Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas. We've had a lovely, low key day. This morning we were up early to open gifts. Last year was our final Santa year- the big guy fell along with the Easter bunny and the Tooth Fairy. The stockings were still stuffed this year, though. Some things never change. Later we went to Meme and Poppy's house for some lasagna, the traditional Christmas Day food.



This is the monster tree that nearly killed me. Next year- smaller family room tree!




Here's a shot of Olivia lighting the candles on the Menorah. Brad actually made latkes tonight for dinner. Happy ChristmaHanukkah!

Tomorrow: Charlie's surgery.

Celebrity Sighting

We had dinner tonight with Gene Hackman (actor) and Byron Leftwich (injured Jaguars quarterback). Well, we were at the same restaurant, eating dinner at the same time. Brad's business dinner holiday party was at an exclusive spot in Jax Beach. We were mingling on the patio when somebody pointed out the celebs. What fun!

Flakes

It was not snowing today. Actually, the weather was very warm, but our house was full of Flakes anyway. We hosted the annual Flakes Family Christmas celebration, and it was a wonderful success. The food was great, the entertainment was great (Audrey's DVD), and the company was great. I'll write more and post pictures as soon as possible.

Ouch!

Poor Uncle Ned has broken his ankle. He was playing hockey when some other players smashed him into the boards. OUCH! Get well soon, Uncle Ned!

Surgery is on Tuesday. We'll all have our fingers crossed for you all day long.

We spent most of the day at the Jaguar game. We beat the Colts 44 to 17. There were a lot of Colts fans at the game. They were happy for about one play, then they got really quiet. Here's a song we heard some Jags fans singing to Colts fans:

M I C (See you real soon)
K E Y (Why? Because we beat you!)
C O L T S

The holidays are here!

The big news this weekend: the Gators are going to the National Championship game on January 8th. As soon as Brad found out, he started planning the party. That's right, there's a party at our house for the game! Also, the Jaguars AND the Islanders won this weekend. I guess that makes it just about perfect for Brad.

This is B and O making a pie together on Thanksgiving. They worked really hard on it. It was pretty yummy, too.

I never showed you a picture of the finished living room. Here it is with one of our undecorated holiday trees.

My parents gave us this enormous tree. It was a huge amount of work to get it up. I complained. Brad said that it was like childbirth- afterwards I'd be happy and forget the pain. We'll see. I'll post pictures of the decorated trees when they're more finished.

See you next week!

Thanksgiving

Thanks to the multiple hurricanes of seasons past, our school board has worked some "weather days" into the school calendar. I'm not sure why they can't just tack on some days at the end of the year like they do in snowy areas. Since this was a quiet weather season, we have two extra days added to our Thanksgiving break which has given us six days off in a row. We don't go back to school until Tuesday!

We had a quiet T-day since Meme and Poppu were visiting the Seattle relatives. We did manage to cook up a mini feast for ourselves. On Friday we went to the beach to look for shells to use for making ornaments. Last night we trecked downtown to see the fireworks at the end of the boat parade. We couldn't see the boats because there were too many people, but the fireworks were awesome. Today we had another mini feast at Meme and Poppy's house. There is never a dull moment around here.

Throughout it all we've been playing games. Scrabble has been the new favorite diversion. I can't imagine why we haven't been playing for years considering all of the readers in the house. Other faves: Hilarium and Imaginiff.

Brad has to go back to work tomorrow, but don't worry. He's happy. A few days at home is all it takes to make him thankful for the relative quiet of the office.

The Day After Christmas

Charlie is having his tonsils and adenoids removed the day after Christmas. This is good because he'll have two full weeks to recover without missing any school and he may be able to breathe a bit easier. On the other hand, he is going to have to give up his winter break to recover from surgery.

We have a cat scan that gives proof that he has a brain, and that his sinuses are clear. His adenoids, however, are large and in the way. There is a chance that his voice will be changed by the surgery. Right now, his voice is hindered by not being able to force any air into "the mask" which affects his tone when he sings.

Poor Charlie has had a difficult year. First braces, then allergy shots, and now surgery. The only good news...

Ice cream, we're gonna have ice cream...

“It’s time to update it!”

I’ve been given a directive from my grandmother to update the blog. Honestly, I didn’t think that many people were reading, but she’s not the only one who has expressed an interest, so….

From now on I promise to try to do an update once a week. Sunday nights. What's that old saying? "Be careful what you ask for..."

