The wheels of home improvement sometimes turn slowly...and sometimes very very slowly. :) Since the floor I have added a couple little pieces to the home, but have done nothing on my major list.

Unless you count my war against the indoor bats. I'm against bats in the house. Just sayin.

I did however find some inexpensive but attractive curtains an tieback hooks for my living room. I think it cozied it up...what do you think?

 BEFORE:

  

AFTER:

AND, I found this adorable lil topiaries at Goodwill for $1 each. I was actually looking for topiaries to go here too! Love it when a plan comes together :)

A little improvement

So the restoration has begun... I love my grand lady but there are a few (hundred) things I have plans to do to help her be her grandest self.

One was finished today...I'm still in sticker shock, but I'm so very happy with it.

From taped down blue carpet (I can't find my before photos dang it) to:


drum roll please.....

TA DA!!

A new floor!! :)

I love it! I hope it lasts 4 times longer than carpet.

I broke a cardinal rule though, I didn't get the room painted before the floor went in. I know, I know!! But when I get to that I will tape like crazy and double drop cloth it.

Hmmmm wonder what I should do next????? 

Choices include
stripping wallpaper - in the kitchen and upstairs bedroom
redoing the downstairs bath and putting a shower
kitchen - I could paint the cabinets just to get by for awhile
paint everything!!
windows
landscaping
attic sealing - and evicting the bats - ewww
etc, etc

what do you think??

oh and I'm hosting a graduation party here May 26th I better get ready for!!

Re-introducing home sweet home

I sold my house and bought this one last fall. I moved in the first of December. So far I have hosted two large get-togethers and a couple girls night ins.

And I have begun to make lists of things I'd like to do it.

For the most part moving into this house has been like slipping into your favorite pair of jeans.

My pet project will be getting my library done. This is a good interiem look, and stores my books well, but eventually I want floor to ceiling built in bookshelves with a window seat. Even more fun would be if I could learn how to do this myself.

I'm becoming very happy with my dining room. I added the table and chairs for $100 off of craigslist, I still won't tell how cheaply I picked up the china hutch (but it was cheap!! ) and get this.... I traded some college text books back to Amazon and they put the value onto a gift card, I then used the gift card to purchase the rug. The price on the rug was amazing!! 120 bucks for a brand new, good quality, 7x10. Seriously!

I still need to pick out paint for in here I'm thinking just a rich deeper-than-sage dusty green.

So thats the first peek...here are a few more shots of fun times making new home memories....

Added an oak fireplace to the living room. Love having the TV on this rather than just an entertainment piece.

Two Christmas trees this year and candles in every window. I've never felt so cozy!!

I also have a huge project to do remodeling the kitchen. the powder room... upstairs windows.. my daughter's bedroom...ah and on and on.

I think I'll talk about the kitchen next post. And hopefully I can find my camera again (haven't seen it since the move) and wont have to post cell phone photos! ;)

Moving Again

I sold my little house

and I bought a different house

And we get to move in next month on the 2nd! YAY!

Please hope with me that it doesn't snow, sleet, or ice!!

more changes

Round 3 of Oldest Angels chemo treatment is almost done. We may get to go home tomorrow, if not then only a couple of days at the most.

Then we will have only one more round and she will be done. And hopefully we will never ever every have to deal with a relapse.

The trade of the houses has failed. My mom is miserable and desperately wants her house back. She hates my house with every fiber of her being. And she is very upset if I move anything or do anything at her house. So not a good situation all the way around.

So I opted to put my house back on the market and find something suitable. And on my first look I did. Which also scares me because now I have to get my small house sold fast enough to be able to buy the next one.

Monday ought to bring some interesting changes if I get to meet with my realtor.

Oldest Angel will be home for a week at least, hopefully at most, then back here to the hospital for another 5 or 6 weeks. She may get to come home for good to a home she knows nothing about! Wouldn't that be odd?

Finally, something normal to post about

Brittany has been home for 3 weeks now waiting for her counts to come up before round 3 of chemo. So this Saturday and Sunday I devoted to doing a little 'junking'. 

What I ended up with certainly wasn't junk though... it will be hard to EVER beat this weekend!

