So. Where to begin?

Nate was right, that was the worst move ever.  A weekend of 10-13 hour days.  I'm really proud of us, we DID IT.  But I never want to do it again.  Hah.

The real story, for now (and then I'll follow with some happy updates about doors and paint and floors and trim and backsplashes), is our contractor.  He's now our former contractor.
And let's discuss why.

This is our first experience with renovation, obviously.  And on the whole, we've been pretty damn lucky.  I'm just beginning to believe that contractors are a headache no matter who you deal with - and it's making HGTV painful to watch at the moment.

Our guy was really affable, pleasant, blah blah blah.  In the beginning, we were completely grateful for the work he was doing, the advice he was giving, and the price he was charging.
And then that changed.
A favor is a favor when it's actually done.  And we started demolition in, what, August?  The bulk of construction was in the kitchen and the main bathroom.  And guess what?  The kitchen's not finished, and the bathroom's not finished.  The fact that any work is done in the bathroom at all was thanks to me, Nathan, Jerry, and Nate's mama.  Jerry tiled that gorgeous floor.  That's about all that's done. 
And we're bitter. 
The guy obviously had other jobs he was working, and when they slowed down he gave us priority.  When there was other work, nothing got done over here.  Nothing.  We'd ask for timelines or dates, we'd get "oh yeah sure, no problem"s at every question.  Then those changed into "well, we'll see"s.
It started to get tense a week or two ago, and then it came to a head last Friday when we went to the house and saw that drawers weren't in some cabinets (excuses), HANDLES weren't put on cabinets or drawers (no excuse), the sink wasn't connected (excuses, if I remember right), and there was an insane amount of clutter and mess everywhere.

We'd spent a full day moving that clutter and mess out of the living room so the flooring guys could get in to sand and stain the hardwoods.  And they did!  They did it quickly, they did it correctly, they did it nicely, and they worked hard.  For a VERY fair price.
You get frustrated when you see what you CAN have from vendors.

Nate called our GC and kept asking when we would have a finished kitchen.  Evasive answers every time.  So we kept asking.  Finally the dude says, "are you really asking me that again?"

Oh yes.  Yes we are. 
Because you SAID it would be done by the end of the week.  It's Friday.  It ain't done.
And then he tells us that we should be "doing handsprings" over the fact that he's coming over on Sunday to do work.

Long story short, he didn't come over on Sunday.  When I started telling him that we're not ungrateful, we're just following through on previously set expectations, he plays that "favor" card again.  Listen. 
HE quoted us a price, HE knew (despite all the wonderful little ways he found to stall) the work that needed to be done in there MUCH better than we did, and HE said we'd be wrapping up at the end of October.  You can equivocate as much as you want, but it's BS.  If you wanted to get the work done, it'd be done.  Like my pop says - work at 1 am on a Tuesday, work at 9 am on a Friday, work whenever - just WORK.  It's amazing how much we got done when we worked in there with Jerry and Lisa in just a couple DAYS.

So no, no favor has been done here.  Quite the opposite - now we get to scramble to find a contractor who will finish the mess that's been left for us in a couple weeks.  Because I don't want to spend Thanksgiving living in limbo. 
He got pissy and said, "well when you're ready to talk to me like I'm somebody, you can give me a call."
The SUPER FUNNY thing is, we WERE talking to him like he was somebody.  Like an adult.  Like a contractor.  Like someone who does this for a living.  Like a professional.

So.  No more calls.  We're going to bring other folks in, and we're going to get it done.  And I'm going to eventually let go of being angry.  Eventually.
Assuming it's par for the course when you're dealing with GCs, but it's still absolutely no fun.  Though I have to say, a giant weight's been lifted off our shoulders just by knowing we don't have to put up with the condescension and the stalling any longer. 

Looking ahead, moving forward, yadda yadda.  Next updates will be happy ones.