Kitchens and Gearing up for exercise

This kitchen has got to go. It's deplorable. I don't think it was a good kitchen when it was first made in 1994. It's not functional, the cabinets have 15 years of grease caked on them, the contact paper is gross, they cabinets are all nicked, I found rat poison in one of them (the thoughts of rats in cabinets ever...ewwwwww!), and the counters are little white tiles with flowers embellished on them.

We can live with aesthetically not pleasing as long as it is functional, hygienic & not in need of repair. Honestly I would prefer low grade, clean laminate over little white tile with mold in the grout.

Today we looked at cabinets in the warehouses of the two top contenders for Kitchen Remodel 2010. One was in Seattle, one was in Tukwila, and of course we had Miss J so it was a race to make all the stops & get back before lunch/nap.

We *think* we've settled on the cabinets and granite we want. We're moving around appliances and changing things a bit, so that makes a few unknowns. Like we want to make sure there is hardwood under the existing mondo huge cabinet. We're replacing it with one that doesn't jut out as far, so we have to make sure we won't run into flooring issues. Because, as you probably know, one thing out of whack can lead to a cascading (and expensive) list of other problems.

Once we check on that, then we'll contact the contractor we're using & get the ball rolling on that end.

My goal is to start incorporating exercise into this weight loss effort starting February 1. I've been toying how I want to make myself accountable and motivated. I think the best way to go is to set an exercise minute goal and then keep a diary on what type of exercise I do & for how long for each day. I think a reasonable goal for February is 600 minutes (10 hours). Since I've taken a little over 2 months off, I think that goal is attainable and will ease me back in. I will likely use exercise videos and the cable on demand to do this. I may throw in a walk or two (maybe a light jog) around the neighborhood once or twice, but let's be realistic ~ it's still butt cold outside & I'm easing back into this, so I'm starting small.

Once we finish touch up painting, I've got to post pictures of the paint job in the family room/kitchen/nook area. I think it looks much nicer than it did!