A few photos

We finally got it clean enough to take a picture! If you recall from earlier posts about the new house, there was no color. Literally - everything was eggshell white. The walls, the trim, the doors, the blinds, the bathrooms.... The carpet is bland, the tile is tan and if it weren't for the maple cabinets in the kitchen, the house could be deemed "sterile" looking.

Holley's bedroom got painted first. She picked two pretty lilac colors from the Disney collection at The Home Depot. It matches the color in her bedspread very nicely! Mike built the shelf around the top of the room and I almost fell over when I saw how much stuff filled it up! She loves having a double wide closet too.

Mike painted the living room, but it still needs work - drapes, art on the walls, something, so no pics. On to the office. No paint, but we did install shelving/cabinets. This is actually several units from Closetmaid at Lowe's. You pick and choose the sizes and arrangement. The doors and drawers are add-on, and the fabric boxes came from Garden Ridge for $3 a piece. I would still like to add one more of the 24"wide units to get rid of, or hide, the last of the plastic drawers, but this is a pretty great way to store my stamping stuff and still be able to use it!

Finally for this tour is the master bedroom. It is painted with two shades of pine green, which make the off-white trim really pop out and look great. We had huge windows on one wall with a large arched window in the center. One week of every month, the full moon shines full in that window, so something had to be done. There is also a smaller window in one corner, facing the patio. Thank goodness for JC Penney - ON SALE! I found these lined drapes in colors that match the paint and beadspread perfectly! The colors are copper, chocolate, dark mustard and pine green. You really have to see it to get the warm and cozy feeling. This is my favorite room at the moment. The master bath is getting a coat of paint this week to coordinate.

Hope you can see it live and in person soon!!!

Prayers for my Mom & Dad

Dad has been doing well lately. When we went to visit in August he was getting aroung pretty well and mostly off of the pain meds. This past week however, he went back in the hospital with severe Anemia. This is the way Mom described it: "I just came from the hospital were the Oncologist gave us the diagnosis/result of the biopsy. John's bone marrow is not functioning properly and is only making a small fraction of red and white blood cells and platelets. This is called Myelodysplastic Syndrome or MDS. The doctor gave us a 9 page print out describing this disease, the 3 levels of risk factors, and what can be done about it. You can read all the big words at this link.

In a nutshell, he said John is probably in the intermediate risk group and the fix is a bone marrow transplant from his sister, IF she is an exact match. For the time being we are starting with the "Supportive Care" which you will find just over half way through the above web page. This will involve a lot of monitoring and trips to the doctor's office for injections and possibly blood transfusions. The big PLUS is that this is NOT leukemia and "quality of life" shouldn't suffer too much."

For every bad thing that happens, God finds a way to use it for good. Sometimes it is just really hard to see what that will be, if I am ever even supposed to know. They have both been through so much with his medical history. Please pray with me for their strength, patience, and healing. He is still in the hospital after several days and a few pints of new blood.

Day 3 & 4 updates

Wednesday was great. High of 74 degrees, and we all got out of the house and had a good time. Holley still had a morning fever, but not enough to keep us all cooped up. We drove into Conroe to run an errand and decided to take the scenic route home, heading west to Lake Conroe and Montgomery. The marina is much larger than I expected and we found a good place right on the water to grab some hot wings and sandwiches for lunch.

After that, we went into downtown Montgomery and browsed through a variety of antique shops. I had no idea that they had such a cute downtown. One of the shops we went it specializes in carrying a variety of Texas wines. We brought home a Moscato out of Iowa Park (think Wichita Falls) that is quite yummy! This weekend is the 4th Annual Historic Montgomery Food & Wine Trail and we are looking forward to going back over there. Also check out this link for even more year 'round events.

Thursday it was back to Conroe to get our driver's licenses converted, then off to a pharmacy to find the elusive TamiFlu that is in short supply. We got it, but they calculated the dosage wrong and we have 2x more than required. Very costly stuff too, but it is not like you can take it back....

Also got to meet Holley's teacher. Nice lady. Turns out Holley is holding back - not really showing what she is capable of and they are just now discovering how good of a reader and overall student she can be! She is back in school today and happy about it, but in a way, I am glad we had time together this week. And progress on clearing out "stuff" continues!

Day 2 update

Day 2 hasn't been so bad, considering. Holley stayed home - 102 fever at 5 a.m., but has been closer to normal all day, thanks to Motrin(R). We took her to the clinic and the flu test came back negative, but the Dr. prescribed a "preventive" drug for 10 days, which the pharmacy is out of since every kid in town has the flu. She laid low all day, but is getting bored.

It has also rained most of the day, so that made it much easier to stay inside and work on boxes. The office is taking shape too. Met my goal of cleaning the dining room, and only had to relocate 3 boxes of dishes that I have no room for. Looks like we might have a garage sale this weekend.

Long time no post

If I wait for something significant to write about, it is likely that nothing will get written. What can one say about the mundane? Go to work, come home late, do dishes, read a book with Holley for school, go to sleep, repeat. Interject an occasional trip to the grocery or hardware store, and that is about it. Not much to write about.

If I write about my week of vacation, the first in over a year thanks to this client contract, it is not likely to be much more interesting.

Day 1 - get hair cut. (Ok, that was actually great! I soooo needed this mess whacked off...)
Take cat to vet. Unplanned event - pick up Holley from school with 100.8 fever. Pay bills, empty a file cabinet. Goal: see top of desk again.
Day 2 - work - there are two reports that I need to give input on. Promise self to keep it to 2 hours, MAX. Repair falling wallpaper border in the bathroom, put up new light fixture. Empty more boxes in the dining room (where to put it?) Goal: have dining room 100% clean.
Day 3 - Keep working on those boxes. List the rest of the craft stuff I need to sell. Mop floors. Vaccuum. Goal: have foyer 100% clean.
Day 4 - Dentist. Get Driver's License. (Glad I got the haircut!) Check out some new place for lunch with darling husband. Meet Holley's teacher after lunch. Back to the boxes. Goal: Holley's Bedroom finished (need more shelves).
Day 5 - Goal: Do nothing. Reality - finish as much of the stuff I didn't get to yet as possible.

Oh well. Still better than a week in the office.