Behold, The Pantry!

Well. We've done it. We've built the pantry.

And by we, I mean the Big Guy built the pantry and I told him how to do it. I did a good job too. I mean the Big Guy did a good job. He did. I love my new pantry.

When we moved back into the house in November, the pantry was not finished and as we had not fully settled up with the insurance company and we were out of money...well...no pantry.

I was unhappy. I stormed. I pouted. Then I demanded that we sit down together and find a temporary solution.

This was the temporary solution:

Because we have fabulous friends, the can rack was together before we moved in. Because we had a small catastrophe with the insurance company and they abruptly ended our extended living expense earlier than agreed we have purchased a full household worth of rental furniture. Sigh. 

So, we took the rented nightstands we now own and don't want and stacked them in the pantry with lengths of plywood layered between and on top. Hey, it kept the food off the floor. It worked, okay?

Finally, the time came to purchase the shelving and build the pantry. YAY!

But first, everything had to come out of the pantry. Oh wow. It was super ugly. 

We pulled everything out into the family room. 

Then it spilled over into the kitchen. 

And then it consumed the dining room table. 

So, we ate out Monday night. Tuesday night we ordered pizza. But...

By bedtime Tuesday night, it was almost finished and we had regained full use of our family room, kitchen, and dining room again. 

Behold, the pantry!

I am in heaven. We are eating at home again (minus pantry building). We have room to store food. Everything is neat and organized, which I expect to last until the first child strolls in there. 

All is perfect in the pantry!

Now c'mon. You know I can't end a What-A-Crock blog post like that! 

Remember Flooring Guy? Remember how hard he worked at getting our flooring all squared and level? Behold, the work of Flooring Guy. 

Do you see it? Start at the bottom left corner and just follow the grout line up...up...oops...yeah. Sigh. What a nerd. This is a minor, insignificant little thing in the grand scheme of things, but when the man leaves the steps unfinished, the basement unfinished, and then tries to pursue bad check charges on his stopped payment...

Well, what a goober. 

Have I told you lately how much I dislike fire recovery? 

Have I told you lately how much I love my new pantry! 

See...there it is again. The good, the bad, the whole crock.