Why I haven’t been on schedule with
my blog posts like I usually am. It has
driven me crazy so I thought I would
explain. Everything should be back to
normal next week.
I’m aware I’ve been inconsistent with my posts this past week, and I wanted to explain why. We’re remodeling the entire downstairs of our home, including the kitchen. I expected the work to take about a week, but it’s now into the second week and the disruption has been much worse than I planned for.
For more than a week, all of our kitchen appliances sat in the living room while workers removed the kitchen tile, ripped up the living room carpet, and replaced hallway flooring. Dust accumulated everywhere — in every nook and cranny you can imagine — so cooking was out of the question. On top of that, we were without a working stove or oven for a long stretch.
I only had about a week and a half of blog posts prepared in advance and even tried writing one from my craft room during the chaos. Once the new tile was laid and the appliances returned to their places, I hoped the mess would end. However, the crew still has to finish the rest of the floors, and the cleaners won’t come until everything is complete.
Eating out for every meal has been exhausting. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner away from home since the remodel began left me tired of restaurant food and likely a few pounds heavier. Yesterday I finally bought some premade meals from my local market and started using a small tabletop oven to reheat them so I wouldn’t have to eat out for dinner as well.
To make matters more stressful, I’m hosting a Halloween party at the house this weekend. We didn’t expect the floor work to take over two weeks, so I’m scrambling to finish party preparations, cook a lot of food, and complete decorations while the work is ongoing.
We also discovered our oven situation needed attention. When we moved in, the previous owners installed a propane gas oven, even though our neighborhood doesn’t have a natural gas hookup. They used a propane tank — apparently chosen because of a pool-heater setup — but the oven always emitted a strong, unpleasant odor whenever it was used. It wasn’t a leak, and thorough cleaning made little difference. We decided to replace it with an electric oven since the home is already wired for one.
Unfortunately, the new oven had to be ordered from the manufacturer’s warehouse, so it likely wouldn’t arrive before the party. That meant I had to plan on using the old gas oven to prepare party food despite the smell.
Update: The new oven arrived at 7:30 this morning. It wasn’t installed immediately because the old unit hadn’t been moved — there’s no available space in the garage with all the remodel materials — but installation is expected later today once we can clear a spot. I’m relieved it’s finally here and hopeful it will be in place soon.
Thank you for your patience. With the major work wrapping up and the new oven arriving, I anticipate returning to my regular posting schedule next week.