Top Five

Monday night I when I came in the house, there was a weird smell. Some might call it an aroma. The fact that I couldn't place it tells how little "partying" I do in this stage of my life. It was wine. It seems that as Brandon closed the freezer after putting the bag of fish sticks away {always healthy dinner for our kids}, the wine rack somehow came off the top of the refrigerator and hit the counter, exploding in the process. This was the LAST of 8 bottles of wine that Brandon and I brought home from our trip to Rome in 2002. WHY we had saved this one I have no idea but it really pisses me off!
The kids and I arrived after much of the mess had been cleaned up, but that isn't saying much. When it was all said and done, Brandon said he'd been cleaning for like 2 1/1 hours. Over ONE bottled of wine. That exploded. Into a gazillion pieces.
In trying to be the ever "half glass full" {no pun intended} girl that I am, I have a top ten five list. Top Five Good Things About Wine Exploding in My Kitchen:
5. The sink and countertop were long over due for a cleaning
4. I semi mopped and swept the kitchen
3. The kids were parked in front of the tv for a little dinner picnic because the kitchen was off limits. They have never eaten so well.
2. Somehow, wine dripped UNDER the sink??? So that area got cleaned out and straightened as well.
1. I learned a valuable lesson: DO NOT save the awesome bottle of wine that you bought in Rome in 2002 lest it explodes when it falls from it's perch and you never get to enjoy it.

Things have settled down for us. We are planning/ hoping/ PRAYING that the house will be finished some time around Thanksgiving/ the first week of December. I will be off work starting the Tuesday before Thanksgiving through the first week of December so hopefully it will all work out. The major things still to be done are: hardwood and carpet, painting, upstairs mantle and stone around the fireplace, sinks, faucets, lighting and cabinetry. {Ok, that's a long list!} At this point, we are really dealing with small details. There is still a lot of work to be done so hopefully everyone will stay on schedule! I talked with the painter this morning and he thinks he will be finished by the end of next week. Hardwood is scheduled to start next week and I am still hemming and hawing over a decision on carpet but I will hopefully have that settled by tomorrow.
One minor point of interest: Brandon and the trim carpenter went to get the piece of wood for our mantle at the Mennonite saw mill. Cool huh? We wanted a rough cut piece of wood for the mantle and they had it. I'm excited about that!