This is a blog entry about nothing. And a nothing that has consumed many weeks at this point. By now, I should be sharing great new pics of the remodeled kitchen, complete with nice and shiny stainless steel appliances, wrapped by anitiqued cabinets that serve as a sturdy foundation for square-edged granite countertops. But alas, we’re in virtually the same spot as we were when I last wrote (in November!) that we were starting the great kitchen remodel.

Things started out well – they really did. Despite waiting several weeks for a cabinet door sample to arrive, we made our selections and were set with all the design decisions by early December. With the inevitable slow down that comes with the holidays, I didn’t get too concerned. By early January, I thought I should check back in to see if we were still on track. Uhm…yeah. That’s where things went “off the tracks”. Not only were we not on track, the train hadn’t left the station. In other words, nothing had been ordered yet. (Okay, enough of the train analogy.)

With the requisite amount of CYA-ing and “who’s on first” action, I think the comedy of errors is over, and we just may be making progress again. But, my joking reference to being done by Christmas of 2010 is now actually looking frighteningly ambitious. In the meantime, our kitchen is about as functional as a camp site kitchen. And with the only refrigerator tucked away in the garage (and full of “adult” beverages), it makes dining out the best option unless we’re looking for a nice, fresh bowl of cereal. Or a beer.

We have done some of the necessary prep work. We’ve demolished the old pantry, making way for dual built-in wine coolers (yay!), we’ve also installed new recessed lighting, windows and sliding doors. While I’m happy to have said goodbye to the drafty single-pane windows of yesteryear, the new windows and doors make the existing cabinets and flooring even worse (which I didn’t think was possible).

So, at this point, all of the pre-work has been done. Now we’re just waiting for the main event. Sorta like getting ready for a big party, and then hoping people actually show up. If not, at least we can make S’Mores and drink wine.

More to come…