Ice buckets and Christmas lights

When I was 18 years old, my grandfather died from ALS.  By the time he received a diagnosis, he was given only 6 months to live.  It was fast and furious.  ALS is a horrible disease to experience...and a horrible disease to watch.

With all of the ice bucket challenges over the past month, I have had flash backs to the 18 years of knowing my Grandad, as well as the 6 months of watching the cruelty of ALS.  I am glad more people know about ALS...and I wish more people knew my Grandad.

Grandad was always on time.  He took pride in being awkwardly early to any event.  He loved ice cream, Reese Pieces, Wrigley's gum and Lifesavers...with plenty to share.  Speaking of sharing, he loved giving to those in need.  I could ask him for anything.  He had a great smile that went ear to ear.  And his frown was a full face scowl that he did without even noticing.  He was meticulously organized and loved routines.  He kept the TV schedule from the paper in the exact same spot for years...and was livid when someone moved his schedule.  His car was his baby.  Looking at it, you would think you were in for a nice smooth ride.  But Grandad was the worst driver.  He drove with his left foot on the brake and his right foot seemed to have a nervous twitch on the gas pedal that made the car jolt back and forth.  He adopted a skinny mangy mutt named Casey that became the fattest most spoiled dog you could imagine.  Grandad had a meticulous lawn and a garage full of tools, all organized to perfection.  But I rarely saw him use any of them.  He was not the handy type,  except with toy trains.  He had the most amazing train set up I have ever seen in a home.  He bought conductor hats for the grandchildren and we would sit on our stools and watch in amazement as the trains zoomed on the track.  Pure joy would be on my grandfather's face as he ran the trains for us kids.  He would drop anything to run the trains for us.  Every Thanksgiving he took all the grandchildren to the movies...it was his special treat.  My favorite memory is from Christmas.  Grandad would borrow or rent an 18 passenger van and pile all of us in for a tour of Christmas lights.  He would drive around town for an evening, showing all the grandkids the best lights in town.  I vaguely remember having popcorn for the ride.  It was a highlight of the Christmas season, and it was all thanks to my Grandad.

And then came ALS.  Slowly, as if working from the tips of his fingers to the inside of his throat, the disease took it's toll.  At first he could clumsily pick some things up, and walk through the house with a walker.  They built a wheelchair ramp to the house, and he would still go to church.  Quickly things changed.  When he couldn't stand anymore, he began to loose so much weight off of his already frail body.  He would sit in his wheelchair, his recliner, or his bed...and would want to change positions often.  The inability to move even an inch was causing horrible bed sores all over his body.  I could pick him up and move him from one venue to another.  He couldn't have weighed 100 lbs.  He slowly lost the muscle strength to eat normally.  I would give him tomato slices and he would have to spit out the peel because his body couldn't digest it anymore.  For a while he would still play cards...and my grandmother would help move the cards for him.  But then it got harder for him to communicate which card he wanted to move.  Even though ALS doesn't attack your brain, he was losing all channels to bridge us to his thoughts and desires.

The night I said goodbye to my grandfather was one of the hardest nights of my life.  I had spent the summer living near him so that I could see him more and it was time to head back to college.  He and I both knew that he wouldn't make it until my next school break.  I stayed as late as I could that night.  I didn't want to leave.  And when I did, he smiled at me.  His big ear to ear smile.  He let me know that he loved me.  And we both cried.  I cried the whole way home and the entire 12 hour drive the next day.  My Grandad passed away 2 weeks later.

I am thankful for his life.  I am thankful that he loved the Lord.  And I am thankful that I got to spend that summer with him.

I am also thankful for this sudden awareness of ALS.  And thankful for my cousin's challenge.  Though a rare disease, ALS is a very cruel disease that is 100% fatal.  I am donating in memory of Thomas Franklin Liverman Jr.  I hope his battle is one of the last battles with ALS.

A few of my favorite things...

Hello.  It has been a while.

I want to be honest with you...I have avoided writing on my blog.

At first, I thought I was avoiding it because I had no projects to share.  I have done less projects post kitchen remodel, but I still have some good photos/tips to share.  So that wasn't it.

Then I thought, I don't have time.  I have 3 kids, busy schedule, etc.  But then I find myself wasting endless hours on Facebook and on random computer games.  So, yes, I have free time.

Once I sat down and thought about my excuses, I realized my excuses are exactly why I haven't blogged.  Every ounce of me wants to use this blog as a place to vent.  To shout out loud my hardships, my problems, my worries... And at the exact same moment, I don't want to shout out my woes.  I don't want this blog to become a depressing forum of Rachel's whining and complaining.

So I will keep it simple:  I have had a crazy year.  And it isn't over yet.  And I have some really good excuses.

There.  I feel better.  Thanks for "listening."

Now, on to a few of my favorite things.  I wanted to share with you some recent finds/purchases that are too good to pass up.

