refinishing cabinets, recaulking the shower, and an updated projects list

I've been pretty busy. This afternoon I hit a point where I felt like I was done with projects for the summer...I was tired and frustrated (and then I noticed a few projects I want to work on...making cheese and sewing something with our old jeans, so I guess I'm not done, though I might take a break for a day or two).

I had refinished our wooden cabinet doors in the kitchen and in the bathrooms, but waited till that was done before I tried the stain and polyurethane in one Minwax product on the non-wood cabinet base. I did a sample section the other day and it worked beautifully, so this morning I had Glen remove all the cabinet doors and we prepared the cabinets and then I used the Minwax on them...and 6 hours later they weren't dry and ready for the 2nd coat like they were supposed to be. I was running scared, but now, 11 hours later, they are almost dry enough for the 2nd coat. Perhaps it was more humid today than on my experimental day. But I was really wondering what I was going to do with all those sticky cabinets.

While I was waiting for my cabinets to dry, I painstakingly took the caulking out of my shower. I tried various tools and the regular razor blade plus a tool used in ceramics that resembles what the dental hygienist uses to scrap tartar off your teeth was what wound up working best.

One and a half hours of a slowly progressing project in the heat and I was worn out. I have never caulked in my life, so Glen came to assist me. I had seen on pinterest where you use painters tape, taping 1/4" from the corner you are caulking. We taped. We caulked. Too much caulk as it turned out and we almost made a huge mess smoothing it out. Then we took off the painters tape...

...and it looked beautiful until we took off the last piece. It hadn't removed enough caulk from it and it left a few gobs. Trying to clean up the gobs started messing up our pretty caulking job. In the end, I salvaged it a little, but it didn't go back to it's original nice edge. I know not to use so much caulk next time. I bought the "guaranteed not to mildew for 5 years" kind in hopes of not having to repeat the process in the near future. We'll probably replace the shower before I'd have to caulk again.

So, what have we accomplished so far this summer? These are the things crossed off the list:

1-sand and seal the bench on the porch (finished 6-26 with the help of the kids)

3-regrout the shower (finished 7-20)

before...pretty gross

after...not perfect, but better

7-scrapbooking ("finished" 6-16...but scrapbooking is never done)
8-sort files in filing cabinets (finished 6-19)
9-weed out books on book shelves (finished 6-6)
10-update my MP3 player  (finished 6-12)
11-fix speaker wires in family room (Glen finished 7-16)
12-make the "towns and miles" signs to go on the pole (finished 6-27)

14-refinish dining room table (finished 6-23)
15-refinish kitchen and bathroom cabinets (finished 7-20)

kids' bathroom before

after...this was the biggest improvement of all the cabinets

18-fenced area for the dogs (Glen sort of finished this one...they still escape occasionally)
19-get water filter changed (finished 7-18 by Glen)
24-put new light fixtures in front hallway and the office (a Glen job-finished 6-20)
25-put in new bathroom sinks (a Glen job-finished 6-22)

before

after

What have I been working on but will still take a while to finish?

4-make new 72-hour kits (food portion done 7-13)
5-organize recipes
6-continue to work on my family history book...and publish it on scribd.com

What do I still plan on getting to?

2-clean out the flower beds around the house
4-make new 72-hour emergency kits (food portion done 7-13, now I need to finish the non-food portion)
21-make window treatments for family room (though this will be in the fall and not summer, probably)
29-make cheese (I checked out a library book and liked it so much, I've ordered one for myself)
30-use old jeans to make something (another apron, place mats, quilts...whatever...)

and I can't forget that I need to:
31-get a boy ready to send off to college


What have I given up on?

13-touch-up paint back bathroom (I couldn't find the rest of the paint I thought I had, so now I will have to get new paint and repaint the whole bathroom as the color I used was something I blended when I didn't like what I had bought)
16-paint shed
17-paint house
20-make fish pond
22-make new curtains for the dining room (since I already have some, they are good enough for another year)
23-refinish cedar chest (I'm tired of refinishing things)
26-build greenhouse (I guess there's a chance Glen will get to it still, but I doubt it )
27-new floor for kitchen/dining room and bathroom (I decided I didn't have enough $ for this...maybe next year)
28-new carpet for my room (same as above)