On Saturday I focused on yard sales and second hand stores - usually for books
(For more on my book obsession see my book blog Bunny Tales at:  www.theshabbyrabbit.blogspot.com )

The nice little green bankers lamp back there I got for $5.00. I had been looking for one of those. All in all the books laid out, one that I forgot to photograph, and the lamp totaled $8.00

Then Sunday there was an auction in town. And I hit the jackpot. I've been searching for a hutch. I knew exactly the hutch I wanted, which usually is a sure fire way to make sure it's the hutch I'll never find. But lo and behold. There it was. Then I was sure I would get outbid. However, apparently, no one else really wanted a hutch. I'll never tell what I paid. But it was criminal.

Once I got the room re-arranged for it I was so happy I literally almost cried!!! To me this is perfection. I try not to be a 'things' type of person, but the things in my dining room make me feel so happy!

Sorry about the low quality photos. It was after 9 when I took these and I did it with my cell phone. 

I hope your weekend was equally enjoyable!
L

Prom day!

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Leukemia-Cant-Keep-Eastern-Iowa-Girl-From-Prom-121418644.html

She was on the news :)


Here are some photos too:

Trying out a new look

I think it's a good look! She can totally pull off being blond!

The Hospital is throwing her a Prom today since she can't really go to her real prom. This will be awesome and so much fun!

Happy Easter

Even amid my trials, a bunny can't let Easter go by without celebrating the hope and promise of the risen Lord!

Making a house a home...briefly

So we are still trying to get settled in to our new house after trading with my mom and then having life interrupted by leukemia. Things are slowly coming together.

With the help of the city wide garage sales last weekend I made progress on my living room and entry with a pair of area rugs.

Forgive the picture. I took it this morning from the stairs. I still have before and after pics to post as well one of these days.

Still on the look out for a few pieces. And there are still some nice pieces that will go to mom's when she figures out where she wants them like the amazing desk in the upper corner.

It's a cozy room that makes me happy.

I'll look forward to working on it on our next break from chemo in 4 weeks.

Beej goes back in Wednesday for the 2nd round of chemo. So the commuting begins again.

'til another day's folly.
L

Home on a little break

So my Oldest Angel has done good through her first round of Chemo and last Tuesday the dr's said she could go home for a week before starting round 2 of 4 that she will have to take. Each round keeps her in the hospital for about 4 weeks and does have some pretty dark days.

Although I've dropped the dedication to taking a picture a day this year, I do have a couple that show how things have gone for her.

In this picture she had had her hair cut short so when it starts to fall out it wont seem as daunting.

PLUS, she got the worst eye-lid reaction they had ever seen, opthamology is actually going to do a journal paper on her so you budding opthamologists out there...watch your favorite research journal for these eyes!


 Then when the eyes started to get better, the hair went. Which turned out to not be a big deal

 

And her boyfriend Jonathan is super supportive too. :) Beej is at University of Iowa Children's Hospital on the  University of Iowa campus and it just so happens that Jonathan is an Engineering student at Iowa and lives in a dorm we can see from the hospital. Plus there is a free bus that takes him back and forth when he's free to come visit.

Soon this will all be over and all behind us and she will be healthy and happy again. She has so much to offer and so much to accomplish. I can't wait to see what wonderful things her life will have in store for her.

And with the wonderful help and support of everyone at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics; Iowa Children's Hospital, I know this will be!
 Every Doctor is fantastic and asks good questions and listens and answers all our questions, the nurses know their stuff and treat you so good! Every staff member is friendly and know you are in a stressful time and environment and they all do every thing they can to make it not as stressful in so many little ways.

The people at ChildLife are a blessing to us as they keep her engaged in doing something with other kids, her age when possible and they make sure some of her 'teen needs' are seen to as well.

I don't know what I'd do if we would have tried to deal with this anywhere else. I am and always will be an Iowa (hospital) Hawkeye!!

Day 6

Bone marrow said the her leukemia is AML Leukemia which means full inpatient treatment. She will be here for at least 4 weeks probably 5.

We started Chemo therapy right away last Wednesday.

Today is Sunday and we are having some visitors and a friend and coworker of mine is coming to take some pics while we all look like we're used to. But they gave Beej some benadryl and in hospital amounts so she will be sleepy and groggy. Sort of like if you tried to wake someone up who's been on nyquil for a couple of hours. I hope we can get a shot or two despite the fact that I need my roots done so bad!! They are 2 fingers wide now! Hope photoshop can fix that!

She is on her 2nd transfusion at the moment which sounds scary but actually helps her feel so much better.

There are several rounds of chemo she will have to go through to clear the disease and go into permanent remission. She will get to go home for a week or two in between but will be here for the most part for 5 months. I will go back and forth and do the best I can to still make a living.

