginormous suitcase. It's actually a very nice bag and cost quite a bit, as I recall. It's one of those fold-out "suiter" kinda bags that sorta doubles as a garment bag. But the fact of the matter is, I HATE it and have only used it a couple of times (and it really doesn't hold all that much to tellya the truth). It's taking up Valuable Real Estate in the garage. So it's "History!"

And it's big enough for me to "hide" some of the pots/pans that (I hate to admit) probably have some "sentimental value" to Roger. He gets attached to some pretty weird things sometimes and - I mean no disrespect - but the mere fact that his mom gave them to him, 30+ years ago, is not sufficient reason to "keep them!" (Don't get me wrong, I, too, have more-than-my-share of "sentimental" and useless things as well - but I *can* let go!). I think his mom (bless her soul) would be glad to see this stuff go to folks who could actually USE them.

I figure, I've been living here since 2001. These pans have been stuffed in the far-back corner of the cabinet and have NEVER BEEN USED in all that time. We don't need 'em!!!

To be fair, there was ONE pan that he mentioned, specifically. An old Teflon pancake griddle (again, never been used in 7 yrs!). I did keep that. So there ya go!

(HA! Not to segue too far - but when I moved in, he did have a set of Teflon cookware, that his mom gave him 20+ yrs prior. When you'd cook with 'em, the non-stick coating would flake off into the food. I think I scrambled some eggs once, and we spent breakfast picking Teflon flakes out of our meal! Within a week, I'd gone out to K-Mart with mom. I bought a new set of cookware and told him "it was a gift from my mom!" I had a helluva time convincing him to "Let Go of the Cookware..." I did keep one of the lids from the original set - since it fit another pan I already had - so that's how we compromised!).

Anyhooooo... That's the Latest and Greatest from Kitchen Demo Land. I'd like to think that the "Worst" is behind me, but I doubt it! I still need to empty the DISH cabinet (dishes, coffee mugs and TONS of glasses). In fact, I think I may need to break-down and actually (GASP!) Buy a box or two that are intended for dishes/glassware... :::sigh:::

At least, at this point, I feel like I'm "Ahead of the Game" b/c the remodelers won't be here 'til the week of Dec 1. But you know how "Time Flies when you're Having Fun!" :::rolling eyes:::

Alien Abductions and DYMO Labels (Kitchen Reface Project - Phase I continued)

So, as I (Excuse me - I mean "Alien-Clone-Nan") continues the Kitchen Clean-up, I'm reminded of my Childhood Trauma (And Gawd-Knows, that's what BLOGGING is all about, right?!!):

Funny story: When I was a kid, Mom and Sis would go on these "Organizing Frenzies" in the house. Keep in mind that mom was always exceedingly anal-retentive and organized while I was growing up (things have changed, significantly, over the years!)

Mom was also *very* fond of her Dymo Labelmaker (You remember those plastic sticky strips with the raised letters? The ones that NEVER stayed stuck?!! Yeah, THOSE!!!). So mom and Sis were tackling the pantry one weekend - in their typically frenzied fashion (Everything they did together was ALWAYS frenzied!). Emptying everything, sorting, tossing, freakin' alphabetizing and putting little Dymo stickers on the fronts of each of the shelves, right? "CEREAL" "CAN VEGS" "SOUP" blah-blah-blah.

Somehow or other, I managed to coin a term (which "stuck" over the years!): "The O-Word" Whenever they'd do sh*t like that, it was like: "Oh no! It's the O-WORD!" and I'd head for the hills........ I mean, I couldn't BEAR to be around while all that was going on since they'd invariably find *some* need to screech at somebody! Or else- Gawd-Forbid -ask me to help or something! Ohhhhh nooooooooo!!!!!!!!

*This* particular apple fell nowhere near the tree. Not even the same orchard!

So anyway, after they were done with sorting and alphabetizing and labeling, I would ALWAYS make it a point to take, say, a can of beans and put it on the "CEREAL" shelf...

Yep - That's the kinda kid I was! (Still am, in fact!!!)

I'd get kind-of a sick thrill when (from a distance, of course) I'd hear my mother shriek "Who put STRING BEANS on the CEREAL SHELF????!!!!"

Ditto the Linen Closet (Nothing was spared the Dreaded Dymo!). "KING SHEETS" "PILLOWCASES" "TOWELS"

To be fair, a Dymo Label is what resulted in Sharon and I becoming "BFF." I lived at 898 M***** Ave. (It said so, quite clearly, on my Lunch Box!), and Sharon lived at 998 M***** Ave. (her lunch box was bereft of a DYMO label). She was new in our school, and when she saw me with my DYMO-festooned lunch box, she took that opportunity to introduce herself "You live at 898 M*****? I live at 998 M*****!"

The rest, as they say, is History............

So anyway, this "O-Word" stuff is very Foreign to me, and the fact that I have endeavored to address some of the - ahem - Org- Orrggn - Organzsh - Or-gan-iz-a-tional (There, I said it!) Issues - willingly, even - is quite disconcerting!

Is this what I've been reduced to?!! AAAACCCCCKKKK!!!

Yep. It's freakin' Friday Night and I'm about to head-out to the freakin' garage to "organize" some pantry shelves. I am SUCH a freakin' Party Girl!!! (Kill-me-now!!!!)

Kitchen Refacing Project - Phase I (continued)

Yeah... So, the explanation behind the previous picture - in case you couldn't guess! - is that I am in the process of cleaning out cupboards.

I've never really been known for my - ummm - "Organizational Skills" (And, as I'm *quite* fond of saying: "It's all Part of My Charm!"). Although, out of necessity (and/or if a gun is held to my head), I have actually demonstrated the rudimentary ability to muster up some semblance of order.

