D-Day

D is for demolition.

It's also for:
delay
dust
dumpster
difficulties
dominoes
discouraged

All of these have some resonance today. If our first day of renovation foreshadows what's to come, just sock me away in a sanitarium now. Do not pass "Go." Pay out $200. Okay. Way more than $200.

We uncovered some fun stuff today. Almost a full panel of festive wallpaper.

Treasures trapped behind cabinets:

a 'fro comb (a 70s perm?)

overdue library slips (a cunning and delinquent child?)

a 45 vinyl recording of "Grasshopper (Jansen-Vennik)" by the group Spin (a mid-70s rock jazz group in Holland)

The sweetest discovery was this sign, so carefully lettered by a child. I don't know who Joan was. A newborn sibling. Someone returning from a trip. But whoever Joan was, she was loved.

And then there was the not-so-fun stuff. A demolition start so delayed that I began picturing ourselves up past 2 in the morning, crowbars in hand. The asbestos removal company comes tomorrow so we're up against a hard deadline.

Advice: Do not schedule contractors the day after a holiday.

If I squint my eyes and cock my head and really try to visualize the glass half full, I admit that the contractors eventually came and worked well. Our GC meticulously tarped every doorway into the construction zone to contain the dust. Two men removed an entire kitchen and started opening up a wall, all in four hours.

Creating that simple opening between dining room and kitchen has become...complicated. Complicated by a jumble of electrical wiring. A steam pipe (this clearly marks a no-fly zone). And metal lath that requires a special tool to cut.

There toppled the dominoes. Because of the metal lath, the opening can't be completed. Because the opening isn't done, the hulking stainless refrigerator can't be removed. Because the refrigerator is stuck, my husband will have to take off its doors. The contractors will return tomorrow morning to maneuver it through the current 30" opening.

I'm looking forward to the dumpster's (delayed) arrival tomorrow. For now, we have an enormous mountain of rubbish on our driveway. The dumpster'll come out...tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there'll be...a dumpster? You know when you're humming a song from Annie, that cocktail hour is way overdue.