And Twice on Sunday...

My first task when I got started on my term of servitude today was to fill this awful segmented wall with rigid foam insulation.

I started by cutting off the screws that were poking through from the outside with the angle grinder. Then I vacuumed and cleaned everything out, cut out the excess (canned) foam insulation and wondered how I was going to fill in these awkward cubbies:

There are recesses at the bottom and top and since foam doesn't bend, I can't fill both! But I decided not to worry about it and to start with what I could do and go from there.

Turns out that's all I got done today anyway:

Each of those sections got filled with 5.5 inches of foam. All the smaller ones on that wall will have to be done too. blah, not fun... (By the way, this section has already been insulated from the outside so the total will still be 12 inches. Never fear!)

I was interrupted at some point by Troy who said he had to know where the overhead lights where going. How am I supposed to know? I've got no walls, no cupboards and have never done this before!!

But I got an idea...

I put some of Troy's many flashlights to good use and used them as stand ins for the lights. Come on, now--that's pretty clever right? They look just like pot lights (not that we're getting pot lights).

And don't you worry, I didn't just eyeball it; I used some careful measurements (you know, give or take a couple inches) and then we evaluated. One thing Troy decided is that he needs three lights in that half of the kitchen instead of the two I was counting on. I'm not convinced, but I guess it'll be easier to put in three lower watt bulbs than to live with two high watt bulbs that still aren't bright enough. I guess.

Between planning for light placement and some rechecking we had to do on the fridge location, I spent almost four hours working on the kitchen today instead of my usual two--Troy got a twofer. He told me to take next week off, but he didn't mean it.

A much more exciting part of the day (to me) was when we purchased our sinks, faucets and cabinet hardware. I had picked them out a few weeks ago and have been watching the Menards sales fliers. Last night I got the one I was waiting for--sale on kitchen and bath!

Troy hadn't previously seen the sinks or faucets, but approved them quickly. We went with cast iron with white porcelain. I am very excited about the sinks; very happy they're not stainless. (You can see the specific models on my Pinterest board--see link in the left sidebar.)

Then we went looking at pulls. I had already fell in love with one and had bought a sample to bring home to show Troy:

It is gorgeous. Sleek. Sexy.

Troy did not agree. He wanted something much plainer, with a bulge for fat fingers and frankly, ugly. (What can I say, it's true!)

I was worried we were going to have a fight in Menards because we were both pretty set in our own opinion. Plus time was short so there was some pressure there. I did not think we would purchase anything.

But as we were going over all the choices with a refrain of one of us suggesting a style and the other saying, "No," I saw this style:

It has the bulge that Troy wanted, but has a similar style to the one I wanted (the ends are wider than the middle--it's a little more subtle on this one but still there). Plus it's a little shorter which I think is good in our kitchen. I know all the magazines show 8 and 10 inch pulls (or longer!), but I'm not going there. (I'm not spending $80 on a matching appliance pull either. Surprised?)

So we found one we both liked and just went with it. Picked up almost 50 of them. (Oh my...I just realized that is 100 holes to drill!) That was a relief and I am happy with them.

All for now. Good night!