Construction Deconstruction & A Full Moon

This is a photo I took Thursday evening. It's been a tough week, and I feel calmer now.

Bob and I are both stressed. Last night we talked for a long time, designing bath and kitchen spaces (where in the island is the sink?) and after all was said and done, I think we felt better.

Today we met with Kelly from Remodel West, who is very, very nice and will help us, I believe, get our kitchen designed without any serious relationship damage. She is as interested as we are in the question of which drawer the spatulas should go in; she wrote down on her pad that I like green and yellow, and that Bob's style is more traditional and wood, whereas mine is more contemporary and color. She also knows things about where the prep sink should go, whether or not to put light switches and power outlets in the island, and promises she can help us come to compromise regarding the placement of the evil microwave oven.

Then we went to the house. Edgar, an adorable and extremely smart and patient electrician, asked us millions of questions -- can lights, UC lights (under the counter), OC lights (occupancy controlled), 3-way switches, dome lights -- and made some very good suggestions about where the gas fireplace controls should go and where the bathroom fans should not go (over the shower?). We've got some work to do this weekend to make some final decisions.

I feel better about the stress, but it's going to be a lot of furious work for a little while now --

The biggest nightmare right now is the vent from the stove in the kitchen (downstairs) to the roof (up up up) which is currently through the corner of the office. Very bad. Very ugly. Here's a pair of photos, not for the faint of heart. I don't know what they're going to come up with, but hopefully when Harry sees this, he'll agree that it can't stay like this!!