Elizabeth Drakes's Site

Fantasy Romance

Not going as planned

Still Not Going Well

by

This week was supposed to mark the end of our kitchen remodel.

MasterPlan

Only, it hasn’t yet begun. As a matter of fact, we’re still waiting for contractors to actually get back to us with quotes.

Several said they were going to come out and quote the job, but they never actually came. Others simply said they weren’t interested. The job was too small, they wanted us to buy the materials through them, etc.

Earlier this month, a tornado touched down about 35 minutes from where we live. Lots of work to rebuild.

Then there was the torrential rains that caused a lot of flooding damage. Lots of work to fix that as well.

I can’t back out of the project without taking a huge loss – to the tune of 25% of the cost of the materials I would have to return. So, I am stuck doing the project.

KitchenRemodel

On a brighter note, a few days ago three contractors actually came when they said they would to take a look and give us a quote.

I don’t have any quotes yet, but there is hope.

5 Things I Learned about Myself on Vacation

by

I wouldn’t say learned, exactly, but perhaps was strongly reminded of in a less than subtle way.

5 Things I Learned about Myself on Vacation

 

  1. I Like Need Things Planned

This whole going with the flow thing is for people that are not me. I need to know what we’re doing and when. I want plans solidified. Train schedules plotted out. Museum hours accounted for. Not, this doesn’t apply to my writing, but it does everything else (which is why it still stymies me as to why I can’t be a plotter).

familyvacation

 

  1. I Like (Need) Things to Be on Time

In my family, if you’re not five minutes (okay, fifteen) early, you’re late. Why yes, my ancestors are German, why do you ask? I try very hard to be on time and ready to go, which I accomplished all the time every time before we had children. Now, I feel like I have to tell everyone we need to leave thirty minutes sooner than we actually do just to have a chance at leaving on time.

And when we’re late anyway? Plans start to fall apart.

Time
What did people do before watches and cell phones?

 

  1. Crowds Make Me Edgy

I don’t like crowds. I’ve never liked crowds. Most of my life, I’ve been content to shop first thing in the morning to avoid crowds. Then, internet shopping became a thing, and I could shop whenever I liked without having to talk to a soul.

But every single thing that involves a family vacation also seems to avoid crows. Lots of them.

51acb30ac6516d3bff4e7061ecfab48d_online-shopping-funniest-memes-online_420-294

 

  1. I Am Not Pleasant When Stressed

Who is, really? And no, breathing techniques don’t work.

stressed

 

  1. Stress Causes Migraines

And these make me even more pleasant! What was the point of this vacation again?

 

Update or 4 Reasons Home Improvement Projects Suck

by

So, as you may have heard, we’ve been working on some home projects.

It’s not been going as planned. Here’s why.

childrens-for-girls-3368014_1280
What you think it’s going to look like…

 

 

Weekend #1

Took almost everything out of my daughter’s room. Feel sorry for my other daughter whose room was housing the first child’s stuff.

 

Weekend #2 & 3:

We painted the trim white. We then painted the walls misty lavender, all according to plan. I was pretty excited at this point, thinking things were going pretty well.

 

Weekend #4

Snag 1: We had to paint the ceiling to get it to not look awful against the walls.

Weekend #5

Snag 2: The closet organizer we ordered arrived two weeks late. *deep breath* That’s okay, we were already a week behind because of the ceiling. Yes, both kids’ rooms are a complete mess, so bad that the 3 year-old is complaining about how messy her room is, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

toys-457809_640
Kinda like this.

 

Weekend #6

Snag 3: That light turned out to be a train. We thought we were putting the closet organizer together this weekend. The directions were terrible, and I mean terrible, and this is from people who’ve whizzed through putting together IKEA furniture for 15 years. My husband has put together everything from basic bookshelves to a trundle daybed with drawers. He’s so good at it, friends ask for his help. He enjoys doing it. It’s like Legos for adults for him.

But the directions on this were so bad he had to consult YouTube. Repeatedly. The directions were so bad he swore the manufacturers of the organizer had never once put together furniture before going into business selling it. For example, none of the parts were labeled, either with part numbers or a corresponding A, B C. We had to figure out what they were used for by counting them. There was a single diagram. It was bad.

Then, we discovered there were more parts than there should have been, but many of them were the right parts. We had 4 drawers for a 3 drawer organizer. But one of the drawers was missing all of the hardware in the box and the drawer front. That just so happened to be the first box we opened.

We had four more floating shelves than we should have had.

We had four LESS fixed shelves than we should had. Meaning, the entire unit couldn’t be assembled.

After lots of pictures to the manufacturer, they agreed to send us the missing four shelves.

So, another week without a closet organizer, and all of the older daughter’s stuff in the younger daughter’s room.

IKEA_Furniture
My husband, every time. Which is why this is so frustrating!

 

Weekend #7

We got the proper shelves!

Snag 4 – Except, we don’t have enough screws. The directions said 28 screws. We counted. We had 29. All good, right? Except, there are 9 fixed shelves and each needs 4 screws. So there should have been 36 screws. We went to Home Depot, Menards, and Ace. A very helpful associate at Home Depot spent almost an hour trying to find something that would work, but the screws are custom for this project, and without the right size and shape screw head, the fixed shelves won’t snap into place. So, I’ve requested the extra screws.

We got the shelves we could into place and started moving some stuff back into the oldest child’s room while we wait for the screws,

 

I’m never buying self-assembled stuff from anyone but Ikea again. They know how to do self-assembled furniture.

How about you? Ever have a home project not go as planned? Ever buy self-assembled furniture missing half the pieces? Any other stories that might make me feel better?