Updates April 2025 - Spring Break is Over

We are back from Lisbon! We had a wonderful time exploring the city, catching up with an old friend, and having adventures (we are all OK and relatively unscarred!).

Kitchen: not done yet, but getting close. We are able to use it in the evenings and on weekends but haven't moved all our stuff back in yet.

• Tiles look great.
• Old-ish diswasher (5 years old) with previous issues started leaking again, so needs to be replaced.
• New cabinets look great (handles are being installed as I am writing this)

Kitchen in progress (handles are in!)

• Countertops - hmmm, not sure. We (I, mostly) picked a light quartzite stone with lots of veining (looked beautiful at the storage facility). From what we read, quartzite is considered to be hard and durable. However, there are a few issues that are coming up already. Note to future self (if we ever end up replacing the countertops)- do more research before installing countertops and examine the slabs much more carefully .
• Water stains - if there is any water on the counter, like droplets near the sink or a moisture under a glass - the surface in that area turns a darker color. The water mark lingers for a bit (depending on how long the water was sitting there) and then disappears. This is probably OK, but I'm going to keep and eye on it and will ask the company that did the installation if there is anything we need to do.
• Hairline cracks or fissures (not sure which). I can't tell if these happened after the installation or if they had been in the stone all along. Because this is natural stone, imperfections are normal and to be expected. There are all sorts of striations going on there, which, on one hand, make the countertops nice to look at but maybe also making it more prone to cracking along the layers (maybe? not sure, not a stone expert here). There is one particular corner that seems to have quite a few fissures/cracks, including one that seem kind of deep (I think it was filled and sealed, the surface feels smooth with only a slight imperfection), but there are plenty of tiny ones all over the countertop. Will it get worse with time? Do they need any additional fixing/sealing? Will keep an eye on it and will check with the granite people. 

Cracks or Fissures

• I am choosing not to stress about the countertops. If things look imperfect - ah well, we use the kitchen a lot, life happens. If things break down... well, we will do our best to fix things. The slab we bought was pretty expensive, so if we will need to do frequent repair or will need to replace the countertops - that's going to be a bummer, but... life is life. 

Life in general: I am having serious anxiety about all the events and activities that are happening over the next couple of months. I am afraid to look at the calendar (which makes me worried that I will miss stuff, but just thinking about the calendar makes me anxious, and round and round we go). It's kind of funny and stupid, but I just can't bring myself to sit down with my planner and go through the next few weeks. Ugh.

A worry list (in no particular order):

    Political situation, financial situation, government, collapse of society, job security, summer camps, SAT prep and college application prep for big kids, potential regrets about kitchen renovation, not having enough money (omg, all 3 kids need new summer clothing!!! and food is getting expensive!!!), potential health issues (these tend to happen when you least expect them), mood swings, deer and other pests eating everything in our backyard, new bluebird nesting box (is it a wren nest in there? do we need to remove it?), blackbirds are attacking our birdfeeders and the small songbirds are no longer coming. Oh, and did I mention mood swings? Is this perimenopause and will things get even worse? (Ha, I know the answer to that one - it can always be worse).

Bird box with a nest.. I think it's a wren nest

.

I feel better already - nothing like dumping worrisome stuff into a blog post, reading through it, and realizing that half the stuff is just plain funny, most things I have little control over, and all-in-all, things can certainly get worse but we aren't there yet!

Dear readers: what are your biggest joys and regrets with home improvement projects?