Button Factory

This little gem of a strip shows what the original wallpaper was in the kitchen.  Kinda wished they had left that there and it would have coordinated with the brick linoleum floor better.

Here's the last portion of the kitchen tiled which has meant yet another interruption in cooking operations in my house since the stove had to be moved out of the way.  We have been eating out a lot lately which is not happy.

The craziness in the background is where we demo'd out some stuff to make nice area for pantry rather than awkward spot for fridge that it was.

While in Detroit we got the shelving that we needed to complete this bookshelf and the cabnitry for the soon to be pantry area.  I was so happy to get the bookshelves up and have the final remaining boxes unpacked!  And now I can find the books I keep thinking about reading...that is when I think I have time to read them.

Here are my lovely kids modeling the new bench work that Josh put in and the new windows in the breakfast nook. If I could push a rewind button on one project it would be the windows in that corner which used to come down to the bench seat level, but I was too worried the kids would fall through them while distractedly eating, but now there isn't as much light there and I can't see out into the backyard while sitting at the table.  Ah well, if we only knew then what we know now.

I know we have properly moved into a room when there are random children's toys there.  I love the way the bathroom has turned out!  I seems so big and tall, which means all my illusion tricks worked (large white tile and stripes going up).  My favorite part about the bathroom is now the fun stories I get from the kids while bathing.  Sure, showering at the YMCA is fun, but I don't get Danny telling me that he wished he had a better lizard that new how to float and then sink and then float again rather than the lizard he has which just sinks.  He really was bored with it and had put it on the side of the tub rather than play with a sinking lizard.

 Here's a little overview of what is happening in the kitchen as well:  Here's were we met, totally covered in boxes and filthy.

Breakfast area one morning.

Same area that afternoon.

And just a few days later having ripped out the nasty maroon carpet to find this pattern and the cabinets in place.

 Kinda looks like Viv is always sitting at the table, and most of the time she is, usually coloring which is her best form of self expression and I really like her coloring too!
Here's the view now looking down to the breakfast 'service' bar thru the kitchen.  We are trying to get everything in place to get the measuring for the counter tops done and the carpet in as well.  I am happy to get rid of the faux brick vinyl in the kitchen and some light carpet in the new sun room.  Progress with more positive to look forward to.

 Intro to Bathroom - Condition in which we found it: old iron tub.  Down to the studs. Rotting sub-floor, door off, and toilet and sink.
Phase 1: reconstruction - rip it all out!  And yes, there is a magic window.  I had not realized until we pulled out the green board that the window still existed.  From the exterior of the house you just saw a dark window as if the lights were out.  We then realized that they had just painted the window black and covered it in with sheetrock.  Huh.  The iron tub and the toilet got hauled to the basement.  Luckily there was a drain and some water lines installed in the basement so we have a toilet just sitting in the corner of the basement.  Kinda exposed, but it works.
 Without the tub anymore I made it two days before we joined the YMCA and began showering there.  Honest truth.  Gratefully the Y downtown also has a pool so it looks a little less suspicious when I take the kids swimming and then shower us all.  We also too out the sub-floor down to the joists to be able to level out the floor.  As this is an old house, it has settled a bit to the front.  The hallway leading to the bathroom, straight down the center of the house is the best indicator of the shift.  Once leveled, we calculated that the floor dropped from the left side to the right one and a quarter inches.
 This is three weeks into the bathroom remodel.  We have a fanatastic handyman who is truly a jack-of-all trades that has been doing most of the smart work and Josh and I have been fitting in the dumb work.  Tom put in all the floors, plumbing, electrical lines, window, and sheetrock.  Both the kids and I have been looking over his shoulder and I am hoping that I am gleaning as much from it as Danny is.  Josh and I got the tile in and the bead-board and floor boards.  I did all the mudding myself, which is a really fun job if you ask me.  Although I do admit I think it annoying that you generally have to do 3 layers of mudding on all the joints.  Grrr.

 The box that the new tub came in became their own house to remodel and enjoy.  They cut out a new window and painted the exterior and enjoyed all the new 'renew-vations' they made to their box home.

The box house lived for a couple of days before they discovered that it could also be used as a pommel horse, which did eventually collapse the structure, despite Danny's insistence that we could just put some more tape on the cracks.  To my utter delight, they are fantastic little observers and helpers.  They understand well when things are a 'danger zone' and when it is okay to come and help.  It is also fun to be at a stage when the get disinterested with helping shortly after being introduced to the concept (ah! yes, it is work even though Mommy keeps painting more walls).   They are playing fantastically creative games together and using their toys in all new ways.  It is a whole new stage of imaginative and interactive play.  I am SO glad they are close in age AND friends.

 This is the front entry room how I met it on April 6th.
 This is how the entry room progressed within the first week
 And Voila!  By week three I had created a room where I could go and feel like we were in a little bit of heaven.  I had seen a lot of magazines with rooms in the dark navy realm of walls and I wanted to try it.  Needless to say, I love it.  I am still figuring out how to put pictures up on the wall using various sticky things since all the walls are plaster and not so easy to nail into.  That should deter me from continuing my collage picture wall ----but it hasn't!  Some of the smaller photos are just waiting on the piano top until they get stuck in place, but the major pieces are up.
 Don't  you just love how the family heirloom yellow velvet chair POPS!  Perhaps we can persuade the parents to bring its spouse home after the fourth of July and we will have a popping couple.
In all truth, I am not completely done - some of the crown moulding is not completed yet and I haven't painted the wall behind the piano.  Yes, some day we will get the wood floors refinished and then I can move the very small and randomly placed rugs in a more seemly location.  Nevertheless, progress!  And I am very pleased,

Well, another month of the Happiness Project flew through my hands leaving me thinking - man I could have got more from that!  Yet, I am certainly grateful that even a little reminder has helped me keep 'friends' in the brain a bit more.

As April was 'family move across the country month' I reflected a great deal on the friends old, new, and really old, that have supported me through all phases of life.

Truly the best part about living in Arizona were our amazing neighbor friends that we had.  Without the Morales, Bougneit, Heavlin, and Hancock families  the desert would have been more than dry! Also, with a best friend for my girls came a best friend for me too. I felt bouyed and loved by them and looked forward to the time I had to spend with them.

Although not right next door, Jamie and Jenn became the closest girlfriends I had there to talk with and spend many a day at parks.  Oh yes, there was my theatre family of friends that helped me reconnect with 'Nancy'; Riki, Steph, Ashley, Gary, Morgan, Laura, the Chamberlains and Briggs.  I felt blessed with a new life each show I did to be near those wonderful caring people that shared that love of theatre.

I have been sustained through much of my life by some amazing genuine friends from the SSU band of girls.  Special shout out to Kristen who has been on of the best sounding boards and talking buddies since the third grade!  What!  That is forever.  No matter where I move, the SSU gals have kept me feeling connected to someone, somehow.

And Halelujiah for gracious answers to prayers and the Lord has blessed me with some instant friend in FW!  What a miracle to have neighbors, again, that are friendly and Church members who are excited to get to know me.  As I moved here I contemplated a lot about how I might be better at making friends and being a genuine 'people person' so as not to be so lonesome in the middle of the USA.  Well, I am glad I had thought of it, but honestly don't feel that I have done much to warrant the influx of friendly offers around.

I had wanted to read a few books about improving friendships or gaining new ones, but the best examples I have had about being true friends have come from those I already have!  Including, most especially my family.  In review, I do feel that I want to revisit this topic and next time around reach out a bit more in thoughtful ways to show others how much I appreciate their friendship and be more watchful of the welfare of others.  So good to think of fun ways to be a better friend FOREVER.