I have such a strong church family that I know we will certainly always eat :) and I will have all the moral support I need as well as rides anywhere I need to go.

It will be such a long spring and summer. Please keep us in your prayers!

day 1

All checked in and her bone marrow biopsy is taken and she's back in the room to see what is next. So some waiting for the moment.

Biopsy actually went very smoothly. She went through it like it was nothing. :) Hope that's a terrific omen.

L

Difficult News

My Oldest Angel has been diagnosed with leukemia. Treatments start tomorrow.

Please pray for healing, strength, and peace for us.

L

Just a quick catch-up

I'm heniously behind in my photo taking. I do have some to post one of these days.

Brittany has to go see a neurosurgeon and is also scheduled to see a hematologist. Both at the University of Iowa. She has a malformation in her brain which may or may not need surgery.

Right now she seems to have contracted mono although she is testing negative for it. She has all the symptoms however except tenderness near her spleen. She's slept about 18 hours a day for 2 days.

Mono I can deal with. Even while moving.

That is the other really big news!

We are getting all moved. I'm taking photos of the house as it is now with stuff mixed all over the place between the two houses. It really is chaos!

And possible happy times on the social front. But I don't want to jinx it just yet.

Once I find out what the experts think on Beej I will be so relaxed I may not be able to function! I feel like poor Catherine is existing in her own little bubble and want to make sure she know we aren't forgetting she's about to turn 16!! :)

 I'll try to start keeping up a little bit better. No promises tho

Till tomorrow's (or close) folly!
L

Wednesday Feb 16 another trip to the Doc

Another trip to the Doc for my oldest. Scheduled another MRI and going to see a Neurologist in Iowa City  - someday, right now the next available appointment they had was in August...yeah, 6 months from now. Not exactly workable.

She also has to have blood drawn every week until her odd shaped white blood cells are identified or clear up. (could be residule mono she didn't even know she had or another virus similar).

I've never in my life been around Doctors's -well MD"s , plenty of PhD's!!

Today is her birthday too. She is 17 today. Nearly grown. In 18 months she'll be packed for college. What happened? Where did it all go?? I hope to get some photos of her playing in her Jazz band at the game tonight. :) I hope she's feeling good when she plays!!

Til tomorrow's folly
L

Transition time Feb 15 2011

As promised my phone and internet are in the process of switching to my new house (which is my Mom's old house...Mom is taking MY house). So I can only make a very brief post here at work...shhhhh.

 I'll get back to some more actual life blogging when we are settled.

And my daughter's health issues continue so that may take quite a bit of my time too...
Next up. Another MRI and out to see a neurologist at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in my beloved Iowa City. Wish it was for pleasure and not for this. 

Til Tomorrow's Folly
L

Valentine's Day Feb 14 2011

It came and went so fast. I used to always make a meal and give my girls a valentine's present. Usually something small and I'd put it at their place at the table and turn their plate upside down over it. Like my mother used to do for me on Valentine's day.

Not this year. Too much going on and too many boyfriends for the girls to settle in...and I had class.

Like I've said I have dated some over the past few months, so I was ready just in case...but alas Singles Awareness day came and went and here's what I was left with....

An Empty Vase (this is mine, not a gift). Nothing, nada.

I did get a text that said Happy Valentine's Day from someone I'd like for things to work out with. So I'll take that!!! Better than any ole chocolate!

Hope you all got to do something terribly terribly romantic... or at least more romantic than Statistics Class!!

Til Tomorrow's Folly

A Girly Day

I got to spend some time with my friends today at a direct selling spa for BeautiControl. It was fun and it was great to get to talk with my friends longer than just 10 minutes or however long we pass each other here and there. I did end up buying a couple things. (I hope they work!!)

It's good to be girly from time to time.


 On an aside...My daughter is good today. I had an idea that this pain may be very much like a variety of migrain. It's just a theory but I'll ask the doc about it.

Til tomorrow's folly
L

More questions no answers

MRI today. I was terrified that there was a tumor. Thankfully the MRI is clear.

Finely in Dubuque is a great hospital! Everyone was friendly, it's laid out well and makes sense. The time there wasn't out of line and the parking garage is free. We were treated with dignity and got our results on the same visit. If you are anywhere in the Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois tristate area... please consider this hospital for any of your medical needs!

After a full and stressful afternoon. We went and pigged out at Perkins. There to we had a great experience. One I'll be trying to run off for a week or so! :)

Til tomorrows folly
L