I ran about with my 2minutes with only 2 kids today and got the furniture into the garage (who needs a man??!) and all ready to start demolition.

After picking ZQ up from school Demolihtion Team Quintana got to work. I have blisters and cuts all over my hands to prove I am NOT a yuppie snob after all. I wonder just how many yuppies do their own demolition work… lol Well actually I hired slave labour to help out. I gave the boys a hammer each and what I thought would take weeks will probably only take 1 or 2 more afternoons!! They were awesome. Go figure my boys would be great at knocking tile out of the floor with a hammer! AQ ran around picking up the pieces and throwing them into the trash box. A very rewarding, fun and productive afternoon!!

At 3am this morning when I was finishing up dishes and washing BQ said to me “Are you finding it a lot easier with your time with just 2 kids?” After I picked myself up off the floor and managed to stop the laughter I responded with “exactly how is it easier? I am just busier. I have to get up earlier and by the time I drop him off it is almost time to pick him up again. And here I am at 3am still doing dishes after working all night and you are actually asking me if it is easier…” I heard recently that men see things differently, as in if you put things on a table and interview males and females about what was on them men will give a generalised answer and women will tend to try to recall everything on the table. Are we completely sure that they are not just walking genetals? Sometimes I really wonder

I just came downstairs from putting the kids together and realised that the kitchen actually looks better! The tiny bit of wood grain that is peeking through the grout dusk really warms the room. That tile really did make a huge difference. I am so glad we get to change it. All the years I have been planning this kitchen remodel I never really thought about having to replace the flooring. What a wonderful bonus. I am so looking forward to it being done. The flooring is the first thing to go down too. WooHoo!

I am feeling much better about this whole thing now. It isn’t going to be nearly as scary to do the demolition work myself and that way I get to save more than enough money get the full wood upgrade on the box part of the cabinetry. I can’t believe that the particle board is standard. It just seems to make so much more sense that that would be wood which is so much stronger, sturdier and less likely to change shape or come off the walls as ours are doing right now. I hate how I always feel like I am being ripped off every time I purchase something.

So I got my first kitchen plan back. He did exactly what I had done and BQ went from “I don’t think this is going to work” “I don’t think I like this” when he looked at my sketches to “Wow, that is a really nice kitchen, he did a good job, I like these guys” Funny!! He just needed to see it in the little computerised mockup as he is just to used to staring at over the top video game graphics, he has run out of imagination! (Or it could be my sketches are really bad but the kitchen guys got them OK so I am going to go on the BQ is a dope theory -lol)

I am really pleased with the kitchen sketch and will probably end up going with these guys. Great that they are just down the street too. We also decided apon a counter top too. Black anubis silestone, you can see it here: http://www.e-counters.com/eSamples/samples.cfm?material=SILESTONE&priority=1

I thought really hard about whether or not to get granite but it needs sealing once a year and I know we are just not that with it to do it then one day it will crack and BQ will seal it with my own blood! Plus silestone is quartz and it is really pretty. I am going to do butcher block on the desk top and window seat to save some money, they have it for wonderfully cheap at IKEA. I can’t wait to see this all done. It is going to be so pretty AND FUNCTIONAL!!

OK does anyone know how much sinks cost??? OK any guesses? $50? $100? Do I hear $200?? NO folks you are dead wrong! A SINK, just a plain stainless steel deep sink, NOTHING at all fancy but merely a FUNCTIONAL sink costs you no less than $400!!! Yes you read that right. The sinks we both really like are the old fashioned apron sinks or farmers kitchen sinks. And on ebay you can find a stainless steel one for a real bargain of only $1500!! The gorgeous copper ones we really like, well it just isn’t worth even talking about them. So it will be just the plain stainless steel one for us! I just can’t believe they actually want you to pay $400 for it! Hopefully I will be able to get it for free on the silestone promotion if I order soon enough.

Lets see, any other kitchen/bath drama yet? Can’t think of any. I will be sure to document it all. Oh wait, today there was water dripping pretty heavily through the ceiling again so we best get that fixed quick smart.

Well a hard days work deserves a drink… now where did I put that Baileys? OH NO! I am out of Baileys! SINFUL! White russian here I come… Oh the hardships of life! lol

What would a kitchen destruction be without photographic evidence?

 

 The kitchen before we start. Note the huge hole in the ceiling.

 

 

 

The boys hammering out the tiles, AQ is putting the pieces in the trash for them out of the frame…

ZQ running to get cars for his new offroading track. He thanks me heartily for letting him make such a great off roading track. lol. Note how much tile is gone! We just have under the table and the entrance way to do! That is about halfway! We are a force to be reckoned with!

 

Injuries so far: ZQ and I both have very nasty blisters from the hammers. All 4 of us have minor cuts on our fingers from the tile. I sure hope there isn’t any negative chemical stuff we need to worry about with the grout and tile…