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Have I mentioned lately how much I love this house? Ha ha! As color begins to return to the landscape, my excitement grows. I could not be more thrilled to be in this home. And I love that Floyd shares these sentiments with me. We are such old souls!

Anyhow, I took a few pictures of Grady’s bedroom tonight and thought I would share them. We need curtains, a few pieces of furniture and a second coat of paint on the trim and we should be good to go! I think the most important thing about this room is that Grady loves it. He spends so much time in there and actually sits down to play for long periods of time. Its so much fun!

Now don't be alarmed by Grady's bed...the clamps are to keep our climbing son in. We've tried crib tents and all other sorts of contraptions only to have him either break them or escape!

One little side project…We had this old bookcase that was actually the first piece of furniture that Floyd and I bought together. It has seen better days as a piece of cheapo walmart furniture but I thought that I could recreate it for Grady’s bedroom. It went better then I thought although the spray paint is still in spots on my feet from working on it!

Before

After!

Well there is my little post for the night. I think I’ll end with a video of Grady is his new bedroom for the first time. We had just opened up his mat and he had a ball! I think he might have a future as a break dancer? We’ll see!! Goodnight everyone!

I’m hoping this new season will bring us into a new season in our lives. Its been so hectic here that I feel like I can barely catch my breath. Its literally almost too much to list but all I ask is that you keep us in your prayers. We need some miracles to happen including a new transmission for our jeep and our old house selling!

But on to bigger and better things. Grady’s room is 97% done! Aside from curtains, a few paint touch ups and a few pieces of furniture that are still at the old house his room is complete! I appreciated all of the feed back that we received from the poll on Grady’s room. We got 18 votes altogether which was awesome and the clear winner was “Bright, fun, perfect for a toddler.” For a bit I was planning on going against the votes and doing something more sophisticated. But after thinking about it, I realized that right now, this is my only child! I wanted to do something perfect for him right now. He’s already gotten to do therapy in his bedroom twice and its just right! Just like Goldie Locks!

Lets pick up where I left off with pictures. Yay!

Part of the wall where it was completely caved in

The wall getting skim coated

Getting closer...

Don't you want to sleep there?? lol!

Skim coated and primered! The end is in sight!

Remember that punched in slighly collapsed section of the wall? That's whee it used to be!

So now that we are all primered and ready to go, its time to talk colors. I knew if we went with fun bold colors I wanted to do something green. We didn’t have any green in the house yet so I figured this would be the perfect place to introduce it. I also loved the orange from our old house so that was another idea. It was so much fun to do a theme I wouldn’t normally do!

The plan! Orange stripes with a solid green wall. I picked bone white as the trim color and other stripe color so that regular white wouldn't seem as stark!

Love it!

A good start on the trim and stripes!

Orange stripe in the making!

Becoming a room again!

I will take some pictures later tonight of the room being nearly completed! It took a long time to get this completed between all of the things that kept popping up here and there with my health and even Grady’s health in the past month. But its such a fun room now! Grady was blessed with some amazing Christmas gifts that we haven’t opened…waiting for his room to be done. Now we have had a marvelous time opening them up and arranging them in his room! I’ll post a few of those pictures tomorrow. I really feel like I’m going to be able to get back into the swing of things. I so enjoy blogging, especially about this house and the things that go on in it.

We aren’t quite sure what project is going to happen next, but we are pretty sure my salon is next on the list. But there are so many little things I would like to get started on that its hard for me to think about undertaking another large project. I also need to get vinyl to reupholster my salon chair and start to build up my salon supplies. I’m thrilled to get that in the making. If anyone has any suggestions on where I could buy black vinyl (or any other color for that matter) for inexpensive, let me know! I got my chair for free but it desperately needs some love! I’ve look at Jo Ann’s but the cheapest vinyl I saw there was $16 a square foot. That may be a good deal, but I just don’t have the funds for that right now. Plus I will probably need 2-3 yards for my chair so that adds up quick.

I’ve also been thinking about my dining room in a different light. We repaired that a little while ago and painted it colonial gray. I absolutely love it but I’ve been trying to decide what it needs. After a quick trip to Big Lots for a few things, I saw a vase that totally inspired me. Before I didn’t really have a color scheme other then picking out the gray. Once I saw this vase it got me thinking about how lovely gray and yellow can look together. It can look modern and antique all at once if its done the right way. Plus I think the coral chairs from our dining room table would just pop out in a room like that. Here are my two sources of inspiration:

My inspiratin vase! Love this yellow!

