Summer is Over.

I have been cleaning like crazy and not feeling like I am getting anywhere.  But, I have swept the living room, dining room and kitchen, along with hall.  I will mop it all later this evening when there is less traffic running through.  I also cleaned up my kitchen, getting rid of a lot of clutter.  Cleaned the fridge out as well, cleaning the shelves as threw out all the old left overs (as well as to go boxes) and as bad as I hated throwing away the money, I threw out anything and everything that was expired.  Hubby had a little stomach upset and he swears it was because of bad lunch meat.  I have a terrible time keeping up with that stuff.  It is hit or miss whether my family will eat sandwiches, so I try not to buy very much.  I hate to admit this, but I probably threw out enough food to feed some homeless guy for a month.  In my defense though, we just came back from two and half weeks in the RV so had more on hand than normal.


Now that the grand baby is here, vacation is done, I hope that hubby comes through and we actually get to start on the kitchen remodel.

This is the before photo.  I know it looks fine, but it really does not flow well.  And...while it looks like it has a lot of storage, the majority of the cabinets are too small to hold much.  The exception is the left hand corner cabinet, to the left of the stove.  The cabinet itself goes way back and would be great for a lazy susan or pull out system...if the door were wider than 8 inches.  Can't even get a large size pitcher in there easily.  However, that is all hopefully about to change. 

Another view of the kitchen.  The far right is my pantry, stuffed full of can goods, cereal, baking items, and all sorts of food.  Between the fridge and that pantry is a doorway.  Mr. M loves it, he runs circles around it for us to chase him.  I am arguing with hubby about it though, because I want to close it off to give us more space in the kitchen.

This out dated, too small, glass front china cabinet is going away as well.  It opens to the dining room which I don't like.  I have an idea for this area that will utilize the space for cabinets in the kitchen and give me some display shelves for all my cookbooks and some of the antique pieces I have from my mom.
I have lots of photos saved from all over the internet, each with an element I want to incorporate in to my new kitchen.

OH HOW I WISH, I could get these two things in the new kitchen.  I am waiting to see if I can even find the tiles to make the rooster decoration, then to see how much room it actually needs. My kitchen has a combo microwave exhaust fan over the stove so very little wall space there.  I am thinking if I give up the cabinets above it, move the microwave up a bit, maybe it would work.  But then I am thinking that it would be really hard to reach the microwave at a higher level.

The stove would be a dream come true, but it is a commercial grade stove and that would not be in the budget since I want a new fridge more.  However, I really think that depending on the prices I find, I may just bite the bullet and spend the money and upgrade to a five burner stove that would have the griddle/grill plate with it.  May just take measurements and leave a space large enough to allow for the larger stove and purchase it next year.  It all depends on how much it ends up costing for the new cabinets and counter tops, molding trim, new shelf set, replacement window, new sink and new lighting.  I have a budget set, and will see what is left over after that.

I am hoping tonight I can sit down and come up with a menu plan for the next few weeks. I am going to be working out of my pantry and freezer stores as much as possible.  Kind of wanting to trim down what I have on hand, will be less to box up while the work is done. It will be hard to  prepare meals when the remodel actually starts up.  What a mess we will have with food stores, cook ware, dishes and such all in boxes.  Not to mention no stove for a few days.  But, I have a grill, Coleman stove and several crock pots. Hubby said that he will do his best to work around the fridge and stove so we can keep them functional while all of this happens.  It will so be worth it and I pray it all happens soon.  If he keeps dragging his feet, I may just start ripping out the cabinets myself.  The new neighbor next door is a construction guy, am going to get an estimate from him.  It may be worth it to pay a little more and get it done. 

Thanks for stopping by, I need to go get a little more done in the house and then settle in for some TV viewing and working on the menu plans.  Hoping to get back on track with my Meal Plan Monday postings and actually sticking to a menu plan.  Check back tomorrow to see if I succeeded or not.