Of course, that's "order" by *my* definition!

Let's go back in time for a moment, shall we? I mused about this very subject many, many years ago - when I was living on a 32' cabin cruiser, floating on the San Francisco Bay.

An excerpt from my website IMQTPI.com:

One of the first things I noticed about boats is that you really don't have a lot of "normal" storage - Not that I was ever exceedingly organized to begin with, but it's hard to get a sense of "This belongs HERE." Shellie Taylor [of a long-dead website about liveaboards] captured it brilliantly:

"I have empty lockers. Behind settees, under berths. I'm afraid to put anything in them, because I'll forget it's there, and if I need it I won't be able to find it, and if I don't need it, it will breed in the dark and make six more just like it, and there will be a thousand pounds of junk in hidey-holes that I'll never get to. I've developed a phobia against hidden junk; I'm discovering whole truck loads of it as I weed through stuff I can't imagine why I ever wanted, and as I weed through stuff my boat's former owner deemed precious enough to store forever. I don't want to store anything forever. I don't want to store anything at all; I want to strip life to its essentials so there are fewer things to own me and claim my time and my energy and space in my head and in my lockers. Things are a trap; they'll eat me alive if I let them"

So the first order of business was, of course, to figure out "where things go." That took several months (and [was a never-ending!] Work in Progress)... Tools live under the aft bench, heavier power tools under the salon floor... The blender lives under the galley bench, along with my food-processor and serving dishes. My non-functional oven has become an extension of my midget pantry... The list goes on and on... The interesting thing is, I've discovered a whole new way of looking at things - prioritizing by need. And I have finally accepted the fact that for every one thing I want, I will need to move six things to get to it...

And I have become positively anal about putting things away (Mom would be so proud!!)... It really doesn't take much to turn the entire boat into a disaster area. The good news is, when it is at it's worst, it only takes about 15 minutes to clean up!

[That theory holds true when you're living in appx 180 square-feet of living space. The clean-up time increases exponentially when you live in a house, I've discovered!]

FYI: Ummm, that whole "shove stuff into any available space" concept followed me to my present landlubber existence. Unfortunately, my "fear of acquiring new crap" did not!

* * * * *
So anyway, Rog is out of town again, and I figured this'd be the ideal time for me to start emptying/re-organizing the cabinets. Grant you, the re-face "work" won't happen for another couple-three weeks, but based on my, umm, "filing system," it's gonna take me at least that long to accomplish!!!

And I KNOW there are people out there who tackle projects like this "for pleasure." My buddy, Joisey Kathie, is sick like that. Likewise, Mom and Sis used to go on "Organizing Frenzies" with alarming frequency as I was growing up (which probably explains my pathological aversion to such activities - I was traumatized as a child!). Essentially what this boils down to is: This is very UN-Nancy-Like Behavior. And I am frightened to realize that I am doing this willingly!!!

Frankly, I'd prefer to think of it as "Alien Abduction" to tellya the truth. This just isn't NATURAL!

So the Aliens have temporarily abducted "Charming Nan" and replaced her with this bizarre "Clone!" Hopefully she can get everything done in a week.

FWIW - It's not *really* as big of an undertaking as painting the living room was (but it's about 3X as difficult - for me!!!). And it really *is* necessary. I forget that not EVERYONE has spent 6 yrs living on a boat and the concept of a tin-can avalanche occuring whenever you open a cabinet-door is not really "normal" for most people! In fact, when said cabinet is overhead, some folks might even call that "dangerous!" :::shrug:::

So anyway, in my quest to maximize our minimal cabinet-space, I decided to first tackle the "pantry" (actually, a utility cabinet in the garage).

The pantry purge produced the plethora of Pasta-Ronis and (alliteration-ends-here) BBQ sauces. Oh, and Jell-O. LOTS of Jell-O!!!

I bought a few additional shelves and moved the lesser-used "Electrics" (food processor, bar-blender, ice-crusher, waffle-maker, etc) out there. And I've started to move most of the canned stuff out there as well.

Although, now that I think about it... By moving the "Electrics" out to the garage, that frees up a lower cabinet where *maybe* I can put my bakeware and pots/pans.. And if I move THAT stuff then MAYBE the canned goods can live on the Lazy-Susan "Blind-Corner" shelf!

Hmmmmm...

Oh Gawd.... I'm reshuffling the whole freaking kitchen now! And I have to be "Or- Orrrg- Or-gan-ized" to accomplish that! (I'm very frightened!)

"Breathe, Nancy... Breathe...." One-step-at-a-time...

* * * * *
See?!! This ain't EASY for me!!!

So anyway, that's the Latest! I've accomplished "quite a bit," so far - but I am nowhere NEAR done. In fact, you know that whole "It gets worse before it gets better" thing? Well, I am SOLIDLY in the middle of THAT phase of the project!

Pantry looks "OK" (so far) but the rest of the garage is a freaking disaster area. Good thing Rog is gone - there's no room for a car in there right now. And the "Hallowed Bastion of Manliness," the Work-Bench?!! HAHAHAHAHA. Sorry - all horizontal-spaces are fair-game right now! And that includes the "Not-So-Hallowed Bastion of Domestic Servitude," the Washer/Dryer, as well! I sure hope I don't run out of clean clothes anytime soon!!!

Why do I torture myself like this?!!

Kitchen Refacing Project - Phase I

So.... Ya know what it's like when you're at the grocery store, and ya can't remember if you have BBQ sauce or not, so you pick some up anyway 'cuz you can NEVER have too much BBQ sauce? Or when you see Pasta-Roni on sale for a "really good price" and you're not even sure if anyone in the house even LIKES Pasta-Roni, but it's "such a good price" so you pick some up anyway?

Well, *I* do!!!