Q & A

Here are a few answers to some questions posted (because I am never sure if people ever check back):

Q: What is your time line?
A: Joy always says "I should be cooking Thanksgiving dinner in my new kitchen" and Jason always says "Tomorrow." The truth is we have never had a time line. Just that it would be finished when it was finished. That has been very wise of us in the end because of all the unexpected twists and turn. I laugh now when I think about our rush to get the cabinets ordered. That was the 1st week of May. Ugh. And even now, I have sunk into a depression twice when I actually let myself think that first last week and then this week the cabinets would be installed.

Q: What are you eating?
A: Lots of cold cereal. Honestly not a whole lot of fast food but definitely our share for the next year or two. We have our toaster, skillet and microwave that has served us well for many a microwave dinner and such (you cannot run them at the same time, even two of them. I don't know how many times we have popped the circuit in the middle of trying to make a meal). Our friends across the street have gone out of town a number of times and let us use their house and kitchen which has really been nice. Some very wonderful friends have had us over for dinner as well. We have done our best but as previously mentioned (i.e. the kids GI problems) we are really excited and anxious to get back to eating normally again.

Q: Are you doing this yourselves?
A: Yes and no. We are the general contractors I guess but we have hired an electrician and Robert our handyman. My (Joy) dad came and helped with the demolition but yes, Jason and I have done a lot of it ourselves.

Q: How are the kids through all of this?
A: Well, you already know about the dietary problems. I feel bad too about the lack of attention they have been getting. We are trying to take the opportunities we have to play and have fun. We had Carter and Uli and Jen come and visit which was so fun to have them here! We went to a Memorial Day BBQ at Cory and Maureen's house and they also invited us to their ward picnic in the park. They kids loved playing with their Dad and there was so much nice, green, pretty grass (unlike our grass) to run around and play. You may have noticed in the photos too that their are toys in every area of our construction so I guess they don't notice or care that things are torn up. Carter and Jen took pity on us and sent us to dinner last night. Here is a photo of Wesley with some left over bread that sums up their situation: find toys and food and take care of yourself.

Q: What about your backyard?
A: Everything in dying now that half of it is covered in dirt and also that the sprinkler system is destroyed because of the dig. We will let the rest of it die and then tear out and start from scratch. The garden however is still alive and we are taking good care of that. I thought about letting the garden go this year since we have so much going on but the thought of a new kitchen with NO garden fresh veggies- unacceptable.

Q: You haven't called, emailed and I can't leave a message. Is everything ok?
A: It has really been frustrating how much of the time we have been without internet and the phone (since our phone is through the internet). You never realize how much you use it for everything until of course you don't have it. We think we have the problem worked out. We thought at one point that we had hacked through the line while digging the ditch but that turned out to another electrical line of sorts. So if we have been slow to respond or haven't commented on your blog or called you back- we're sorry. We love you still!

Q: In your TMI post, things looked... pretty bad. How do you live like that?
A: When we first moved everything out to start the demolition, I didn't think it would take this long so I sort of just pushed it to the side. As things have dragged on we have improved the organization a little but still the "no place for anything and nothing in it's place" is part of what is making us crazy. Also, in some of those photos you saw that the laundry was totally out of control. Beside the fact that we had to cut holes into the laundry room ceiling, move things around, use the washer as a work bench, have we mentioned how many times we have been without hot water at all? Our neighbors, the ones who have let us come use their kitchen, have also let us use their dishwasher, shower and bathtub- several times. I like to hang my clothes on the line out back but we were digging (and picking and chopping) and throwing dirt every where that it wasn't working for the laundry. Our dryer has not been hooked up (because of the gas) for weeks now. And the dust and dirt inside the house really makes keeping the clothes clean- especially for the kids, really difficult. So the laundry has been a HUGE challenge. Last Sunday Luke went to church with one green and one blue sock and tennis shoes instead of church shoes. It was the best I could do.

And lastly:

Q: Seriously?!
A: Seriously.