I just LOVE this fabric! I would love to find it or something like it for curtains in the dining room!

I’m really excited about doing odd’s and end’s projects around the house. Its really important to prioritize…or is it? I don’t think we need any more pressure then we already have but I just want to make sure we are doing things right! Ha ha! Anyhow, that is my update. And this time, I promise, my updates are going to happen a lot more quickly! Spring is here and hopefully with it comes good health! Love to you all!

]]> http://theoctagonhouse.net/2010/03/16/gradys-bedroom/feed/ 1 theoctagonhouse 1 2 4 3 5 7 8 11 12 15.5 16 17 22 23 24 P2240415 P2260416 P2260417 P2260418 IMG00263 bloom_mul1 http://theoctagonhouse.net/2010/03/13/my-goal/ http://theoctagonhouse.net/2010/03/13/my-goal/#comments Sat, 13 Mar 2010 05:15:21 +0000 theoctagonhouse http://theoctagonhouse.net/?p=491 ]]> …for this weekend is to update you all! Its been WAY too long! While we’ve had a lot going on behind the scenes, I still feel like we’ve gotten quite a bit down on our little bit of history. I’m working on a post about the house that I plan on having posted by Saturday evening! So watch out! Right now I’m also working on letters to get funds or grants or anything to help with the exterior repairs the house needs.

If you look at the tabs at the top of the page you will notice I added a new page. “The Damage” is going to cover the repairs that need to be done that we are seeking assistance with. I haven’t posted it before now because it seems so overwhelming. But we are trying to do everything we can to get this house repaired.

I actually just got home from having another medical procedure done today. Its never ending! But I’m not going to go on about myself. I am just so excited to have something to post and get our butts back in gear! Love to you all!

At the moment technology is against us again and we currently don’t have a working computer. I’m borrowing a friends for the time being but I am not quite sure what we will be doing for a permanent solution at the moment.  It seems a dramatic case of the flu is making the rounds at the octagon house as well. Just as I felt I was getting a handle on some of my harsher stroke disabilities, influenza struck! Its so hard to stay away from my little guy and its so discouraging to not be able to work on the house. I just keep praying that my boys don’t catch it and that soon everyone will be healthy in the octagon abode!

Floyd and Grady are currently in the kitchen building a work bench. Its so cute! Grady is enthralled with all of his dad’s tools and carefully watches his dad measure and cut. I really should look for the camera but the idea of rummaging around the house at the moment makes my head spin.

We are so looking forward to the summer. This is the first year that we aren’t desperately trying to figure out a way to get a way from home. We WANT to stay home! I can’t wait so see what this spring holds for us!

Anyhow, I thought I would write and say hello! I am hoping to start writing some letters here soon to start getting grants for this old house. It needs money and labor that we cannot possibly provide and I will write whoever I can to try to get help. If you have any suggestions, please let me know! Thank you!!!

Floyd managed to get a second coat of mud on the crack filled room. He hasn’t decided if he wants to put a third coat on it. Most likely some of it will get more. I’m so excited to get to work painting! We haven’t bought paint yet, I’m kind of dreading the financial part of that but we will figure it out! One room up here requires about 3 gallons of paint. And that isn’t with an all over second coat. I’m trying to finalize my color scheme in there. One idea I have is bright, colorful and perfect for a toddler. But my other scheme is a bit more sophisticated and would probably last him till highschool!

What are your thoughts?

Anyhoo, I didn’t take any new pictures of Floyd’s handiwork in the bedroom since it looks practically the same as it did in the last post. But I DID finally take some pictures of the library. Its not 100% completed but I thought I would show you anyhow. We are saving for a ceiling treatment that we want to do thus the ceiling is still rather hideous. I am also slowly decorating as I go. But this will give you the general idea of our library. It is one of my favorite rooms of the house. Infact, most of my favorite things are in my favorite room of the house! Ha ha! This room I am able to be as crafty as ever with scrapbooking and drawing but I’m also able to lounge in my big comfy chair to read a tasty novel. To see before pictures, click here: The Library – Before. Always dreamed of having a room like this…

My table of scrapbooking fun!

My very very comfy chair!

Two of my favorite decorations on the wall! Both found in the trash! Ha ha! I can't wait to get frames up on that wall!

