Tomorrow is my fourteenth wedding anniversary. This year I'm giving my wife a new kitchen.
Before you give me too much credit, understand that she has been asked to put up with quite a lot to get that kitchen. You see, my wife marked our seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth anniversaries in a very uninspiring and substandard "temporary" kitchen, while I remodeled the real kitchen (along with over half the total square footage of our home).
When I purchased this home, I had a dream of creating a nice home for my family, "with my bare hands". It was a nice dream that soon turned into a nightmare, because I grossly underestimated the scope of the project and the time investment. In my defense, I ended up doing a lot more than I originally intended, but I was still way off in my estimates. My bride has endured much because of this decision, and I wish I could reverse the decision I made several years ago. Too late, now!
Recently, my project required me to remove the heat duct from her "temporary" kitchen to re-route it into the new kitchen. I did this in the spring, with the promise that, while it may be short some trim, she would be cooking in her new kitchen by "heating season", which I unofficially deemed November 1st.
Of course, she doubted my promise... after that many years, it felt as though she would never get a real kitchen!
But, although I am eight days overdue (well, I'm a lot more than eight days overdue, but eight days on my most recent promise), I took tomorrow off work for our anniversary, and I plan to spend most of the day cleaning my tools and the last of my dust out and "giving her the keys" to a new kitchen! I think moving day will officially be Saturday for the major appliances, but she is starting to trickle some kitchen items over to the other side. Sunday dinner will likely be the first official use of a space in our home that has been unoccupied since we moved here in 2004!
Yes, it's about time. No, I shouldn't have asked that much of her. I'm disappointed with myself for the hardship this project has caused my family. But, it feels good to finally follow through with a dream. I've learned a lot the hard way, and when I set the "heating season" goal, the kitchen was still an empty room with unpainted walls and no cabinets, but I had enough experience to be confident that it was realistic. And, I'm a day away from delivering on that promise and getting Jen in a much deserved kitchen!
Sorry, Jen. Thanks for enduring. Enjoy the kitchen. Happy Anniversary!
All that, a blog post and no pics of the kitchen??
ReplyDeleteAwww, come on!!
(Snicker)
First, and foremost... Congratulations on your anniversary!! It's not always easy, but having someone to motivate, and to be motivated by (in reciprocity)I think makes us all better people. I know I would not be where I was without my wife, and I suspect you are the same. So congrats on finding a way to make it work!!
Secondly - Congratulations on the completion of the kitchen!! Not any easy task or undertaking by any means... I still have unfinished woodwork in my basement (started maybe seven or eight years ago).
Finally - what is that first dinner going to be?? One of your wife's specialties?? I've read a few posts about some of the dishes she makes on other "social media outlets" and am REALLY looking forward to hearing what she is planning for that first "kick off" meal!!!
Go Jeff!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the "new" room and make lots of memories there.
FoF-- it wasn't ready for pictures at the time of this posting... maybe some after we move in. I think the "first meal" will actually be pretty uneventful... Jen is deliberately running the fridge low so it is less to move!
ReplyDelete