Well it turns out that there was a huge screw up in my kitchen. There were, at one time, two double hung windows in the kitchen. The center mull between them was apparently a support mull and it was cut out without regard for the header.

The building inspector told me that if I ever hope to put in a patio door there (I do), that I need to put a header in now while the drywall is down.

Now I have to schedule an insulation inspection.