"Good Books, like good friends, are few and chosen, the more select, the more enjoyable." -Louisa May Alcott

So there you have it! We are hoping to get a small love seat for in here. Once we do that, the seating area will look more pulled together! I love the colors in here! They are so warm! It is such a retreat for me. I can’t wait to get more up on the walls in the finished rooms of this house. It really helps make a house seem cozier!

Time to escape to bed! Looking forward to some cleaning tomorrow and getting more accomplished!

First off, I wanted to thank everyone who left me such warm and loving comments. They are such soup for my soul!  Every time I would get one it would lift my spirits beautifully! Secondly I’ll give you a bit of a health update. They indeed did not want to release me until the day after Christmas. But I must say, if I am anything, I am determined. And I was determined to get home to be with my family for the holidays. So after much convincing, the doctors released me on a higher dose of coumadin and blood thinner shots. While I was pleased with their decision, it wasn’t the end of the hurdle since one of these shots costs around $120 (most insurances do not cover Lovanox shots.) I spoke with a social worker and got myself enrolled in a program that helps with the bill. By 4PM on Christmas Eve, I was at my parent’s house. Happy as a lark! Its been a rough two weeks but God willing they will get my blood levels under control and I can concentrate on more exciting things. Like, perhaps, an octagon house?

The last post I was able to update with pictures, we were mudding and painting in the dining room. The painting is now done but there are a few more odds and ends that we are wrapping up in there before I take anymore pictures. Its such a large room and I don’t have anything but a piano and a table for it. Ha ha! I am on the lookout for some sort of hutch for one wall and I would love some sort of antique coat rack/chair contraption. Something along these lines perhaps?

I love the mirror and the seat!

I believe its called a hall tree? The one pictured is just amazing and costs a mere $2,950! Maybe one of these days I will happen upon one that needs a bit of work and thus have a much lower price tag!

Hopefully we will be able to finish up the few odds and ends in the dining room so that I can add pictures to this soon! In the meantime I do have some other tales to tell! We’re not sure when this little, er, large artifact would have found its way to the attic but that is where it was. Last night Floyd hollered from third floor to the first floor for me. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he had found something. That was all I knew. Whether it was good or bad I really didn’t have a clue. He used the same tone of voice to alert me of the dead birds he found in the furnace (story found here: “Weekend are for the birds”) so I really had no idea if I was going to have the honor of a truly interesting find or perhaps another wild animal that had made a part of our house its home. Praise God it was the former.

As I made my way up the narrow stairs to the third floor, there stood Floyd and his brother looking very victorious. In the middle of the room was a huge metal…thing? I couldn’t really make heads or tails of it until I was on my knees examining it. Its a scale! To be precise, a scale from The Computing Scale Company. This company is actually the humble origins of the massive computer company “IBM.” Unfortunately the scale is missing a few parts including something that would have given the patten number and the year it was made. But the last patten year on it was 1904. They found it in part of the attic, turned on it’s side. I know that I had seen it a few times but because of it’s poor posture I had mistaken it for a broken office chair and left it at that.

The time frame that the scale was manufactured in would have fit in with the time period that Robert Waugh (First owner of the octagon house) had his general store (located right down the road from us.) Mr. Waugh opened his general store in 1870. It was sold in 1912 to his close friend and business partner Andrew Aitchison. Andrew went on to purchase the Octagon House as well a year later. (All of this history I found in the book “Deep are the roots.”) I’ve done some reading up on the scale itself and its exactly what old general stores had for measuring and the like. While I don’t know for sure if this would have been the scale the Waugh’s or Aitchison’s used, I really don’t have any idea what this beast would have been doing in our attic! But truly what an incredible beast!

Our find!

The top piece reads "The Computing Scale Co. Dayton, Ohio" and the bottom piece is the magnifying piece that would have gone over the numbers/pounds!

After much searching, I found a picture that I think would match ours completely. Tis a shame ours isn't whole!

Anyhow, if anyone has any info on these scales or any ideas on why it would be in our attic other then my own theory, please feel free to write me! I love stuff like this!

Moving right along! Our project as of late has been Grady’s room. I’m so incredibly excited about it! There are a lot of projects to work on and its hard to prioritize. But I really want my son to have a haven that he wants to be in. Not a room full of cracks and toys in boxes. That being said, its probably the worst room in the house as far as disrepair is concerned. Floyd is working very hard! First he had to go along and sand the entire room down. There was tons of rough spots, old wallpaper and a general crumble to the walls that needed to be checked. Surprisingly, there was only one spot that needed to come completely down and be replaced with drywall.

