As we were standing in the dining nook drinking water, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Something long and flat just scurried across the kitchen counter, underneath the knife block. Hmm...that's not right. I take another look. And sure enough, I see a lizard head sticking out of from underneath one side of the knife block and it's tail sticking out the other. How did that get into our kitchen?!
"Um, Greg, I think there's a lizard on the counter."
"Huh? Where?"
"Over there. Underneath the knife block. See, there's the head."
"Oh. I see."
As Greg tried to move the knife block, it scurried under the toaster oven.
Greg calmly says, "Wow, that's a big one."
It had to be *at least* 8 inches from head to tail. Riiiight...I'm trying to stay calm and am wondering how the heck it got into our kitchen.
Greg starts looking for a container to trap it in, so we can let if go outside. As he's searching he says, "Hmm...we need a bigger container. It's pretty big."
Uh...okay. I'm going to get my camera, stay calm and let him trap this thing so we can let it go in the front yard and hope that it doesn't come back. Here's a not-so-good picture:
We spent most of the weekend laying Pergo in the dining nook, hallway and entry way. Actually installing Pergo is pretty easy. It's kinda like a game of Tetris. The hard part is getting rid of the existing floor and prepping/leveling the floor. Luckily Greg did the hard part. =)
I actually wanted to help get rid of the ceramic tile in the entryway. But I left to run an errand and when I came back, it was gone! Boy, that was fast. Apparently, Greg covered the tile with an old bed sheet (to prevent the ceramic shards from flying everywhere) and then went to town on the floor with a sledgehammer. Then he just shoveled up all the broken pieces into a trash can.
During all this remodeling, Tachi has been wandering around downstairs trying to figure out what the heck we're doing to his home. He's got less space to roam because the family room and dining room have been invaded by Pergo planks, a dining table, chair and bookcases. Plus there's all sorts of strange noises (loud banging and sawing) coming from the dining nook, hallway, entryway and outside. I'm not sure how much he's going to like the new floor. It's definitely not as comfy or cushy as carpet, but it is cooler.
Gombei is one of my favorite Japanese restaurants in the Bay Area. Until recently, there were 2 locations: Menlo Park and San Jose Japantown. Everytime we've gone to the one in Japantown, it's been packed. The menu is different than most other Japanese places. Of course, they have the typical teriyaki chicken/beef, katsu and udon. What makes Gombei unique is the daily specials that resemble home-style cooking. Oh, they also don't server sushi or sashimi, unless it's part of one of the daily specials.
About a month or two ago, we noticed a Gombei sign in one of the shopping centers near our home. Could it be they were going to open up another location walking distance from us?! When we went to Gombei in Japantown, we asked if they were opening another location in Santa Clara. The response, "Maybe." Hmmm...sounded promising. Occasionally, we'd stop by and peer into the window and look for a sign that said when the place would be open. Well, it finally opened last week, and we went to check it our for dinner tonight!
You could tell that they were still working out some of the kinks, but the food was good! It's different than the other Gombei locations. The Santa Clara location actually serves sushi. They kept the sushi boat conveyor belt from the previous restaurant. The sushi boat counter takes up the majority of the restaurant. There were only a few tables in the front even though there was definitely room for more tables. Not sure if they plan to add tables in the future or keep it focused on the sushi bar. They also didn't have a daily specials board, which was somewhat disappointing. Maybe they'll add the daily specials after they work out some of the opening kinks. Or maybe this Gombei will be focused on sushi, which I wouldn't mind either.
