Hold That Thought

Have you ever gone through a period of time when you felt like you were standing still...no forward motion? Like the Universe had pressed some mondo HOLD PLEASE button?

Yeah. Me, too.

I'm currently in limbo with my life, so I'm feeling like an expert in this matter. I will be here to help out as long as I am needed, and that's as it should be. But it means delaying gratification in so many ways. And we all know I hate to wait!

To deal with any related stress, I'm focusing my psychic energy on my happy place: THE BEACH. I've changed my avatar on Facebook to my Shells and Waves beach scene, which was snapped a few years ago on Litchfield Beach, in the Pawleys Island area of South Carolina.

And, I'm using this Litchfield Beach Resort coffee mug in the mornings. It's huge...requiring 2 packets of sweetener for the 16 ounce capacity, but it's a tactile and visual cue.

The problem with super-sizing your coffee is that it gets cold before you reach The End. And for me to say coffee is too cold is the same as saying something is too salty! Oh well, I'll just have to deal with it, right?

And, of course, that's the answer: deal with it. Find a way to go over, under, around, or through your problem...or, learn to live with it. Make adjustments. As someone recently posted in response to a Facebook friend's empty-nester angst: "put on your big girl panties and deal with it." Ahem!

So, here I am with my big girl panties on, sipping lukecool (that was Missy M's word as a child...we've used it ever since...:) coffee from a big Beach scene mug...dealing with it. (Now that's probably more than you wanted to picture at this time, right? No worries; I also have my gardening duds on too, silly geese...)

One thing I have learned is that in dealing with anything, it certainly helps to spread the wealth, so to speak. And that would be why I'm here with Daughter With The Broken Foot and the Dog Pack while Mr. T is spending his Father's Day weekend at home.

Remember a while back when I posted about getting new countertops? About how I have wanted to replace the ugliest Formica countertops in the USA with granite since we first set eyes on this house a little over three years ago? Did I also tell you how we had arranged for thr project, signed the papers, and chosen a Brazilian stone called White Spring, which is mainly white with black and burgundy-red veins throughout...which matched the dark cherry-stained (maple) cabinets and also lightened up a rather gloomy kitchen? I may have posted all of that on Facebook...or possibly just forgot to mention it here when all that happened.

Anyway...

They are installing those beautiful granite countertops as I type this post. Mr. T is leading the charge on this one...and I have to say it's the best experience I've had with home improvement...ever!

I sit in another state, sipping ever-cooling coffee, and occasionally stepping-and-fetching for either Daughter or a Dog, while the washer and dryer do their things respectively...and he deals with the noise and the dust and the challenge of having a team of installers in your home for a day. Oh yeah, I'm loving it, to quote Mickey D.

[Funny aside: We wanted a new faucet for the kitchen sink (although we are reusing the faucet on the bar sink). I had already selected new undermount sinks from a catalog at HD, and they were in the hands of the installers via the templater who had come out to measure. Well, it was crunch-time last week, and still no faucet.

I had looked online at seemingly thousands...but I was feeling a little gun-shy about making the purchase online without knowing whether it would fit properly (I had done this once before, 3 years ago after the home inspector found the old faucet was leaking, and we made "repairing or replacing" a contingency. I bought one online while we were still in MO, but the plumber for the sellers said "that one won't fit; I'll just fix the old one." End of sentence.) So that meant actually having to go into a store and select this one. Arrgh! Like I can just zip on over to the local HD. Not presently.

So, that To Do moved onto Mr. T's list. And he made several stops this past work week to scope out the selections, take photos for my benefit...and buy the thing. He was in an HD in Pennsylvania, and he runs into a couple in the faucet aisle (if there is such a thing, HD would have one...:). While chatting with them, he tells them what he's there to buy. And the Wife asks: "is your wife OK with you selecting and buying a faucet?"

OK? H3ll, I'm ecstatic! Over the moon!! Thrilled!!! I can give him a list of my requirements (high-arched faucet, pull-out attached sprayer, stainless, with soap dispenser; plus a separate heated water dispenser), and he can handle the hundreds of options that just befuddle and confuse both me and the issue. We make a great team!]

Back to the present...and a hot mug of coffee.

As I write this post, I am getting regular text updates from HPNC, complete with photos. It's almost like I'm watching a really good episode of This Old House...only the house isn't all that old...:). But when it's all said and done, it will be all ours!

Maybe I'll make that my new happy place. My own kitchen! Hold that thought...

=========UPDATE!========>

The installers are finished with the countertops! Now, I know there's still a way to go before we can put a The End on this adventure...i.e., installing the faucets; wiring and installing the undercabinet lighting; and installing the subway tile backsplash...you didn't think it would end with new countertops, did you? But, I wanted to share with you the "ta da" photos of the breakfast peninsula and the kitchen counter that Mr. T just messaged me:

Oh yes...my new happy place indeed!