This room also had the most signatures on the walls then any room of the house. Including Robert Waugh’s signature! It wasn’t our intention to have to paint over any of them but the wall’s had to be sanded down in order to be repaired. So Floyd took pictures of all of the writing:

A paragraph written by Nancy Coker. Sadly, there was some remnant wallpaper glue so its not completely readable. But I believe it states that the room was wallpapered for their daughter Sara for her second birthday with reproduction wallpaper in 1976. Electricity was put in 1974.

Hey Big Mike! Mike must be big because this autograph was found near the VERY top of the wall!

Visited on the same day as Big Mike, Jessica Smith Renyolds visited with her two kids: Paytience and Jason Smith. Margaret Smith's name is found beneath. Not entirely sure of the spelling, it was very hard to read!

Here is the location of all of these signatures: Between the entrance door and the closet door. Robert Waugh's autograph was also barely visible along this little stretch but was so faint the camera wouldn't pick it up.

The one spot that he had to tear all of the plaster down! Not to shabby considering the whole room!

That was a couple of days ago! Tonight Floyd finished his first coat of mud! Yay!

Floyd hard at work!

Grady, very unsure of all the activity in his bedroom, lingers in the doorway while I sneak in to take some pictures of his father's handiwork!

Cracks...

...cracks...

...and MORE cracks! But at least the 1st coat is on them all!

I can’t even express how excited I am to be working on my little guy’s room! I think I say that when we get started on every room don’t I? Ha ha! But I mean it even more so this time. He is such a good kid. He loves our new home and loves to be in just about every room of this house. He LOVES the bath tub. If he could take a bath 2, 3 times a day? He’d be in heaven. Sometimes I think he makes a mess just to end up in the tub! Grady is such a little miracle to me. If this is a rerun I’m sorry but I’m on a roll here and you can’t stop me! Grady was born 9 weeks early at 3 pounds 14 ounces, 15 inches long. They told me over and over that his lungs weren’t ready. That there was a 75% chance that he would just not make it. That he would have something wrong with his brain, something wrong with his heart. That I shouldn’t expect to hear him crying when I went in for my emergency c-section. But they were wrong. When the doctor pulled him out, Grady started crying immediately. He didn’t have a hole in his heart or a spot on his brain. They expected him to be in the NICU for months. He was there for 28 days. He is such a little hero. And now knowing that this is the only biological child that I will have, well, in my eyes it makes Grady even more of a miracle. So I am extremely excited to give my rough and tumble boy a rough and tumble room. Almost as a celebration. We’ve made it this far buddy! We will keep going!

All of this reminds me of the first time Grady was in his room at the octagon house. We had just had our bid accepted and went back to dream a bit and let Grady check out the new surroundings.

I think I will share the video once again.

Well I think that is enough of my blubbering for one evening! I think I am going to go to my library (which I need to post finishing pictures of that room too! Oh dear! I have to stop having strokes!) and read a good book before bed! I love my little corner of the house! Anyways, God bless until we meet again!

My Library Spot

December 31st, 2008 Miscarriage, D&C. Saw the baby on the sono screen with no heartbeat and no body heat. God took the only positive thing that had happened to me in 2008 and caused it to be the deepest grief I had ever experienced

January completely immobile from leg pain, exhaustion and cognitive thinking almost gone

Still suffering from the miscarriage and end up in the ER due to excessive bleeding and pain

February what we now know was a stroke wreaked havoc on my body. Two MRI’s later and doctors still weren’t any closer to a diagnosis.Unable to care for myself I end up relying almost completely on my parents to watch Grady.

My face was so crooked that I never smiled right and the damage was so severe on my left side that I could barely grasp anything with that hand.

Start to experience severe chest pain. I will never forget the first time it happened. I was sound asleep, 8AM. The pain had me convinced I was having a heart attack. This continued to happen and started happening more frequently. ER doctor tells me it must be a panic attack. In the middle of the night. Riiight.

March I experienced another stroke, ended up in the hospital and this time the doctors sprang into action. They decided that I really did have APS along with Mixed Connective Tissue Disorder and immediately started me on a regime of coumadin.

Started on a steroid for leg pain and I get severely ill. Can’t keep even the smallest of snacks down. Have to stop the medication and leg pain returns.

