You know that girl?

The one who strings along four guys at once, and the one she likes best is the last one she made out with?

I feel like that girl.

I am courting several granite countertop guys. First there's Steve. My sister introduced me to him. He did countertops for her last townhome project (her husband is a builder). Steve is the lowest bidder, but doesn't have the expensive high tech CNC machines and water jet cutters. I find myself wanting to hire him because of my sister's recommendation, but I just don't feel right about it.

Then there is Juan. Juan got our number from the building permit we filed with the city. He talks too much, and I always find myself cringing when I see his number on my phone. But he's attentive, and other people who have used his company are very happy with their work. He doesn't seem to know exactly what kind of tools they use at his shop. But his bid is only a few hundred more than Steve's. I'm going tomorrow to see some of his work.

Dave is kind of the strong silent type. I've never actualy met him. When I talked to him he seemed a little annoyed when I challenged him on the cost of a certain type of granite. He claims they do it better than anyone else, with fancy schmancy equipment, water cooled diamond tipped saws (aren't they all diamond tipped?), and computerized laser templates. Whatever that means. His bid is $500 to $1000 more than Juan's. I haven't talked to him in awhile... and I'm not sure why.

BJ is a tall strapping young man who is sure his product is superior to anything else. He may be right, but that's what everyone else is telling me as well, so it's hard to know. His website is flashy and comprehensive and lists an obscene number of projects. I'm waiting for him to get me some contacts so I can talk to real customers. His bid is about the same as Dave's.

Then there is Matt. Matt runs his family's countertop business, which has been around for decades. That is encouraging. However, Matt's bid came in far and away the highest -- and it is completely out of my reach. Maybe his granite is laced with gold, but it's too rich for my blood.

So here I am, keeping them all on a string and I'm afraid to break up with any of them. What if I break up with "THE ONE"? How do I know I'm making the right choice? And I really hate to hurt them. But since I'm pretty sure polyandry is illegal, not the mention the fact that I'm already married to the perfect man, I'm going to have to break some hearts.

Wish me luck!

Thou Shalt Not Covet: Part 1

Some of you may remember that we started a renovation of the basement utility/laundry/sewing room around Thanksgiving time last year. The project dragged on amidst fits and starts and various delays until, at last, it is finished. Actually it was finished a few weeks ago, but I have procrastinated taking the pictures of it, and how boring would a blog about a remodel be without pics, so... that's why I've taken so long to get this up. Besides the fact that my very important and busy life has interfered, and also the fact that I just forgot because I was enjoying doing laundry in my new room so much. Okay, maybe not.

But all that is past now. And here they are.

Disclaimer: If you are the sort of weak minded person (like me) that covets cool things that other people have, you may not want to read this series of posts, because after seeing the finished product, you're gonna be most unhappy with your own laundry room. And that can get expensive. You have been warned.

First, the before pictures:

This was the east wall, aka "The Ironing Area" before. No sheetrock, wires hanging out all over, paint cans stacked up on the floor, and a pitiful single light bulb on the ceiling. A piece of surplus carpet covered the bare concrete floor.

Here's a shot of the south and west walls. Notice the food storage boxes from the church cannery that support the $30 laminate countertop from Home Depot that served as a nice spacious, but ugly folding table. It was not always as cluttered as it is in this photo, but quite often I only had the use of half of it. Stuff just seems to collect on a horizontal surface of it's own accord. I'm sure that's a Law of Nature. Or something. The light brown sewing cabinet in front of the washer was not normally there either. (I forgot to take the before photos before we started moving stuff around. Silly me.)

The stark concrete wall behind the washer and dryer was completely wasted space, and depressing to look at. The cheapie plastic washtub was stained from 5 years of washing out craft painting brushes, and couldn't be used to soak clothes for fear of ruining them. A makeshift shelf made from a 2x12 board held the detergent, etc.

It was an ugly, unfinished, cluttered room, but I didn't really notice it all that much until I got the new washer and dryer. You know how it goes...


They were so shiny and new and - dare I apply the word to an appliance - BEAUTIFUL, that the rest of the room looked like Armageddon by comparison. And that is how the time and money pit known as remodeling was set in motion.

To Be Continued....