Small projects, large amounts of time

We did several behind the scenes projects this weekend.  We got a lot of things put away now that the carpet is installed.  We had to take time out yesterday to rake leaves.  Wow! It's been a long time since we had to do that.  I definitely got a work out.  The one big thing that we wanted to do in the kitchen was get new lighting.  There was a ceiling fan with three little candelabra bulbs.  There was absolutely no light in there.  With the cabinets so dark, we needed more light.  We thought seriously about re-doing the cabinets, but we really like our existing cabinets.  At least for now.  We are adding an island, getting a new gas cook top, getting a new fridge, and a new microwave (I think the existing one has been here since 1972).  But first the lighting had to change.  Here is the before and after:

This is during the middle of the day with the existing lighting.  The after:

The after is obviously brighter, and it was taken at night.  Big difference! You can actually see how pretty the floor is.  Now I have to get everything put away.  The table full of food makes it looks like we are camping in our own kitchen.  Oh, I forgot to mention, we still have to paint.