1.  Our new dining room table.

It is made from 3 different fallen down barns, right here in TN.  A father and son duo delivered it put the final pieces together in our house.  It is solid oak and it is HEAVY.  If you need something handmade, check them out at http://rustic-horses.com  They use reclaimed lumber and love custom orders.




2.  My new Christmas tree topper.

This is also handmade.  I found it on Etsy.  It is stain glass, not too heavy, not too light.  I grew up with angels on the top of Christmas trees.  But every year, I kept thinking I wanted to change something.  When I found this star, I knew it was a winner.

She makes them to fit what size tree you have in your home.  There are different styles and different glass choices.  I am not from Texas, but I love my Texas star.  Check out her site:

One Stop Topper Shop















3.  Last but not least, my estate sale dining chair.

It started like this...a little disheveled.  My hubby thought I was crazy when I brought it home.  I was so excited at the potential.

I told him to ignore the old house smell, cobwebs, and the nasty fabric.  What he didn't see was the 3 layers of gross fabric underneath this one!  I ripped it as far down as I could, gave it some extra batting for extra cushioning, and covered it in some ikat fabric I have been holding onto for a while.  I kept it wood stained, because, well, that is just what I like.  But I think if I was a little more mid century stylin, this would look really good as a crisp white chair or teal.  Or yellow.  It has lots of potential.  And for $25, I was quite happy.

I love it.  I love it so much, I want to convince my hubby to let me find a set of antique chairs, and put them around our new dining room table.  So far, I haven't convinced him.  But I haven't given up yet.

Thanks for reading.  And thanks for being patient while I made my way back to this blog.  And thanks Karen for prodding me to get back in the saddle.  I hope I didn't disappoint.  

Our NEW (old) house...

Finally, a few pictures to share with you...

 

 

 

We opened up a few walls...

We knocked down a few walls, and built a few new ones.

 

Goodbye laundry room, hello master on-suite.

 

 

 

It was a looooong summer. But totally worth it!

 

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Lemonade from lemons

Let me tell you a story...

On April 15th, tax day, I went about my Monday chores as normal. I got the two big kids off to school, said goodbye to my hubby on his busiest work day of the year, and got Nate ready for Mother's Day out. Monday is also laundry day. So I got all of our family's dirty clothes...at least a week's worth, and organized them on the floor in the laundry room. I started a load of laundry and hurried to take Nate to school. It was 8:45 am.

After dropping Nate off at school, I took my time at Target and went to Walmart to exchange our propane tank for the grill. I was trying to make my 10:30 am physical therapy appointment, but the darn propane tank was rolling around in the car. I decided to quickly drop it off at home on my way to PT. It was 10:10 am.

I pulled into the driveway and opened the garage door. In hindsight, I vaguely remember seeing water pooling in front of the garage door but didn't think much of it. As the garage door opened, I was greeted with a sight that would drastically change my summer plans.

Water was falling through the ceiling of our main floor into our basement garage...Or what I thought was water. My first thought was disbelief; my second thought was that the washing machine had busted. The laundry room was located at the top of the garage stairs. I quickly jumped out of the car and ran into the house. As I ran through water falling on my head, through water in the hallway that connects to the kitchen, and into the Laundry room, I still thought, well, it was water.

I called Mark to let him know the washer was broken and that the scope of water was beyond my independent handy woman skills. As I was describing the scene before my eyes, I glanced at the toilet in the laundry room. It was overflowing. At that moment, I realized we needed a plumber. But believe it or not, I still thought it was just water.
While I waited for the plumber and my hubby to arrive, I decided to start on clean up. I got my shop vac and sucked up "water". I grabbed all of our towels, soaked up the water, and rung them out. And then did the whole process again.
When the men arrived, the plumber took one look at the situation and asked if I had checked any other plumbing fixtures. He told me to go look in the kitchen sink, the next room over. I almost threw up.

That's not water.
Yes friends...my washer was just fine. My sewage line had backed up and began a ciphining effect while I ran a load of laundry. I was gone for a short amount of time but sewage is classified as class 3 water. We called our insurance company and within the hour, this is what my driveway looked like.

And our lives were turned upside town. Over the next three days, everything that the sewage water had touched was ripped out. Any personal belonging that had been in the garage was catalogged and hauled away as damaged. And we had no kitchen. No clothes. (I had organized everything by colors in the laudryroom). No washing machine. No microwave (it had been a micro/hood combo above the range). We had a toaster and a mini fridge from the playroom. No stroller (it had been sitting directly under the laundry room...it was soaked). No electic fence for our dog (the wireless base had been in the laundry room).

Under the first layer of wet flooring was asbestos. So they hooked up fans while the flooring was "tested".

I quickly pulled a few things out of kitchen cabinets that I might need over the next 2 weeks. Ha.

And then reality hit. Everything was coming out. It had even gone into the dishwasher pipes. The kitchen was gutted.