Getting pregnant is absolutely not an option since coumadin causes birth defects and they want me to be on the blood thinner for at least a year before we try again. However birth control pills are not an option due to the high stroke risk. Left with fighting insurance to approve an IUD or getting my tubes tied.

April my first period on coumadin knocked me off my feet. I couldn’t believe it was possible to bleed that way and be racked with cramps. The hospital gets to see my “smiling” face in the ER again.

My OB petitioned my insurance to approve paying for the $600 dollar IUD. They didn’t reply.

As the weather gets warmer, some of my muscle pain reduces letting us know that a lot of my pain is related to the temperature

After my cycle was completed, I continued to bleed. I’m put on uterine cancer meds.

May my OB decided to donate the IUD to me since he felt it would help as not only birth control but help control the bleeding that had started.

Surgery went well and I looked forward to having a normal period again.

Bleeding after surgery did not stop. In fact, it intensified.

June found me in the ER twice. The bleeding would get so intense that by the time I would switch a pad and walk out of the bathroom I would have to turn around and go back in. Eventually I just couldn’t take the cramping and bleeding and visited the hospital.

Headaches started plaguing my poor head. I would wake up with them at night and they would strike at the most awful times. Doctor prescribes pain meds while he tried to figure out what was going on. My theory was that I didn’t have headaches BEFORE I had the IUD put in.

ER visit due to headaches. Started having some neurological symptoms so my doctor sent me in. They did a ton of tests and found nothing. Primary care looks at my cat scan and decides slight congestion in my left sinus is the culprit for my headaches. Starts me on a very high dose of antibiotics.

For three weeks I continued the antibiotics with zero symptoms of a sinus infection other then a headache. But the doctor was determined that it was the reason for my headaches. Then I experienced the most God awful pain in my stomach. The doctor had me on antibiotics for so long that I had developed a colon infection. You have never experienced an infection until you have had a colon infection. The pain comes in rolling heat waves that make you nearly pass out.

July finds me realizing who my true friends are. Many people just don’t realize what its like to live this way and somehow find my way of life full of drama.

The doctor, never admitting his mistake started me now on a different antibiotic to fight the raging infection in my system. Took another 3 weeks to recover from this infection. With, of course, another trip to the ER when my period hit at the same time I was having other horrible symptoms from the infection.

I could hardly leave the house from the excess bleeding and infection. It was horrific.

Pain from severe cramps was getting more then I could bare. My OB upped the uterine cancer meds. When they did a sono they found a huge cyst on my left ovary. They hoped with time it would clear up.
August I couldn’t walk upright due to the intense pain in my abdomen. OB decides its time we remove the cyst. In the hospital again.

After the surgery my doctor came in and told my family that I had severe endometriosis. Which was probably contributing to my pain.

Bleeding is always constant and gets me bedridden when my period hits.

September guess where I am? The hospital. The bleeding caused me to become severely anemic and I actually passed out in the doctor’s office trying to get in to see the doctor. He admitted me immediately.
My body actually gets rid of the IUD on its own. While I am in the hospital I get to meet a hematologist which is a doctor that specializes in my disease. None of my prior doctors would give me a referral to one even when I begged them to.

The doctor doubles the dosage of the uterine cancer med to the highest dose he can possibly give someone. The bleeding dies down a little.

The OB wants me to start on chemo for the endometriosis. The side effects list were a mile long and the instant I would stop the chemo the endometriosis would return. It was not worth the risk to add even more symptoms to my list for something that would not give me lasting relief. Plus, the medication was $200 a month while I am on it. So I am left with the options of chemo or hysterectomy.

Bleeding so severe I’m forced to do laundry every day since I would run out of pj’s to wear. No matter how much protection I have.

October another period hits. This was the last straw for me. I couldn’t even shift my position on the couch without bleeding through whatever I was wearing. I went in for a hysterectomy consultation.

Doctor can’t schedule me for surgery until December 4th.

November another period strikes. I was completely immobile. Floyd had to take time off of work to help take care of the baby and get me around. He has had enough. He calls the OB and begs them to move the surgery date up. Its moved up to November 18th.

I start preparing for the surgery. Its a huge mental, emotional and physical thing.

Due to my blood disease I had to stop the coumadin and start giving myself shots. Four days before surgery and four days after.

The day of surgery my husband and father brought me to the hospital. It was filled with additional trials on top of the surgery. I had been terrified of releasing myself to have the surgery. To close my eyes and sleep. I was also terrified of waking up and realizing that it was over. That the deed was done. Of possible regret

Surgery went well. They had to take my left ovary due to abnormalities. I was in the hospital for three days after surgery.

