ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't wait for Chapter 2.

I feel for you! With our last big project, a 2 story addition, we were all scheduled to go when my newborn had open heart surgery. We were out of town for a month at a Ronald McDonald House, came home Thurdsay, had a Bday party for my 3 YO daughter Saturday, then packed up the entire house MYSELF in two days because my DH couldn't take anymore time off work because he had missed so much w/the hospital stay. It was crazy CRAZY but very worth it in the end. Maybe if you continue the skylight shows you'll get a rebate :)

Sometimes swastikas are just cool designs...

If I needed to focus laser-like on relocating my family life on a tight schedule, dianalo, I would definitely clear my mind first by violently yanking out moldering building materials and then inventing the kinkiest kind of exhibitionism.

Good job. Now you are set to go. Best of luck.

Building some great memories and stories.... those are great pointers! Though I think at this point if I did the strip show plan, they'd charge me with "cruel and unusual punishment!"

Best of luck with the rest of the packing, etc.

That just adds to the stories you'll be able to tell for years about how your kitchen remodel went! You'd be great at a party with those!

I think I almost have myself convinced that what makes it all worthwhile are the stories we can tell afterwards. If it had been my skylight, they'd have put a cover over it!

Bleach works well on moldy stuff. You can usually use 1 cup / gallon of water. Add a little bit of soap. You can find 3mil plastic 'drop cloths' at HD or Lowes. Covers large areas and can be taped down or together.

Well, kitchen is now packed, not counting the stuff we will use the next few days but that is condensed to small groupings. I don't have a lot of cabinets and they are not big, but I must be a master magician to have fit so much in them. Each time I'd empty a cab, I am convinced that the contents expanded when exposed to light ;) I threw out a bunch of stuff and did my best to keep it moving. I am now soaking the hamstring I pulled and waiting for the Advil to kick in.

I asked our 7.5 y.o. about the symbols on the wall and he admitted he did it. He did not know what they meant but knew they were "German". My mother is German and came to the US as an adult, so how do we explain how awful some of those people were yet not everyone? We told him that it was not a good symbol and was used by some very bad guys who just happened to be from Germany and to never do it again. We also said he'd be kicked out of school if he ever drew that again and the school found out. He looked shocked. He said he saw it on the back of a school bus seat, so I will be calling the school in the a.m.. I am quite proud that I only found 1 instance of "poo" written on the wall (although he did manage 4 swastikas when my back was turned).

I think with how worn out I am looking today, the crew would not even want a show from me, lol. I wonder if they take bets on how long it takes for the wife on each project to go from cute to scary. I am moving along the scale rapidly. The first few days, I had makeup on before they came. By today, I let the hammering wake me up, lol.

When we were at the bus stop this a.m., our other son asked me if I ever picked up our 2nd a/c from the store. Turns out, it slipped our minds and the store forgot to call and remind us. We took one home and the other was due in later that week (in Aug). I was happy to cross it off the to do list and just moved on. Funny that dh & I did not notice but our almost 9 y.o. did... Luckily, it was still in the warehouse so dh got it today.
I keep hearing Billy Joel in my head.. "so much to do and only so many hours in the day".....

Thanks weed, I forgot we have tarps I could use instead. It would be better to use a larger sheet with fewer seams.

To illustrate how tired I was earlier, I went to the garage to hit my emergency chocolate stash. I got to the doorway to go to the garage or bsmt and forgot why I was there. I can't believe I forgot chocolate in the 15 seconds it took me to walk towards it.

I think I have hit my quota of reno stories and would like smooth sailing with boring updates from here on out. Our gc and his bro (co-gcs) have turned out to be quite nice to work with so I think we got lucky in that regard.

Tomorrow's list includes finishing up the living room, dining room and emptying our coat closet. That will leave the weekend for setting up in the bsmt, packing the bathrooms and moving our bed down and furniture into the boys' room. One day at a time...

Just don't get so tired that you pull a shirt out of the dryer and go through a day at work with a pair of black panties static-ed to the back.

Oh my word! One of the best posts yet!

DON'T THROW ANYTHING AWAY! Bag it and store it somewhere/anywhere. After you're back in the new kitchen you may need some of that stuff you recently found. Or you may end up needing something you can't find in the next two months and if you know where those garbage bags are, You might find a free substitute. Even though I did a perfect job of packing (is there such a thing?)I was forever looking in boxes in the basement, garage and breezeway. I didn't even attempt the ones up against the walls in the rest of the house with remodeling materials stacked on/in front of them. And I labeled everything! It's annoying to read the box from across the room and know you can't get there from here. Hello Dollar store.

Kids say (and do) the darndest things at the most inopportune times! DS#1 (when he was 7 years old) announced he wanted to discuss where babies come from in the middle of a restaurant (of course DH was out of town). The people at nearby tables were very amused watching me try to get him to wait until we got home to have this particular heart-to-heart discussion. Ah, memories of such good times ;)

Good thing you found the mold before you had moved into the basement. It sounds like you have everything under control.

I can't believe you forgot the chocolate! Make sure you don't bury your secret stash behind a bunch of boxes--you're definitely going to need it!