To start, here are a couple of Halloween pictures. We had an awesome night in the new neighborhood. One tradition that we always enjoyed in our old neighborhood was trick or treating, but I think our new neighbors are even more excited about the holiday. Most folks were sitting in their driveways with their bowls of candy, the streets were full of kids (and parents) in costume, and lots of houses were decorated for the holiday.









Mitchell stayed behind to give out candy while Brad and I walked around the block with Charlie and Olivia.



Charlie is a Roman Emporer, and Olivia is a witch.

Living Room

I'm grabbing a moment to get some pictures of our decorating and painting efforts. Here's the white walled living room. We've painted it blue now- a very aqua blue.




Here's Olivia painting.



Charlie is hiding out in the chair in this picture.

Art

I have a lot to post about: Leslie, Josh and Charlotte's visit, Charlie's braces, my recent decorating experiments... BUT I just found this awesome website and I have to share.

Jackson Pollack is one of my favorite painters. I love abstract expressionism. While I was surfing for ideas to create art I stumbled upon this awesome site.

Go there and make your own painting. Click the mouse to change colors as you scribble.

Amazing House Moment: right this second, Mitchell and Bishop are playing chess downstairs! THAT has never happened before. This is just another example of how the house has changed our lives. I was worried that we would interact less with more space, but the opposite is true.

Summer, Summer, Summer

You might think that summer would afford ample opportunity to blog, blog, blog. As you can see, that has not been the case. I apologize for the long delay between posts. There is so much to say, too much- so, "lemme sum up..."

We went to NJ, NYC, Long Island, the Poconos and Philly- all in one week. We've just about recovered. Seeing Charlotte, Josh, Leslie, Stephen and Ned was a blast, not to mention all the other relatives at the big B'nai Mitzvah. I was thrilled to be in New York City with Brad and the kids (and everybody else). We saw the former Lafer house in Long Island, and the amazing Torah covers made by Brad's mom and dad at their former Temple. And, we also stayed at both of Ned and Stephen's homes, which were cool in their own unique and totally different ways.

Mercedes is coming to town tomorrow and Leslie, Josh and Charlotte are coming next week.

School starts in 3 weeks.

On top of everything else we've been spending a lot of time at the pool and the library. I've been savoring the relaxed pace (well, somewhat relaxed) of summer at HOME.

I'm currently actually sewing new window treatments for the game room. I'll post pictures as soon as they are done. This is my first big project for the house.

May

I know, I know... Not much action here lately. May has been busy. Brad turned 40. We had a big party. Bishop graduated from high school. We celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary. And, there were all of the end of the school year award ceremonies and field trips. Whew!

Denny got this shot of Bishop at graduation. I think it captures the excitement of the day perfectly. We are so proud of our graduate! Congratulations, Bishop! Way to go!

Party at our HOUSE! May 6th!

If you are reading this, you are invited to a BBQ on the 6th of May to celebrate our official housewarming and Brad's 40th birthday. If you didn't get an official invite in the mail, let me know and I'll get one right out.

Can't wait to see you all!

We LOVE it!!!

The most often asked question by everybody is: Do you love your new house?

And the answer is: YES!!! We love our new house! There is plenty of room for everybody. We feel grateful to live in such a wonderful home. Each day is a joy.

So, why haven't we been sharing the joy on the blog? Well, we've been overwhelmed with house tasks and we are not even close to unpacked! I'll try to keep you all better informed about our many home making projects from now on.

Don't forget, on May 6th we're breaking in the BBQ!

Settling In.... Slowly

After visiting the house so often, week after week, while it was being built, I was surprised when it didn't feel like home right away. For a week I felt like I was living in a bad hotel. It was the similar to the experience of being pregnant compared to the baby once he or she was born. They didn't seem to have anything to do with each other. Every day last week I came home to a place that didn't feel like my home.

Mitchell had the opposite experience. Even with a room full of boxes, he found his center right away. "It's home, Mom." There has never been a happier person.

Charlie got sick, unfortunately. He gets the first puker award. He missed three days of school right before an important solo vocal competition. Even stuffed up and still sick, he got a superior when he sang, "Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes."

Bishop hasn't been home very often. He spends more time in Mandarin than here, but he does have the honor of being the first to unpack his room. Olivia is missing a neighborhood full of friends. She wants this house in our old neighborood.

Brad's so settled in he's having a BBQ. He put out the invitations before he bought the BBQ. There's a kink in the Direct TV set up, but once he gets that all worked out then he'll be competing with Mitchell for the happiest person in the house designation.

