this is our home

 

The grandkids had spent the night and we were lingering in the kitchen, after a yummy breakfast of Poppa's biscuits and eggs. There were crumbs all over the place, two little faces smeared with blueberries and butter, so many dirty dishes. I thought to myself, this is so divine...will our new kitchen have this cozy, inviting space? Please, let it be! Oh my, when will there actually be a new kitchen? When will we know the full scope of the structural issues with this house?

I think it was October that I wrote a slice of life about our home remodeling, how plans for a new kitchen floor had revealed major structural issues with our house. Well, it's February now. We've had months of thinking and planning, and no real work started. The ceiling has been cut open in two places, to discern exactly what is going on up there - will we need a column for support? Do we need additional beams? The final design of the kitchen is in some ways the least of the concerns - we need to fortify the house structure itself. We have had a "merry-go-round" of the expertise, with our contractor sending varied folks by to check things out. The structural engineer has drawn blueprints; the builder looked at these with skepticism and excellent questions; the kitchen designer has been at an impasse until the need for column(s) is resolved; the contractor has reassured us that the project needs thoughtful, thorough planning, please be patient; more questions have been asked of the engineer; new concerns posed by the builder; around and around and around we go.

Why does everyone come by one by one to talk with us? I lamented. It feels as if "the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing." This is our home, we need to know what has gone wrong and what needs to be fixed. 

It has been such a frustrating process. 

And then - my prayers were answered.

Just as we were finishing that fabulous breakfast with the kids, the structural engineer called to ask if he could come by again, that very morning, as in, about an hour from now? Our general contractor was coming, too. We weren't about to say "No," no matter the inconvenience. YES! YES! YES! 

So ensued a rapid, unexpected, inconvenient scene change - clear the dishes, wipe down the kids and the counter, ready the baby for her morning nap, let the preschooler watch some television in the back room, get the blueprints, the step ladders, the measuring tape and other tools. Tony and the first guy to arrive took down the plywood panels that are covering the ceiling holes....

Finally, we all put our heads together.

I'm exhausted yet excited - truly. This is as hopeful as we have felt in months. EVERYONE together, everyone looking at the same things at the same time, discussing what to do, and creating a common understanding.  

We take a step in the right direction - we are figuring out this mess of a project TOGETHER. 

That's Tony on the left, totally hands-on

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It's Tuesday and I am participating in the

 Slice of Life.  

Thank you, Two Writing Teachers, for creating this supportive community 

of teacher-writers!