If you want it done, do it yourself

I've long lived by this mantra, thanks to my parents who both repeated it with great frequency while I was growing up. It helped me a lot when I moved away for college to a state/city/town/school where I didn't know a single person. It helped me when I decided to live alone. It helped me when I decided to pack up my car and move back to Norcal for a job. I could go on and on. Now the mantra that has been nagging at me for the past month will get it's satisfaction as I don my work clothes, pull my hair back and prepare to work on the aforementioned Fucking Kitchen.

As you've likely figured, if you've read my blog at all, is that I'm redoing my kitchen. And so far, I haven't done any of the work. No, I treated myself (and my overworked hubby) to the luxury of a contractor who could work the long days while we were at work, getting much more done in eight hour shifts M-F than we could during our shrimpy weekends. However, it's starting to look like our contractor has performed a disappearing act, and our kitchen hasn't budged for three weeks.

In an effort to A. Get some progress made, B. Not hold a grudge and C. Heed the mantra, I am going to dedicate this coming weekend to some good 'ol housework. I'll admit, the entire time this project has been underway, I've felt a little uncomfortable with someone else doing our household projects for us, since we've spent the last five years doing anything and everything that needed to be done around the house ourselves. However, faced with demolition, cabinet hanging, electricity, drywall mud and the like, I decided to hand it over to the professionals. But what do you do when the professionals cease to exist? You dig up your coveralls and figure out what to do first. Yourself. Myself.

So, this weekend, I will be launching into the next step (as far as I can see it) in the kitchen remodel - sanding and texturing. Luckily all the "hard" stuff (again, as I see it) is done -- electricity, gas, drywall, cabinets, scary demo, etc and I figure my college educated mind and able body can manage to handle a sanding block and a can of texture. If not, well, maybe Contractor Supreme will show back up and take back the reigns.

Of course, hubby was immediately thrilled with the idea of working the project ourselves. He is definitely from the school of "IYWID, DIY" and has prolly felt a little weird having someone else manning the power tools in our house. However, where he has already developed a mental image of our kitchen completed by our own capable hands, I on the other hand, am only able to envision the next few steps and will likely exert a lot of energy suppressing the ever present anxiety of screwing something up. Especially something that will be expensive to fix. Perhaps it's time for a new mantra?

"Doing something is better than doing nothing." "Don't look the mitre saw directly in the eye." "Don't be too proud to sit down and cry."

Any ideas?

Either way, I'm stopping off at Home Depot on the way home to stock up on sanding blocks and the Sirius is set to Channel 17, Jam On, for the weekend ahead.

Photo for inspiration