Remodeling The Kitchen - Update #1

There has been more activity on our kitchen project recently. A couple of weeks went by when nothing much happened but the original finish date was to be October 2 and that date has come and gone. I expected as much. Lowe's has been good about keeping us up to date on the calendar changes but they haven't seemed to hire the best quality workmanship. Saeed contacted them to say we are seeing some problems and today I spent two hours going over the work and putting sticky notes where the problems are. Our project manager will be coming tomorrow to see what's going on. I feel sure they'll address the problems satisfactorily.

The cabinets have been put in. The structure in the foreground is the island. I didn't realize it would be so long but that's all good - lots of extra storage space inside it.

This is where our white desk and phone used to be.

This used to be our pantry. The refrigerator will go in there and we have nice cabinets surrounding it.

The counter top has been installed. This picture doesn't do it justice.

It's very pretty.

One day half the floor was down and...

... the next day it was done.

The backing of the island was attached and an electrical socket was put in so appliances can be used on the island. Notice also the under cabinet lighting that's reflecting off the counter. Pretty!

Our new sink (no water yet) and our new dishwasher.

So that's where we are right now. Hope the meeting with the project manager goes well tomorrow.

Remodeling The Kitchen

This project has been in the making for a long time. We would stick our toes in the 'kitchen redo water' and find it too daunting, but even the worst task must be tackled if it has to be done. And BOY, does it need to be done. I'm really so embarrassed to even post the pictures of the nastiness that has been our kitchen for years, but here we go...

Desk area

Pantry

The first of several pics of our beat up cabinets...

...

...

...

... rags wedged between the cabinet and the dishwasher...

... eww..

... the floor all dinged up...

... a piece broken off near the utility room...

... scuffed wood and scratched misaligned molding...

...

... one of our oven burners...

... and then one day recently I came home to this!

All the cabinets and flooring ripped out...

...

...

I keep blocking the holes they make in the walls because I have a fear (a valid fear if the stories are true) of one of the kitties getting stuck/falling between the walls.

Chappu and Tippy are very nosy girls.

The piano room houses all our boxes of kitchen utensils, as well as the new dishwasher and the new oven.

The dining room houses all the new cabinetry and flooring...

...

... with a path to get through it.

Our refrigerator is now in the living room along with...

... our kitchen table.

Our current set up for eating is in Saeed's old office. We're calling it the campsite.

The coffee pot and area to wash dishes is in the bath room along with...

... the recycling.

We've had a lot of fun in this old kitchen and there's always the sentimental part of me that feels a pang of sadness. Yet new memories will be made in the new kitchen, 

In sha'Allah.

And Then This!

Every day the news reveals another article regarding the importance of plants in our diet and/or the disadvantages of animal products in our diet. Is it just me? Am I like one of those women who can't get pregnant who sees thousands of pregnant women every time she turns around? A vegetarian's wet dream to be sure, but this is the third day in a row an article like this has come out.

TIME magazine published an article relaying the findings of a new study published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. The title of the TIME article by Alexandra Sifferlin is... EATING MORE VEGETABLES CAN ALMOST HALVE YOUR RISK OF DYING. You will have to read it to understand that the title doesn't mean you halve you chance of ever dying! Click here to go directly to the article. And pass the asparagus.

Informed Consent Not Just For Surgical Procedures

Wow. The day after I read about doctors prescribing produce instead of medication this video arrived in my inbox. It's only 4 minutes long so I hope you watch the whole thing but what impressed me starts at minute 1:44. Doctors are supposed to be practicing medicine by a code of ethics which states that "physicians should sensitively and respectfully disclose all relevant medical information to patients" which includes giving patients all their treatment options and then allowing them to decide. It's called informed consent. I know better than the next person that informing a patient about all options is time consuming, yet that is what physicians are ethically required to do. This means that we, as patients, may need to demand that at our appointments. And it might mean that we need to bring up diet and nutrition. Unfortunately physicians are poorly trained in diet and nutrition and probably can talk less to that point than the average Ingrid.

Again please pay attention at minute 3:30. The editor in chief of The Journal of Cardiology (not some vegetarian freak) states, "Atherosclerosis is due to abnormalities of serum cholesterol, mostly from eating calories high in cholesterol and saturated fats. If we all existed on a plant-based diet we would not have needed this discussion." Wow.

Presciptions For Produce?

I just read that doctors at New York City hospitals in the Bronx and Harlem are now writing prescriptions for fruits and vegetables rather than medications to encourage patients to buy healthier foods. I wish the docs in my office would do that. It's really hard for me to listen to patients complain about ailments that I KNOW would benefit from a more plant-based diet and then hear the docs recommend pills as the solution.

Celebrating No Rooz With The Fam

We had a wonderful weekend together to celebrate Persian New Year and my birthday. The ModarMutters (Tita and Daniel) came in Friday night and the M-B family came Saturday afternoon after Cyrus' first soccer game. As the proud grandmother I don't mind mentioning that he scored several of the 23 goals that won the game. Soccer is Cyrus' new favorite sport.

The weather Saturday was gorgeous. We spent much of our time outside but leaving the door open to the deck allowed us to enjoy it even when inside.

On the table you can see the Persian New Year candles - one for each of us.

Shirin and Daniel chat while Tita reads to the boys. Gabriel was hanging out (literally) in our hammock.

It was so funny; the book they chose for her to read was one of their baby books.

Daniel played with the boys a lot but the only thing I recorded was their car races. He timed them on his phone. Kai went back to Athens with two scraped knees. :-(


Once we came back inside we played Dixit until it was time to be treated to a Persian dinner of Fesanjoon, one of my favorites. Sorry, no picture. After dinner we celebrated my birthday with presents and a yummy cake with so many candles I had to have Cyrus and Kai help me blow them out! Sorry no picture of that either. That evening we watched "Frozen", one of my birthday presents.

Our "Haft Seen" table. I originally had it on a low table but then realized that ChaCha would try to eat everything and moved it to the kitchen counter.

Sunday morning we went out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then came back to snap some pics.

Cuties.

Cropped in case Tita wants one this size.

What a great pic of Shirin and Gabriel's family.

And cropped.

Once the pics were done we all got back in our jeans and T-shirts to enjoy the rest of the day. We built a bonfire outside until it started to rain, and ate Persian Breakfast for lunch. It was a wonderful weekend and I can't wait to do it all over again.

The End :-)