I didn't think it could get worse...

...but it did.

If you are still coming back to visit and read about how sucky my life right now is due to the battle with the house and the contractors, I applaud you. I wouldn't be coming back if I were you, but I guess in a weird way, this is like a car wreck...you just can't help but rubberneck.

This morning I woke up bright and early to get ready for my first day back at work (which was AWFUL, by the way, just as I anticipated it would be) and while I was walking the dogs, P drove by to let me know that the contractors had shown up to texture the new drywall. Great. Glad to hear it. I went back, started getting ready for work, and by the time I was drying my hair, they were done and gone.

So, I get in the car to drive to my first appointment, and I call the general contractor and leave him a message to ask him if he still has any interest in doing my windows, since I'd like to have those done next week while we are waiting for the cabinets. If not, I'm going to hire someone else.

By about 2 pm, I haven't heard from him, so I call him from the office (sneaky me) so he won't know it's me calling, and of course he picks up the phone. We proceed to have a very calm discussion about how disappointed I am about the whole situation, how I just want things to move forward, and then he asks if we can talk in a few minutes when I have some privacy, ie, when others are not around to hear me scream at him, I suppose.

Let me recap on what has happened here as far as a timeline.

June 29 I gave him a check for the cabinets.
July 8 was when he supposedly ordered them according to his fax that I got last week.
July 24th was when we all anticipated that they would arrive.

I call him back from the car when I'm on my way home, and he proceeds to tell me that it looks like the cabinets may have not been ordered until July 15.

MAY HAVE NOT BEEN? Exsqueeze me? Baking powder?

Apparently, he went and took the check to the cabinetry place on Friday, July 8, and left the order and check for this guy he buys cabinets from, but wasn't aware that the guy was on vacation until July 15 and didn't bother to call the next week to follow up. I asked him if he knew for a fact that the cabinets were on the way here, and he never answered me. He said that he would call the manufacturer right then and find out a) if the cabinets were on the way, b) where they were in transit, and c) if there was anything I could do to speed them up.

The shock of what he did didn't really hit me until I got home and was explaining to P what happened...and looking at the calendar.

I realized that if the cabinets weren't ordered until July 15 and they take 3-4 weeks to arrive, they may not arrive until August 12, and if they don't arrive until then and the contractors work on the same schedule that they have worked on thus far, we won't have them installed for a week and then my floors the following week.

Thus, we're looking at the end of August to have the kitchen done and the house back to normal at best...Labor Day at worst. That's over a MONTH of eating out due to not having a kitchen.

This of course brought on even more tears and a good old-fashioned panic attack, which then resulted in me calling him and absolutely reading him the RIOT ACT. He promised yet again to call me as soon as he had talked to the manufacturer, even if that was late tonight, and would call me to tell me what's going on. It's now 11 pm and I have not heard from him.

At this point, I am totally at a loss as to what to do. Granted, the whole thing with the air conditioner repairmen was our fault since we didn't research who those guys were before signing up with them, but I've known this contractor for nearly five years. He's done work on our house before. Shame on me? SHAME ON HIM!

And herein sits my kitchen, beautifully painted but with only four walls. I'm tired of eating out. P's going to set up the microwave and an electric skillet on the floor in the kitchen this weekend so we can at least make some food at home since it appears that we are looking at QUITE a while before this is resolved. I am so depressed. How did this go from having my kitchen done by last weekend to no end in sight??

P and I discussed it over dinner tonight and we both agreed that if L calls tomorrow morning and tells me that the cabinets were never ordered, I'm demanding a refund of what I paid him for the cabinets and I'm firing him on the spot. At this point, I would not be surprised one bit if that is what he tells me. Working with Home Depot would have been better than this.

So this is our Plan B if I end up firing L:

-order cabinetry directly from the manufacturer and pay them to install the cabinets
-have Lowe's install our countertops and backsplash..and hopefully maybe getting them to install the below items including the sink/faucet/dishwasher/garbage disposal/range/microhood
-hire a plumber to come install the sink, faucet, garbage disposal and dishwasher if not
-talk to Conn's or someone about installing our range and microhood if not

We're already in the process of getting window estimates, since I already told him not to bother with that. At least we can move forward with that piece of this whole mess.

I really don't know how this could get any worse, but I guess I don't want to find out.

And if ONE MORE DAMN PERSON tells me to relax, to calm down, to breathe, or that getting this stressed out is not good for the baby, there will be bloodshed. Especially if that person has a penis. I practically knocked myself out yesterday getting into my Honda and almost gave myself a concussion, and when I went to the urgent care facility to have my head looked at, they took my blood pressure at 118/76 or something close to that, so apparently I'm just fine despite all this bullshit I'm having to put up with.

Tune in tomorrow. I'm sure there will be more drama.