I WILL NEVER DO THIS AGAIN!!!!

We've been wanting to put granite in our kitchen for a long time so we finally decided to do it.  Never again!  We are happy with the service and the granite, however, I lost my mind after the granite was installed because I decided to rearrange things, wash, clean and purge!  I'm crazy.  Here are some photos (good and bad) of the process.

A close-up of the old laminate.  There wasn't a thing wrong with it, except we wanted granite for a long time so we pulled the trigger and finally did it.

Starting to move things in preparation for the installation. Notice all the stuff on top of the upper cabinets...the end of this post mentions my obsessive cleaning which included everything on the upper cabinets...too bad you can't see all of it in this photo.

Clearing off the counters and waiting for the installers to arrive.

I hate the paint above the counters...ugly~

The installation begins and the new sink is installed.

Victor hard at work with the installation.

My new, enlarged island top!  I really like it.

A new back splash and the old paint covered up...thank goodness.

A new faucet, soap dispenser, and filtered water dispenser...not installed yet...just sitting on top of the granite.  Electric outlets not installed and covers not on

I really like my new sink.  The old one was white and stained.  The caulking around it was a mess and I hated it.  

Really liking the new look.

A trial run with a paint color.  Haven't decided what the color will be, but it won't be red/rust!

Stove isn't installed yet and the drawers are still out.

Slowly starting to put stuff on the counter...still missing outlets and covers

This is when I lost my mind.  Since my kitchen was getting a new look, I decided to pull everything out of my pantries, off of the upper cabinets, out of the drawers and out of the bottom cabinets. I WAS OUT OF MY MIND AND ON A MISSION TO REORGANIZE AND CLEAN.  I SHOULD HAVE BEEN COMMITTED.

I washed and washed and washed everything.  I purged, moved things around and generally de-cluttered.

I didn't take photos of the insides of the cabinets...I should have to show the total metamorphosis.

DONE!  Even the outlets and their covers are installed now.  It is a working kitchen again and I'm checking myself into a mental health clinic tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NEVER AGAIN!

I'll NEVER forget!!!!!!!!!

I'll NEVER forget that morning. I was getting ready for another day of teaching 5th graders when Matt Lauer mentioned that a plane hit one tower of the World Trade Center. I thought to myself that it was odd for a pilot to "fall asleep at the wheel" and not see such a massive structure. Of course I was thinking that a small plane hit the tower like the one that hit the Empire State Building back in 1945! Little did I know! I kept listening to the news and realized something was horribly wrong when the second plane hit. A friend from school called me to ask if I was watching the news and my exact words to her were, "Is our country under siege?" How prophetic! When I got to school, our principal hastily called a meeting and told us not to have our classroom televisions on while the kids were in the room. I walked back to my classroom in a questioning daze and proceeded to watch the first tower plunge to the ground. Another teacher and I stood in stunned silence and then the bell rang. Throughout the day, we all kept each other informed of the latest news via emails...only watching TV when the kids weren't in the room. I'm sure that I tried to calm my students and carry on as if it were a normal day but we all knew that it wasn't. When I got home that afternoon, my family watched TV non-stop for the latest tragic updates. So many questions...few answers...prayer...tears...total disbelief!