We officially purchased a home and it is almost move in ready after weeks of remodeling. You can't tell if you were to walk in today, but the plan is to officially move in next weekend! The last big thing to be done is the carpet installation which will be done at at the beginning of the week. My wonderful in-laws drove all of our stuff (minus Randy's keepsakes) from Idaho last weekend. Thankfully it all fit in the garage.
A huge THANK YOU is due to my dad, who has pretty much done everything- painting all the trim, doors, door frames, walls, a vaulted ceiling, tiling 3 rooms, replacing the water heater, placing a drain for the laundry, laying the most beautiful laminate flooring (I LOVE IT), framing in air ducts, fixing dry wall holes, and the list just keeps going. There is no way that our home would look so inviting and beautiful without my dad.
Thank you to Mom who has suffered/powered through tackling redoing the banister with me. That was quite a project that I hope to finish tonight (just one more coat of varnish). The banister was a reddish brown color that I didn't love, but real reason we redid the banister was because of the many many scratches and gouges in the wood. Mom and I with Randy's help spent days and days sanding away the stain and imperfections. When the wood was finally prepared I applied the prestain and followed up with a rich dark brown stain. I then had 2 learning moments- 1) I should have taped off the white posts that support the banister first because I got stain all over them and of course Dad had already painted them.So I need to prime and repaint almost all of the posts. 2) Use a lint free cloth to apply stain. After the first coat of stain Mom and I went back apply the second coat and the banister was super rough. We ended up lightly resanding it and applying another coat of stain. Finally last night I was able to apply the first coat of varnish and it looks soooo pretty!!! Hopefully tonight the saga of the banister will be finished.
Thank yous to Grandpa Sheets, Uncle Spence, and Jason are also required. They have all given up their free time to help us prepare our new home.
Randy has been kept busy with work and ends up with some funny stories. One morning he had to leave extra early to watch children walking to school in response to a complaint that wild turkeys were chasing the kids on their way to school. He didn't see any small children, only middle school kids and not one wild turkey. A more fun adventure for him was releasing a bobcat that was caught in a neighboring town. He was pretty excited about that.
Work for me has been busy most days. I have worked a few 4 hour shifts by myself and so far those have gone well. I had to manage a seizing dog one of those afternoons, you could say that added some excitement. I am continuing to learn and I can feel my confidence growing with healthy doses of humility daily of all the things I don't know.
A couple of weeks ago I spent one early morning in the ER. The previous evening, I was super painful in my lower abdomen but the pain eventfully passed. However it started to return in the middle of the night, so my sweet husband drove me to the hospital at 2 am. Being a medical professional wasn't helpful that night because I had a list of diagnoses running through my head, none of which were pleasant. I was given some fentanyl and anti-nausea meds, IV fluids, had lab work done and an abdominal ultrasound. Thankfully our little one was perfectly fine and they didn't find anything on the ultrasound. I wanted an abdominal radiograph because I am 99% sure that the pain was from my GI tract, but as I'm pregnant radiographs are out of the question. I was discharged from the hospital at 6 am. Randy was able to be with me the entire time, even for the ultrasound. He made sure I was warm enough and as comfortable as possible. He even put on my socks for me. He surely is the best companion.
Other fun things
- We had dinner and games with Kelsie and James and Amanda and Jake last month. These get-togethers for me are soul refreshing. Our next get-together is Monday (with lots of pie!).
- I was able to go to a bridal shower for a friend that I haven't seen since my wedding reception. We picked up right where we left off and the last 5 years didn't even matter. I am so excited for her wedding next week.
- Amanda and I attended a continuing education dinner in Salt Lake this week. Sitting in lecture for 2 hours was tough, but I enjoyed the subject (upper air way disease) and it was refreshing to review some things that I knew and gather new treatment ideas.