This was done in a period of five days. Not exactly what I had planned for that week. Did I mention Mark had a conference that started on April 20? And I was supposed to join him for a romantic getaway on the 21st, 1 week after D-day? By some miracle, my in-laws graciously came and stayed in our wartorn house so that we could get away. I am eternally gratefull. I don't think I could have lasted this long without the chance to get away.
Even though it has been almost 3 months, we still do not have a kitchen. I can see the finish line, and I am excited at the potential. I want to share all about this process, but for now, I will at least let you know how it started. Hopefully I can share more details as we finish up a major remodel. I have always wanted to design my own kitchen.

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All I wanted for Christmas...

Long time no see.

I have been having technical issues with blogging on my new iPad. I am giving a new app called blogsy a try...so here it goes!

 

Life has been...well, exhausting. Good but crazy exhausting. But i have been having some fun with my favorite Christmas present.

 

My new miter saw. I know...not the most common gift for your wife. But he knew I would love it. We love DeWalt at our house. So I choose the 12 inch non sliding compound miter saw. I wanted precession over cut capacity. And it is so precise. I think I might redo numerous projects in my house. This beats a miter box any day.

For the past month I have been setting up a miter saw table, dust hood and work bench for my new Christmas present. I mean...doesn't your favorite new purse or pair of shoes need a special place? My baby needed to be pampered.

First up, the miter saw table. This was harder than I thought. Our workroom floor is not level, and that is the worst case scenario for making precise cuts. I found these dirt cheap work tables at Home Depot. They were almost cheaper then building them myself. I bought two and left a two foot space in between.

I needed to sink my saw so that the lumber would have a flush surface to work upon. Honestly, it turned out way better than I hoped. I can't believe my measuring skills didn't fail me! I did have to shim up the tables to make everything level.

 

 

Once I got the saw bolted in place, I made a dust hood. Thanks to a few inspirations that i found on pinterest, I had the forethought to make the board holding the saw deeper than needed.

Then I took plywoowood and boxed in the area behind the saw. Make sure you measure the full swing radius of your saw before cutting the plywood.

Next I cut a hole for my flange. I ordered a couple on amazon before I found one that fit our old shop vac. If I get good at this, I will set up a full vacuum system. But for now I just wanted to get rid of all of this dust.

 

Then I connected the shop vac and walla....a cleaner work area!

Here are a few finishing touches to the saw table a workroom...

 

Now for some fun projects! We have done most of the work on a new desk system for the playroom. As soon as I finish the trim, I will post some pictures.

Whew. This has been fun...but really all of this just adds up to set up. I can't wait to dive into some big projects.

Merry Christmas to me! I have the best husband.

 

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Christmas lights and burlap

Merry Christmas!!!

I love this season.  Everything about it...it is so joyful.
I have one last project to share with you...burlap covered Christmas lights.

I had seen this project on Pinterest, but with no help or tutorial.  Burlap wrapped Christmas lights...so pretty!  So I thought...how hard can this be?  I bought some burlap and cut long strips, and sewed a burlap "sock" for my white Christmas lights.  Well, to find out, there is a hard way and an easy way.  My first try at this took hours of frustration.  So here are some tips that I learned along the way.

1.  Don't make your burlap "sock" too long.  Burlap is not easy to turn inside out.  I ended up making two "socks" and pinning them together.  And when I was trying to turn my sock right side out after sewing it, I used a hanger and a large safety pin to pull the burlap through.  That definitely helped the process.

2.  Use high-end Christmas lights that remain lit even if one bulb gets broken.  This was the moment I almost threw everything in the trash.  After finishing the entire sewing part of the project, and yanking the Christmas lights through the "sock", I plugged the lights in and discovered that a bulb had broken.  And I had used cheap lights.  The lights wouldn't work, even when I replaced a bulb.  Don't be like me...I had to take out all of the lights and buy a new string to place in my burlap sock.  Very frustrating.







3.  Use an empty tube of wrapping paper to feed your string of lights into your burlap sock.  Once I discovered that the rough burlap would break my light bulbs, I wanted to find a better way to get the sock around the string of lights.

I used an empty tube of wrapping paper, and placed my lights in the tube.  Then I scrunched my burlap sock around the cardboard tube, and fed it along.  Granted, it didn't fit the entire length of lights.  But this was a MUCH smoother process than my first try...

4.  A string of lights is longer than you think.  I was shocked at how long my burlap sock needed to be. I guess I rarely have my Christmas lights strung out in a straight line.  I didn't realize how long one string would be.  Lets just say that I cut many strips of burlap....over and over and over again.

5.  Last but not least, double sew your edges on the burlap.  This might be a forgone conclusion, but it is a lesson I am learning.  Burlap frays easily.  I did a straight stitch first and then I went back with a wide stitch to make sure there was very little fraying.  I really don't want to have to do this project again.

Thats it!!  I only finished one of my burlap socks.  I am hoping to get one more done before I put everything in the attic for next year.  But since my first 2 tries took 5 hours...well, let's just say I am not as motivated as I should be.