Rock Tops

I woke at what I thought was right on time. For the last hour or so I carefully kept an eye on the clock in an attempt to rise right at 5:30am. Our bedroom clock is one hour and thirty seven minutes fast – don’t ask. I thought my timing was perfect. The clock, I thought, said 7:07am when I sprang from bed to begin my day.
Imagine, then, how I must’ve felt when I glanced at the stove clock to find that it was already 5:50am. How that happened I still don’t know. Either the clock had been reset by Mindy, or perhaps even more realistic, my eyes deceived me. After all, my naked eye sight leaves something to be desired.

Other than the initial shock, sleeping 20 minutes late isn’t a big deal, especially since I build so much elbow room into my routine. I took my last dose of Tamiflu this AM. For that I was pleased. It’s expensive but highly effective at eradicating flu symptoms if caught in time. Thanks Craig! Ykraps and I were back from our lovely morning walk by 6:15am. I mentioned lovely. It was once again clear and warm -around 50 degrees. The day’s expected high was 70 degrees. Yahoo!

I woke Mindy with coffee around 6:20am. I moved swiftly through PC, coffee, & meditation. I left for my run somewhere close to 6:45am – several minutes later than usual. This was April 7, the day I projected as my return to running in daylight. Turns out, while this may be technically correct, it’s still darker than I expected at 6:30am. However, by 6:50am, for all intents and purposes, it’s daylight.

I was back from my run by 7:20am. Mindy made the best of half a kitchen and still made our eggs. I used one of the small counter top pieces as a table top placed strategically on the island cabinets. The most difficult thing to come to grips with was the absence of a kitchen sink and running water. We had to use the bathroom for rinsing. I already had my laptop up and running and logged into work. Even before heading off to the shower I had a good pulse on the work day. I showered and walked Jacob to the bus stop at our usual time. It was absolutely lovely.

At the bus stop I visited with Pat for about ten minutes after the bus left. I hadn’t seen him since their return from Arizona – nice tan! I headed back home at 8:15am. I was worried that the counter top folks wouldn’t show up. I hadn’t talked to them for about ten days. They never returned my call Friday afternoon. Still, I had a firm install appointment for AM Monday, April 7. I expected them to hold up there end just as I had done mine.

I busily worked for the next hour. Around 9:15am the door bell rang. It was Rock Tops here to serve. They came in to assess the work area and found everything as needed save for removing all the top drawers from the cabinets. I obliged as they got right to it. They worked steadily for the next two plus hours getting my granite in. While they worked, so did I. We stayed out of each others way for the most part. I asked questions only when I felt completely necessary. By 11:45am they were done. There were only a couple surprises. First, there was a large 3/8” gap where they purposefully shimmed one piece to make it level with the all rest of the surfaces. I was flabbergasted that they would do that. He said a small piece of trim would cover the gap nicely, but that would be my responsibility. I knew that it would and understood that things often need shimmed, but this seemed overkill, and besides, it was fine with the laminate tops. Still, I didn’t question his answers right then. Too, I quickly identified a couple scratches on the island that I wanted addressed. He said they’d send a “punch-out” guy out to rectify any problems.

Understanding of that, I wished them well and allowed them on their way. Over all, the tops looked fantastic! It makes a world of difference. Mindy called just as I packed up to leave for work. I shared the news that they had just left and were done. She sounded somewhat relieved.

I made it to work by 12:20pm, and got busy right away. The afternoon passed like any other work day. By late afternoon it felt like I had been there all day. Fact is, while I had worked all day, I had been in the office for only 5 hours.

Mindy made arrangements for my dad to greet Jacob at the bus stop after school. I learned on my way home that all of that went as planned. Mindy had her bi-weekly Monday staff meeting. She asked that I pick-up pizzas on my way home. We had loosely planned for such a meal over the weekend knowing that we wouldn’t have full use of our kitchen again until Wednesday when I planned to install the new kitchen faucet.

I ordered two pizzas – an extra-large pepperoni and a medium cheese. They were ready a few minutes after my arrival – perfect! And just like always, I snuck a piece on my drive home. We all sat at the kitchen table to enjoy pizza, dad included. This might be a record. This, the third time I’ve seen him in only two days.

After our dinner he pointed out two more flaws in our granite tops – another scratch and a small chip. I appreciated the knowledge. I didn’t fret too much, though, figuring that I’d simply have them addressed it when they come back out.

Dad left around 8pm. Mindy & I got the kids ready for bed soon after he departed. Tired, both of us went to bed at 9pm.