But Call Me Betsy

Somehow, despite feeling like I remain inert most of the time, this kitchen is getting rebuilt. You may have to endure a few rounds of this as appliances get put in on Saturday and next week and counter tops arrive. I did take a picture of my light switch that I won't subject you to. Here is where the dishwasher will go, if the dishwasher people can ever get around to scheduling a delivery. I have lots of drawers. I'm not sure why. The cabinets. The counter people are bringing the sink. It's an under mount sink and should be easier to clean. Can't wait until that broken oven no longer mars the beauty of the room. Shelf beside the fridge. More drawers. Side cabinet. Drawers. We were going to try to run the counter across to the shelf, but I don't think I want to do that anymore. Easy storage for cats. He's always only thinking about how he might be able to get outside.

I can't stop. Here are the cabinets that they put in yesterday. Today when I get home from work, all of them should be installed, down to the very last faux silver handle. Thank you, Colin, for making up this whole entire design while I stood passively by with little or no opinion or feedback to offer. New cabinets with actual glass on them. The hole to the right is where the tiny, baby dishwasher will go The only thing I will miss about this fridge when it's gone is the Obama sticker It's hard to make the photos exciting Looking in. Goodbye, shitty oven In this empty area, there will be a new microwave These drawers should be in when I get home tonight Equipment And just because I realize other people's house crap is boring, here's my co-worker, Jason, dressed as Gumby. He scared me when he came in looking like this.I am not a fan of the full body costume.

Lots and lots of great window displays and house decorations this time of year. South Philly people do not skimp. Not like me who has a 99cent felt pumpkin Scotch-taped to the window. I pretty much hate this one because it's too scary. Here's the fuller view. You have to admire the amount of work put into this, along with the dollars wasted. Frankie Awesome witch and ghosts. Ick. And cute! Home-made. 

The kitchen has been stripped of all of its cabinets. Today, the professional IKEA installation men arrived promptly at 8 AM to begin IKEA-fying the new space. On Saturday, I sat around biting my fingernails, waiting for the cabinets to arrive and they did at around 7 PM. Not sure what to expect when I get home. He said it would take about two days. I can't wait to put my cereal boxes away. The hardest thing, I think, will be not having a sink for the next couple of weeks until the counters get installed. And also dealing with the angst of the cats who are locked in the basement currently and probably eating one another. Here's some photos of what we did two weekends ago.This is Dan bravely painting with his eyes shut to avoid retinal damage. Side view. I did help too. I cheered him on. And then this past weekend, we tackled the hardest part of the kitchen which was the sink cabinet.  First, Dan had to disconnect the garbage disposal and work with the plu...

I had a hard time falling asleep last night--no real reason, except for my friend Liz was telling me about her friend who was walking to catch a bus recently and a tree branch fell on his head and he died. Such stories can prompt one to wondering if perhpas she isnt wasting a little too much time on marathon episodes of Law and Order SVU or computer Solitaire?  I also had just finished Janet Fitch's bok, White Oleander , which I purchased from a thrift store for a quarter recently. I would say that a quarter was about what one should spend on this book. That's not totally fair; I did read the whole thing pretty quickly (skimmed most of it), because it did have a compelling central situation and character, but it also made me wonder just how much bad stuff can happen to any one character in a novel. This girl could not catch a break. First, her mom was a sociopath-ish murderess who ends up in jail. Then, the girl is sent off to a series of foster homes, none of which are goo...

Dan and I were sitting at the light on 11th and Snyder, on our way to Home Depot, when we overheard this couple standing on the street corner. We noticed first that they were arguing, and so Dan nonchalantly rolled down his window so that we could hear what it was about. The woman was half-crying, and she said, Tell me what I physically did wrong! I could be mistaken, but I think she meant that he should tell her what she literally did wrong. Unless, of course, he was her dance teacher and they had just come from a recital at the Walnut Street Theater. This didn't seem to be the case. That's my grammar snobbery for the day. Here is some street art for you: And then this is window dressing from the American Apparel store in West Philadelphia. The "in" thing for youngsters now is to wear petticoat's on your head, apparently. It reminds me of being in high school and how we used to think it was funky and subversive to put giant bows in our hair ala Material...

The whole kitchen is coming down. A couple of weekends ago, Dan helped me take out the cabinets on the wall above the oven. This weekend, we will try to paint. I was very happy to not discover giant holes in the wall or a family of Scarab beetles or 100 mice coveys. Still, it's not pretty right now.

Happy Halloween windows from South Philly.