Stepping Up to the Plates

Do you remember being a kid, waiting for Christmas morning to arrive so you could open your gifts? Not being able to sleep the night before because you were so excited? And you were good all year for it, because you wanted that My Little Pony so badly? Or the Cabbage Patch doll? Or a Sony Walkman? Ok I am starting to date myself.

Anyway, I feel kinda like that. Because the granite counters are coming this weekend! This is exciting for many reasons, and because I love lists, here they are in list form:

1. it's the last major thing to complete our kitchen remodel
   
2. our new lighting will finally have something nice to reflect on
   
3. we're not responsible for the installation of it
4. ...therefore it will be done in a day
5. it will add to our home's value
6. we got an awesome deal on it
7. some rich homes in Malibu have the same counters (I might have a celebrity kitchen counter twin?)
8. it will mask crumbs better than white laminate
9. it can't be stained by wine rings or curry spills
   
10. it will have a rounded edge so won't poke my gut when I lean against it
    
11. it will be the first time I see it larger than sample size
    
12. it will be the first time I see it in a kitchen setting
13. it will be the first time I see it in my kitchen setting
14. after it's installed we will have several square feet of additional counter than the old kitchen
15. no more 2x4's and raw drywall edges will be exposed
16. I will finally have a kitchen sink (which will be undermounted so I can sweep crumbs into the sink without any interference)
    
17. which means we can install the kitchen faucet (which is beautiful and does things our last faucet couldn't)
    
18. which means we can install the garbage disposer
    
19. which means that we can also hook up our new dishwasher!
20. which means no more washing dishes by hand
21. ...in the tub
22. ...upstairs

You get the point. Sort of. Right? Well hunching over a tub to do dishes wrecks your back, exacerbates your excema, causes wet bathroom floors and wet person doing all this, and just takes a long time. And makes me angry.

Here is the evolution of dish washing in this household:

Past: Caloric who-knows-from-when model with broken off and rusted wire parts, circa 1989?

Present: 2009 TT analog model with 2 hands and opposable thumbs

Still present, but not for long: 2009 TT analog model malfunctioned and turned aggressive

...but got the dishes clean

Future: Whirlpool Gold Energy Star approved Built-In Dishwasher with Adaptive Wash Cycle
(in stainless steel and no exposed buttons, be careful not to drool on your computer)

Most importantly this means I can finally drink my two buck chuck out of real wine glasses rather than dixie cups. Life is about to get a lot better.