So, it's been a week since my last post. I'd say our kitchen is 95% complete. On Tuesday evening, Greg finished pulling out the linoleum floor. We discovered that there were 3 layers of linoleum! He cut the Pergo on Wednesday and installed it in our kitchen on Thursday. Just in time for the delivery of our new appliances! On Thursday evening our kitchen looked like this:
You can see the empty spots where the appliances would be installed. And yes, I have an amazingly handy husband! =)
On Friday, Sears delivered our new range and dishwasher. I was expecting an experience similar to the phone or cable company where they tell you the service window is a 4 or 5 hour block of time, but the service guy doesn't show up until after the alloted window of time. I was pleasantly surprised at how efficient the Sears delivery process was. At 7:15 am, I received a phone call informing me that our delivery window was between 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm. The delivery guys showed up about 45 minutes early, were very professional, quick and thorough. Our contractor came back in the evening to seal the counter tops and check that the garbage disposal was working properly. So, on Friday evening our kitchen was basically done and it looked like this:
We spent part of Friday night and Saturday putting stuff back into the cabinets and arranging our new kitchen. We made our first meal on our new stove on Sunday morning: bacon and french toast for Greg and scrambled egg whites and toast for me. =)
Our kitchen looks pretty done, doesn't it? So, how come it's only 95% done and not 100% done? Because Greg has to finish trimming the Pergo and install base boards. Even after that's done, we won't be done. Our kitchen remodel crept into the dining nook, hallway and entry way. Greg painted the dining nook the same color as the kitchen on Sunday and started to replace the carpet in the dining nook and hallway with Pergo. He ripped out most of the carpet in the nook this evening, so it looks like this:
We haven't decided what to do about the tile in our entry way. We definitely have enough Pergo to replace the tile, but we're not sure about the durability of Pergo vs. tile. If you have any experience with Pergo v. tile, let us know!
On Friday, our contractors continued to install cabinets. By the time Greg and I got home all the cabinets were installed, except for a few doors and the handles.
They came back Saturday afternoon to install the granite counter tops. I think they spent the day cutting the granite, and then showed up to install it. When they left, they told us not to touch anything. Sadly, I didn't take any photos of this stage, but it basically looked the same as Friday, but with the sink installed and granite glued to the cabinets and being held in place with clamps.
The funny thing is that when I walked into the kitchen to look at the granite, it looked different than I remembered it. The granite we picked was a swirly tan, beige and what we thought was green. But the green looked more grey than green. It's not like the granite clashed with the cabinets or was awful looking. I just wasn't what we thought we ordered.
So, on Sunday we went back to the granite and cabinet store to look at it again. We even brought our camera with us. And we discovered that the granite clamped to our cabinets was the one we ordered. It just looked different (more green-ish) in the showroom lighting. We also realized that some of the granite slabs have more grey than beige/tan while others have more beige/tan than grey. The piece of granite we have has more grey than the one hanging in the showroom. We left the store feeling better about the counter top.
Today, our contractor came back to finish up the kitchen. The clamps were removed from the granite. The backsplash and faucet were installed. The microwave and garbage disposal were re-installed. The ceiling and walls were re-textured and painted. Greg has started to remove the linoleum floor so we can install the Pergo in the kitchen before our appliances are delivered. This evening our kitchen looks like this:
I'm so excited! This morning we started our kitchen remodel project! Originally we were scheduled to start the remodel in mid-April, but our contractor had to push our date out a couple of weeks. And today, the long awaited date has arrived!
So, what exactly are we doing? Well...we're installing new cabinets, granite countertops, stainless steel sink with one giant bowl, recessed lighting, a new stainless range and dishwasher. Oh, I almost forget the paint too. Phew, that's a lot! I'm really looking forward to seeing how it all comes together. I figure it's good practice for the next re-modeling project we might need to do.
Last night we finished emptying our cabinets and moving the contents of our kitchen into the family room. We also ate our last meal "prepared" in the old kitchen. We microwaved leftovers and frozen Lean Cuisine dinners. And we'll probably be eating out for until we're the remodeling is complete. It's kinda hard to make dinner when you don't have a stove or a sink.
Our contractors are working quickly and have made good progress. Yesterday evening our kitchen looked like this:
They arrived this morning at 9:00am and started to prep the work area. They laid down plastic and heavy brown packaging paper on the floor, covered shelves with plastic, and started removing appliances and demolishing our kitchen. By noon, they had completed demolition and there was nothing left in our kitchen except for our refrigerator and the floor.
We're going to replace the linoleum floor with Pergo after the remodeling is complete...hopefully, with the help of some of our friends. If you'd like to volunteer, let us know! =) By the 6pm this evening, they had installed the recessed lights and about half of the new cabinets. You can't really see the recessed lights in this picture, but you get the idea.
We're surprised at how quickly it's progressing. Can't wait to see the progress they make tomorrow!
