Tight Squeeze

So we had a little remodel scare this week. When we arrived home on Tuesday, we were pleasantly surprised to see that they had installed the faucet (a functioning sink!), the dishwasher, and the washer. However, we also noticed that the stove was sitting in the middle of the kitchen in front of the area where it should be. Why? Because the counters were just a smidge too long. We're talking like an 1/8 inch. The contractor was very precise about the location of the cabinets, so we could see that the stove would fit between the 2 cabinets. However, the countertop was hanging slightly over the cabinet and plywood template. Here's the thing about remodel errors- you never really know what to freak out about when things go wrong. How bad is it really? We were afraid that it was going to take a lot of time/effort to fix- we didn't even want to think about the blame game- who's fault is it and will there be additional cost? Luckily, we made a call to the granite people the next day and they came out and had it fixed the next day by the time we got home. It just looked so scary because things are glued, grouted, sealed, and seemed so final. We've been really lucky because the hiccups that we have experienced are all pretty minor. We've been talking to our neighbor who started their remodel a week or 2 after us and it looks like their remodel is going a lot slower. Granted, they are also remodelling 2 bathrooms at the same time, but they have had more frustrations than we have had.

Our contractor said that he should be done on Friday. I can't believe it. We're going up to Tahoe this weekend, so we'll need to clean next week before the parents come, but there's nothing like company coming over to give you a deadline to clean up fast. I don't know if our house would ever get clean if we didn't have people coming over.

This triggers a memory of the conversation we had with the Schneiders a few weeks ago. You know that you are good friends when:

• You don't feel like you need to clean the house because it's just XXX coming over.
• You can fall asleep while you're hanging out with XXX.
• You can bring over half of a cake to share (instead of a whole cake.)
• You can take your socks off at their house.
• Your kid pees, pukes, etc. on the rug and you know where to get the cleaning products in their home.
• You clean their house for them. (I really like this one- thanks Ellen!)
• You bring your own slippers or have a toothbrush at their house.
• You bring your laptop over to their house and you can access the internet via their wireless connection.
• You do your laundry at their house when you come over to hang out.
• You can talk about the fight you just had with your spouse, in-laws, etc.
• You help them move all their crap even though you know it's going to be a pain.

Looking forward to fun with friends this weekend.