Renovation frustrations

The window guy said it best when he walked in, saw the dry wall and floor happening at the same time, and said, "you're not just doing a kitchen reno - you're the general contractor for the whole project!".  Yes, sir, yes, I am.  How people do major renovations and work full time I have absolutely no idea.  For the last two weeks, I've been running around, looking at samples, getting questions answered, being here to answer questions, letting people in, getting things measured, getting them measured again, dealing with a dog who is CONVINCED that every single one of these men enters our house for no other reason but to inflict bodily harm to me, and scouring the internet for the best prices on every tiny thing we need for this renovation (big score: gorgeous hood for $350 with free shipping!).

Most days I have been able to keep it together, but today, I'm stressed.  In the grand scheme of things, is what I'm going through a big deal?  Not really, when you compare it to real problems like hunger and war and homelessness, but this is my job right now so I reserve the right to get stressed about it.

The night after the plumbing guys left, we got ready for bed only to find that the cold water in our faucets wouldn't turn on past a trickle.  Sweet.  Spent the next day and a half trying to get someone here to fix it.  I didn't dawn on me until the guys started putting the cabinets in today that I needed the cabinet pulls/handles.  This prompted a run to Home Depot to see if they had anything in stock that we liked.  They didn't.*  Which left me completely frustrated that I was going to have to pay a trip charge for these guys to come BACK to put the hardware on the cabinets at some point.  (Could we put hardware on our cabinets ourselves?  Yes.  But having a perfectly new kitchen and knowing I can't make any measuring or drilling mistakes is a kind of stress I don't need.)  Another surprise came when the installer informed me that one of the upper cabinets doesn't have the smooth "furniture finish" on the outside like it's supposed to, so we have to send it back for another one with it hopefully arriving in under a couple of weeks.  However because they have to order a new cabinet, they will come back at no additional charge, which means I now have a week or so to find the cabinet handles I really want and get them here.  Divine renovation intervention, I say, but a frustrating situation nonetheless.

I contacted the floor department today to get an ETA on the laminate and apparently there's one damn trim piece that won't be available until August 6th, even though the rest of the flooring will be delivered to the store on the 2nd.  They won't schedule the install until everything is there, and there's currently a  7 - 10 lead time for scheduling installs.  The template for the countertops is being done day after tomorrow, and with an estimated two week turnaround for the countertops, we're pushing things dangerously close to not being done in the right order.  The countertops could technically go in before the floor, but with the amount of dust that's going to be kicked up from the floor demo, I'd rather have the floor done first.

This is basically what my mind does all day long - it runs dates and pieces and appliances and questions around like a hamster wheel.  I know tomorrow will be better, but today, I'm frustrated.  The only thing easing the annoyance is the amazing smell of bbq pulled chicken in the crock pot.  Is it dinner time yet? :)

*Have to give a shout out to my amazing hubbs who works his tail off, lives his day in and out of meetings, yet knowing it would ease my stress level gave input on the crazy photo texts of cabinet handles, and called to be sure I was doing okay.  I'm beyond blessed to have a partner who realizes that what I'm doing may not be bringing in any income, but it's contributing to our household and not only expresses gratitude, but means it.