Slowly, slowly, slowly (or so it seems to me) we are getting unpacked. I'm not surprised that I live here every day when I walk in the door anymore. Maybe I'll win the happiest person award next week during Spring Break when I get to stay home every single day!

Living in the Big House

We are moved in! I'd post the pictures, but I can't find the camera. I can't find anything, actually. I don't know which light switch goes to what light or how to work the microwave. It is going to take months to unload the boxes! That hasn't kept Brad from inviting people over for a BBQ. It's the 18th if you are interested. Oh, we don't have a BBQ- yet.

We ran a load of dishes and marveled at how quiet our fancy new dishwasher runs- then we discovered that there was no water going into the dishwasher. Water is what makes the noise, by the way.

Mitchell lost his clothes. We searched all over for the hamper he thought he put them in. Eventually he found them in the dryer.

The first night I expected the kids to sleep in their own rooms for the very first time. Nope. Bishop and Mitchell spent the night out, and Charlie and Olivia slept in the game room. I'm having trouble sleeping because of the street light in our front yard that shines right in our window. No, we don't have blinds up yet. There just isn't enough time in a day to get everything done.

But, we are moved in and, we are very happy to be here.

WooHOO, We Are Home Owners!

Closing was a breeze- only took about an hour of signing, signing, signing and then we gathered up the kids and had our first meal in our new house.




First meal: A KFC picnic on a comforter spread out on the floor in the family room.
First toast: Champagne or Yoohoo, depending on your preference
First song played on the new CD player: Our House by Madness
Biggest thrill: Kids nesting in their own rooms!
First box unpacked: new bathroom accessories
Most fun: playing with the intercom
Greatest satisfaction: A key that fits in the door!

Birthday and the Eve of our Closing

Mitchell is SIXTEEN today. We went to dinner with PopPop and Ginny to celebrate. Last night we went to dinner, too. Here he is enjoying his one and only gift: an IPOD. As he gets older, the gifts are getting smaller and more expensive. He can get his license in September and then we'll have two teen drivers to worry about.

Speaking of teen drivers, Bishop has managed to wreck his car again without even driving it. He was sitting on his windshield today- yes, SITTING on the WINDSHIELD- when he cracked it with his butt. There is now a huge butt crack in his windshield-actually it is more like a butt print in glass. When he was four we had to tell him not to lick the car. Well, it had been raining... he was thirsty... I didn't think I'd need to actually tell him not to lick the car, and I didn't think I'd need to tell him not to sit on the WINDSHIELD!

As I sit here typing, Brad is telling Charlie and Olivia to be quiet and go to sleep. They are chattering away in their room. There are only a few nights left of chattering. Although all of them have needed their own rooms for awhile now, when we move, they'll miss the late night talk and giggle sessions, and I'll miss hearing them from just down the hall in my room.

Tomorrow at 4:30 is the long awaited closing. I'm feeling excited, tense, happy, overwhelmed, and a little sad, but mostly... ready to move on.

Walk-through

This morning at 9:30 we met with the builder and several other people to "walk through" our new home. This was our chance to learn about how to take care of the interior and exterior and for us to point out any last minute problems or issues. In some ways it feels like we've "walked through" an invisible portal into our new lives.

There were lots of people there- cleaning, painting, and installing. There was an unspoken deference for the "home owners." Who? Us? They kept saying, "It's your house." Really? Ours? Are you sure? Gosh, if they could only see what we are coming from- a well worn, cramped townhouse.

My friend LM said that when I moved into this house I'd be a whole new person. In a way, she was right, although I insisted that I am already that person when she said it. Maybe I'm not that person yet. Now everything seems surreal. Even after almost ten months of driving out to see the dirt every week and tracking the process so closely, it still seems amazing that this house will actually be OUR house.

The house is beautiful. And in five days it will officially be our beautiful house.

Locked OUT!

This was a frustrating weekend as we were LOCKED OUT of the house. grrrrrrrr! Also, they dropped our counter after it was poured a second time and broke it so they are making yet another new one. I hope that the third time is the charm.

Here's our new time frame: Walk-through on Thursday morning and closing next Tuesday afternoon.

And then, we can really call it home.

Landscaping

The house is so close to finished. We took the kids last night, and for the first time, the house really seemed livable. The electricity is on and the carpet is installed. The walls have been touched up and the doors are all on. We entertained ourselves by talking back and forth over the intercom and listening to the radio. We watched the JEA guy install a light bulb in the streetlight that we have in our front yard. We could've brought our sleeping bags and spent the first night there, so when we had to get in the car and drive home to the cramped townhouse, it was a little bit hard.

