HGTV Fallout

Whew! I am so happy those two days of work are over! They weren't crazy-busy, but it was more activity than I'd done in over a week of being sick, so I was tireder than usual.

No progress on the sewing front just yet, but all those hours and hours of lying around watching HGTV under the influence of albuterol inhalers haven't been totally wasted. One sleepless night, I took an old spiral notebook and listed, room by room, every project I wanted to accomplish. Read now, in the clarity of daylight after decent sleep, it's a rather daunting list!

But yesterday, one of the big ones was accomplished, thanks to Handyman Matters.

When we moved here in 2003, I had a big, nice, 2-yr-old side-by-side refrigerator we brought with us--that wouldn't fit in the new kitchen. So we left the small, black, freezer-on-top fridge from the previous owners in the kitchen and put ours out in the garage, next to the old upright freezer. It's actually rather handy to have a second fridge, for things like extra cokes, 2 1/2 dozen egg containers, vegetables, and watermelon in season. But J-Man, who is paralyzed on his left side and has chronic back pain, was finding it increasingly difficult and painful to bend down to get his tea, find leftovers, hunt for the pickles, etc.

So yesterday, the really nice guy from Handyman Matters came out, trimmed my cabinets down, and swapped the refrigerators for us. It took longer than expected, and of course, I had to come home from work, unload both refrigerators into coolers and onto every available surface before anything could be done. And clean both fridges, too, then reload everything. It was an all day affair, and my legs were so sore from going up and down steps, but it is so worth it!

In a couple of days, I should have the new filter in, and things arranged like we want them, and we'll be back to using the cold water and ice dispensers again. Heaven.

I'm sorry there are no before pictures, but here's my wonderful appliance back in its rightful place:

I had him just leave off the cabinet doors above the fridge, rather than cutting them back down to size and re-installing. I have a couple of decorative items that will look just fine up there--and no, I'm not referring to the empty egg cartons or my lunch bag!

Besides the cabinet and refrigerator work, he changed out the fluorescent light fixture that wasn't functioning (yeah, the kitchen needs updating, but whenever...), and while he was at it, fixed the storm door--which I hadn't even mentioned. He was here almost 4 hours, and had to take the doors off the fridge to get it into the house, but part of the delay wasn't his fault, so he charged us for less than 3 hours' work. All in all, we paid only $265.00--labor and supplies. Considering all he had to do, that was a real bargain!

Russell was a very pleasant man, whistling along to the old Beach Boys tunes J-Man had playing on the computer, reminiscing about The Twist and other old dances, and giving some helpful hints about thriftiness and efficiency. I have a grocery list of things that need to be fixed around here that J-Man and I are unable to do, and you can be sure we will be calling them again--and requesting Russell.