Who Needs A Kitchen Anyway?

Conrad ripped up the flooring in the kitchen yesterday, so now it's down to bare concrete. We are again debating...this time over whether to install floors before or after the cabinets are installed. I've googled that question, and apparently it's a personal opinion because I read pros and cons for both. We're concerned about putting our expensive new cabinets directly onto an area of the concrete that he discovered was damp under the laminate. We would really love cork flooring, so I'm reading up on that too. Tile is great, but we spend so much time standing at the sink and stove, and drop dishes all the time, so I'm leaning toward the more forgiving, squishy qualities of cork. Beautiful too. It's not as indestructible as tile, but tile chips and scratches anyway.

The older boys moved out last week and are living over the river with my parents. They have a big light, roomy space and hope that helps them study. They started working on their Bachelor's at a new college this week. It's nice they're around in the evenings to help their grandparents, and I think so far my parents enjoy their company. I wonder if our prolonged kitchen remodel had anything to do with them moving out?

We had a week of homeschool in our house mess, and once I cleared off half the dining room table so we could lay out the books, we were able to tune out our surroundings and concentrate on schoolwork. Piano lessons have continued as normal. We have a path to the piano and a path to the couch in the family room, and there haven't been any injuries or complaints from piano students and families, even those with little ones.

Jacob's friend is staying here a few days, so we're taking vacation already! It's been fun, and I thanked Conrad again for giving me this beautiful life where I could take the boys to the pool at 10 a.m. I thoroughly enjoy my "job" of homeschooling Jacob, but even my "job" of teaching piano is a joy, and many students are Jacob's friends, so they become weekly playdates (wait--he's 12 and says that word should not be used anymore). Okay, I mean they hang out.