When we were there, the kids were pretty crazy. They were loud and running around, which always ends with an injury, some wailing and then pouting. The pouting was mostly the parents. We had to remind ourselves that moving isn't going to magically make everything all sweetness and serenity. We have to wait for them to move out before that will happen.

We also discovered the down side to the intercom system. The rule at this house is that you cannot tell on another kid if you are on a different floor from the parent. With the new intercom, all you have to do is push a button to complain about a sibling. What were we thinking? Oh, I remember. We wanted them to be able to ask if the dishwasher was clean from the kitchen.

Here's the house status: We don't have a countertop in the kitchen because they poured the wrong color Corian. Our walk through is scheduled for Monday. I hope that it is in by then. Also, we don't have a shower door yet. As ypu can see, we do have landscaping. I think it looks great. Also, they are going to extend the sod to the back of the cleared section of the yard.

Mark your calendars for May 6th. Party at our house!

Long Yard, Short Windows

Every day is a new adventure when you are a few weeks from closing. This week we had a few surprises. They cleared 25 more feet in the back than we expected. We don't know how much of the cleared lot they plan to sod, though. Then end of our lot used to be even with the neighbors'.

In other news, they discovered that they put the windows in our bedroom and the game room in too low. It would take two extra weeks for them to go back and fix the windows. Brad told the builder that if they sod the entire lot, then we'll live with the low windows. I guess it is good that we are short people.



You can see the gap that happened when they originally installed the windows. We pointed this out when it happened, but they told us that it was to make the outside look right. The thought of them tearing up the outside of the house is worrisome to say the least. When they put in the sprinkler system this week, they tore up the electric wires that power the air conditioners.

They've painted our front door. The color surprised us because we thought it would be a deep, dark burgandy instead of this copper color, but when we checked our plans, this is indeed the color we chose. I'm looking forward to seeing the house surrounded by green grass and plants rather than dirt. Hopefully, I'll like the color more then. It is annoying that the door has white lines and the rest of the windows have dark lines.



The hardwood floors are in, as is the carpet. Unfortunately, the floors are covered in brown paper. One week from tomorrow (Monday) we are scheduled for our walk-through. Finally, we will get to see everything cleaned up and shiny. Then a week later we go to closing. If we stay on schedule, we'll move in the first weekend of March. I need to go pack something right now.

We bought a new fridge to match the other stainless appliances this weekend. It will be delivered the weekend after we move in. We also got a new washer and dryer set- front loading, stackable- for upstairs. This will give us some extra room in the laundry room. We're keeping our old washer, dryer and fridge. They'll all go in the garage. That's right: two washer and dryers. Now they'll never be any excuse for having dirty clothes.

Changes, progress, additions and accidents

Apparently at the end of the fiscal year for the builder, people are switched around the developments. This means that the sales staff that we've dealt with is gone and we have a new builder as well. While it is disconcerting to have changes right before our last few weeks of construction, Brad did get a chance to meet with the new builder, the assistant builder and the quality person. They were responsive and listened to all of our concerns. They believe that they will be ready to close on February 28th.



We now have a driveway and walkway to the front door. They measured for the counter tops last week so they should come next week. Grading, sod and landscaping should happen this week and then they'll start the hardwood floor. The alarm people installed the key pads and the intercom speakers, but they made a few errors so they need to come back. At this point, the details are mounting. It is probably a good thing that I am not able to leave school all day because I'd be out there every day obsessing over everything.





Oh, they installed the wrong door. After coating the first door in paint, they installed the wrong glass. Not that this is a bad looking door, but I think we asked for the door with no lines- just glass. In the future, that glass will be replaced by an original Dennis Lafer custom stained glass door.









To add to our insanity, we have taken in two more kittens. They are adorable and much friskier than our old, fat, cuddly cats. This way there are the same number of cats as kids in the house. We had kitty litter scooper training tonight so that everybody can share in the yucky chores that come with pet ownership.

Bishop wrecked his car. He's been driving for less than a month. Yes, I predicted it. I should've gotten a betting pool going. Luckily, he was unharmed. He hit a friend's large truck, which was barely scratched, smashing up a headlight and taking out the power steering. He's suffering car/freedom withdrawal while his parents have no sympathy for him.

The HOME Stretch

We really are in the home stretch now. Our tentative closing date is now February 28th. This week we should get a driveway and landscaping. There is no hardwood floor yet, countertops or shower doors, but almost everything else is done. They even cleaned up our lot. The last few times we've gone out all of our papers have been spread all over the dirt. All I can say is thank goodness Brad has been going out on his lunch hour every day. He's been able to keep on top of the details.

