Friday Randomness – Help On The Way, A Renew...

And what made the difference? I called the plumber yesterday to come and fix my kitchen sink issues. He wasn’t able to come yesterday, and he might not even be able to come today, so it might be next week before it actually gets fixed. But there was something about the knowledge that help is on the way that felt like a load had been lifted from my shoulders. So even though I woke up this morning to the same issue — a messy kitchen with the sink full of dishes and the knowledge that trying to get them all washed would leave me with a sink filled with water that would take hours to drain — it didn’t get me down in the least this morning. Because help is on the way!

I was reminded of the time many years ago when I was driving in town and I got a flat tire. I pulled over to the side of the road and cried. I know how to change a tire. It’s one of the first things my dad taught me when I got my first car at the age of 16. And yet, even though I’ve changed flat tired by myself several times, on that particular day, the thought of changing my tire by myself felt overwhelming to me. I don’t remember the particulars, so I don’t know if it was because I had a busy day and was really tired, or maybe it was because of the location where I had the flat tire. But I do remember feeling like it was too much for me to handle right then, so instead of taking care of business, I sat there and cried.

After gathering my thoughts, wiping away my tears, and trying to decide what to do, I finally called my brother to come help me change my tire. He said he’d be on his way and would be there shortly. Well, just knowing that help was on the way changed everything for me, so I got out of the car, got the spare tire and tools out, and got started. By the time he got there, I almost had the tire completely changed all by myself.

There has to be a life lesson in there somewhere. 😀 There’s something about feeling like I have to tackle everything by myself that adds an extra heavy load to my shoulders. And yet, I do that to myself quite often. I’m not very good as asking for help, and I take on way too much for one person. But once I finally ask for help, just having the knowledge that help is on the way is enough to lift that extra load, even if the problem still persists for a while longer.

So yesterday, I called the plumber and then told Matt we’d be eating out until the sink is fully functional and I have a chance to do a thorough cleaning in the kitchen because I’m done trying to cook meals in a kitchen that doesn’t have a properly functioning sink. He was fine with that, and the rest of the day, I’m telling you that I had more focus and more energy than I’ve had in the last three weeks. Help is on the way!

I also took some time yesterday to look at new dishwashers. Our dishwasher hasn’t worked in years, but it hasn’t bothered me. I actually enjoy washing dishes by hand, and as long as I was just washing the dishes that Matt and I use, it was never a big deal (as long as the sink is fully functional and draining properly). But when we started having people over to our house more often, and it always seemed to include a meal together, I decided that I do want a dishwasher after all. I’ve been trying to hold out until I have a chance to redo our kitchen, but now I’ve decided to go ahead and buy a new one that is panel-ready. That way I can use it in our current kitchen, and then I can still use it after a future kitchen redo as well.

I’m still looking at options. Panel-ready dishwashers are expensive! I did find one at Home Depot that has really good customer ratings for about $800. Unfortunately, it was out of stock and I couldn’t even order one for delivery. So I’m still on the hunt for a reasonably priced panel-ready dishwasher. I’d love to find one ASAP, get it ordered, and have it delivered before the plumber gets here next week, but that might not work out. (Update: It won’t work out. I just spoke to him, and he’ll be here Monday morning. Oh well. As long as I can get my kitchen sink working properly, I’m okay waiting a bit for the dishwasher. The sink is the priority here.)

Anyway, things are looking up! Help is on the way! And I’m so excited about having a fully functional kitchen again. Being able to wake up to a clean kitchen again is incredibly exciting to me.

After getting all of that sorted out, I did some work on the console table again. I know y’all are probably getting pretty tired of hearing about this console table. 😀 I’m tired of talking about it, but I’m having fun working on it. And I think I found a workaround that will let me use the turned wood legs.

If you’ll remember, I had originally tried to add a block to the legs like this…

I didn’t like that, so I just put the legs together without the blocks, but then I couldn’t figure out how to secure the legs to the console table without them being (potentially) wobbly.

But yesterday, I had another idea. Instead of adding a block lower on the legs, I decided to add a block to the top, and I have an idea for how to secure them to the upper part of the table that I think will be very secure. But first, I needed to replace the top turned portion of the legs with a block. And this time, instead of using my miter saw to cut them, I decided to use a hand saw so that I could have more control over it and cut them as straight as possible.

Using the handsaw and a lot of patience, I cut right under that top, thick piece on each leg.

And then I’ll attach the blocks to the top of the legs in place of that turned piece. I still need to do a lot more sanding and shaping on the corners before attaching them, but they’re getting there.

I did have a bit of an accident. I’m not used to using hand tools. I’m a power tool kind of gal, so the saw got away from me and sliced my finger.

I’ll get the new legs finished up and attached today, and I’m feeling pretty confident that my idea for attaching them will work out. And then I’ve decided to paint the whole thing. It’s going to be green. I chose Behr Scallion, and I think it’ll look fantastic with my pink lamps and the wall mural.

So that’s where things stand heading into the weekend. My kitchen sink issue will soon be resolved, my attitude is better knowing that help is on the way, and I feel pretty confident that I can get this console table finished up tomorrow. And if you have any recommendations for a reasonably priced panel-ready dishwasher, I’d love to hear about it!