In other news: My dad is doing great. The surgery went well and he's home and getting better. Save your knees- you'll need them later!

Happy Birthday, Stephanie! I hope that your 32nd year is everything that you want it to be.

Ned and Stephen have some excitement happening this week. Check out their blog: http://www.stephened.blogspot.com/ I can't imagine why they need another Rocky installment, but this is probably why I am not a movie maker.

Charlie and I are going to New York at the end of March with his school chorus. We're going to do some touring and see Beauty and the Beast on Broadway.

Roller Coasters

I have whiplash from the ups and downs of the week.

First my dad went back in for knee surgery to remove a blood clot from below the top part of his incision. That went well and even helped with the pain, but now he has a fever again. OY! One step forward, two steps back… I’m calling all the healing energy in the world to dad’s new left knee!

The other crazy ride is the house ride. So much has happened this week that I don’t know where to start. The bad news is that there was a leak that was discovered when they put in the plumbing fixtures. The good news is that they fixed it and it dried out quickly. They’ve also finished tiling the floors and the bathrooms. The scaffolding is gone and we’ve been painted. It looks darker than we imagined, but we like it. We have light fixtures- most of which will be replaced because they are awful. The air conditioning was installed as was the garage door. The pace is brisk.

We even got a call from the closing department today. They are closing a bunch of houses in the next few days. I'm glad that we are not one of the many going to closing before the end of month. Maybe we'll be in the end of February push.



The best news is that we got banister at the bottom AND top of the stairs. It will be stained to match the hard wood floor in the living/dining room. That top banister looks so much better than the dreaded half-wall. Do not think that you can come over and slide down the banister. Nobody is sliding down that banister!




Our house number is up, too: 14033. Before you know it, there will be an invitation to a house warming party in your mailbox. We hope that all y'all can come!

45 days from cabinets

The mortgage guy and the sales people have all said that we can expect to close about 45 days from cabinets. Since cabinets were yesterday, that would mean that we could possibly close at the end of February or the beginning of March.

Already the change of mind has begun in this house, the old house. Already we think about the number of times we will clean the floor, or do the laundry here. Already I am throwing away everything so that I don't have to pack it. The inventory clearance has begun.

Unfortunately, there will be some losses as well. Olivia has just met a new friend in the old neighborhood. I keep telling her that we'll be moving so soon, but she really likes her. I'm afraid it is going to break her heart to leave all of her friends in this neighborhood, but the new neighborhood is filled with kids, too.

Brad, of course, will miss nothing. He'd move in tomorrow if they'd let him.

Busy, Busy, Busy

The stucco is going on. I'll be so glad when our house is released from its scaffolding prison. The outside is not the only place getting work done. There were three crews there at once working this week.


Our small kitchen is shown above. We put in many upgrades to maximize the cabinet space. The cabinets are tall, there is a lazy susan corner cabinet, the cabinets on either side of the stove have top and bottom pull out shelves, we put in cabinets over the fridge, and can you see the crown moulding? I can't wait to see the counters and the sink.

The black on the floor is some kind of preparation for the tile.


Speaking of tile, the upstairs bathroom had a tile floor installed with a small cabinet and counter top. Both the upstairs kids bathroom and the downstairs guest bathroom will look the same. We think we should have gotten the taller cabinets, but it is too late now.







We got the taller cabinets in our bathroom and filled in the space between the sinks with drawers. The tub and shower were tiled, although I am dissapointed with the shower. They put a thin line of tiles along the inner corner, which looks bad and means there will be a great deal of caulk in a spot that is difficult to clean.

Ceilings and Painted Walls

Today we spent a lovely MLK day with our friends, Kat and Eric. After lunching by the river, we drove out to the house to check on the progress. The painter was there and the ceilings were finished and the wall paint was going on. We wanted off white paint, but it is actually more of a darker taupe color. I like it because it makes the white molding pop.

They still haven't begun the stucco, but I suppose that will happen this week sometime. Actually, we are close enough to count the stages before closing:
1. stucco
2. exterior painting
3. banister(s)
4. hard wood flooring
5. tile floors
6. carpet
7. cabinets
8. grading and landscaping
9. light fixtures and finish work

Hmmmm. Could that be all?

Oh, Brad's father, Denny, has offered to make a custom stained glass door for the front!

The house looks very different now that it is all black. Those white stripes are the styrofoam forms. When Brad took these pictures they had delivered the interior doors and baseboards.

Today when we stopped by the baseboards were installed as well as most of the doors. They also put in door frames and window sills. This has made the rooms seem much more finished. One oddity is the placement of the windows. In our bedroom they are placed very low so that the window sill is about knee high and the tops of the windows are just above our heads. Luckily, there is plenty of room above the window to hang window treatments so that the windows seem larger.

We got some big news today about Charlie that will affect the house. He is highly allergic to dust mites. He recently had an allergy test because he spends most of his time stuffed up. We are going to see Dr. D in the morning for more information, but his first bit of advice is to take the carpet out of Charlie's new room. So, as soon as they put it in, we'll be taking it out. Then we need to put down a hard floor-either laminate, wood or tile. Then he needs a new mattress with dust mite covers. The most difficult part for Charlie is going to be parting with the stuffed animals. His extensive collection is priceless to him. The good news is that we found out in time to set up his new room so that it is as dust free as possible.

Chicken Wire

Our house is now covered in a black sort of barrier paper and CHICKEN WIRE! I guess the chicken wire is there to either keep the birds in or to act as a surface that will hold the stucco. Stucco is just a fancy name for cement. There are styrofoam molds that are screwed to the front of the house. It is strange that such a soft, easily damaged material forms the fancy shapes around the windows and doors.

The interior ceilings have been sprayed with a texture of some sort and, finally, somebody swept up all the trash and grunge inside. The house didn't seem really dirty until the drywall went in, but now everything is covered in a film of chalky, yuckiness mixed with dirt. Brad's bathtub is gross! I know that it will all be cleaned up, but I resist the urge to pick up every time we go out.

All of our interior doors and baseboards are stacked in the garage. Cabinets can't be far from now, and then we should close in about 45 days. I'm still aiming for March 15th so that we can move during Spring Break. Brad disagrees, of course. He wants to sleep in the new house the day we close.

We got some good news about schools. It seems pretty certain that we can keep Olivia at her current elementary school even after we move. She's been there since Kindergarten so we want to let her finish 5th grade. And, Mitchell and Charlie will be getting off the same bus every afternoon at the front of our new neighborhood. That's good and bad. Good because they can come home and deal with the alarm together, and bad because they'll be, well, together.

Last, I have a funny story. I was reading a sentence today in class about the icy deck of a ship being slippery and dangerous, except that I mispronounced deck so that it rhymes with stick. Suddenly, even the kids who had totally tuned me out were paying attention. Luckily, nobody suggested that it was a Fruedian slip.

Scaffolding and Stucco

We were able to see our rooms in the daylight! Everybody got to do some mental furniture placement on Sunday when we went out to the house. Looks like this is the week for stucco because our house is surrounded by scaffolding. This, no doubt, should have kept us from wandering around, but of course it did not.

There is no half wall in the spot that I hope will become our future banister at the top of the stairs. That is not to say that they won't return at some point and put one in, but for now we are hopeful that we'll get a banister at the top and the bottom of the stairs.

School for me is going well, but I am planning day by day which is stressful. I feel constantly OVERWHELMED, but at least it keeps me from thinking about the house all of the time.

We have ROOMS!

The drywall is in! We have rooms. I thought that things would look much smaller once you couldn't actually see across the entire house, but that didn't happen. The rooms are nice, big, open. Maybe it is because the ceilings are high. We have no pictures because with the start of work and school again, we can only get out there at night. Actually, we've only seen the drywall with flashlights in the dark.

They've also begun to put the scaffolding up for stucco. This was a surprise. We didn't think that would happen for a few weeks. Pictures on Saturday!

In other good news, Poppy got moved to the rehab hospital today after TWO WEEKS in the first hospital. Thanks to Cousin Howie, our HERO, for getting him into the best rehab hospital in town. There were some very nice nurses who took care of Poppy in the first hospital. Thank you, nurses and doctors and everybody else for getting him through his surgery and rough recovery.

Today was my first day with students after the first of the year. Things went very well. I like my new schedule and I'm looking forward to getting into a routine and not feeling so anxious every day because it is all so overwhelming and new.

We are feeling very fortunate around here. The holidays were often hectic and worrisome because Poppy was struggling, but we also got to see our distant family and reconnect with them. Next year the holidays are at our house!

Just a note- the bird flu has hit another continent. Click to read CNN's story. For more information go to the government website. CNN has a lot of information in their special report. All I'm saying is that you might want to think about a plan.