December I am four weeks post op. I’ve had to deal with more retarded doctor bologna that is sometimes horrifyingly depressing. Its as if there is no one in the medical world that is on your side. I’ve been dealing with the recovery on my own. I’ve torn one of my incisions twice.

I started a diet. I’ve cut out all refined sugar and almost all carbs. Its been hard. But today, four weeks from surgery, I’ve lost 16 pounds. And there is more to loose where that came from!

I have hard days. Emotionally. But today for the first time in forever I drove myself, by myself to a doctor’s appointment. I did some hair! I played with Grady. I had ENERGY. I had some exhausted points but, nothing like before. Its getting better. Slowly but surely. I think I am getting there. All I can do is pray that by this summer, I am the Tara that I used to know.

Me! I can’t wait!

My apologies for being MIA for soooo long! I can’t even believe that its been as long as it has. We’ve had some interesting life circumstances that have kept me far from a computer. Or my trusty laptop. Alas, my laptop is nearly dead. That has been a great deturrence in my ability to stay connected to the online world. The power cord doesn’t plug in correctly anymore and the screen no longer had hinges to stay upright. So in order to use it I must smash something against the side to keep the power cord in JUST the right place and I must have something supporthing the screen. Its an extravaganza let me tell you! On top of this, my camera of two years has decided to just die on me. So I no longer have anything to take pictures of this glorious house with! Its been a technilogical massicure in Sparland. And now I find how much I’ve relied on it as far as spending time on this blog and being able to document our progress in this eight sided home.

On the health side of things I did have surgery. Its been two weeks and the recovery has been so so. I would of course prefer for it to go faster but I am grateful that I am not where I was a week ago. I actually spent a whole week away from this house per my hospital stay and spending time at my mom’s house (where there are no stairs.) When I walked into the house on Thanksgiving day later that evening, I sat down in a chair and cried! It has been an emotional time of it as it is  let alone being away from a house that my heart is very connected to. It was such a relief to see the cracked walls, cans of paint…the beautiful library…sigh!

I have to tell you all about something VERY special that happened to me. Last week I got an email from Sara Coker, daughter to the Coker’s who owned this home before we did. It was a very sweet email and I was so excited that she wrote me! Well after I finished reading her email I checked my inbox again and there was a second email from her. This one was even more exciting then the first! She had found a picture of me on the blog and realized we knew each other! I’ve been getting my blood drawn for a couple of years at an OSF center, more frequently the past nine months, and Sara was actually the girl that registered me every time I went! I had known her for years prior to purchasing the house that SHE lived in for 20 years! How ironic right? So I had her over the Sunday before my surgery and she brought an old album filled with pictures and paper work regarding the house. So completely amazing!!! It was an amazing time visiting and getting to know Sara better! It was such a grand boost to my spirit before having surgery later that week.

So! Now you are up to date on the crazieness that is the Octagon Life. We haven’t done much in the past few weeks other then prepare for the surgery, surgery and then recovery but Floyd has somehow found time to do a few things. The library is nearly completed except for the ceiling: astounding! Its my favorite room and I can’t wait to share it with you all on here.

Yesterday I borrowed my sister’s camera for the evening so I could take pictures of our current project: The Dining Room. We both really want it to be done well before Cmas. Then we can get started on Grady’s room so that he has a place for all of his toys. He is such an amazing little trooper. I really pray that this surgery lends itself towards me having a more pain free life so that I can be the wife and mother that I want to be!

Anyhow, back to the dining room. We have decided to do something a little different then originally planned. In one of the newpaper articles that was in Sara’s album we saw that the Coker’s had put a hutch infront of one of the entrances to the kitchen in the dining room. We realized this would give us more wall space if we did the same thing! So we moved the piano infront of the door and hopefully in the kitchen I will get the booth I have always dreamed of having! Since I don’t have my laptop I can’t put before pictures for your conveinence of the cracks and general disarray of the dining room. If you care to visit “The House” page at the top and click “First Walkthrough” there are pictures of the dining room there. Here are a few pictures of the room in the mudding stage.

There were a ton of cracks in this wall!

The bay window needed a lot of work!

The very messy, still moving in, under construction dining room! Notice the position of the piano...we will probably be blocking any sign of the door with decorations and the such! Also, we replaced the light! I love the new one! But don't worry, the old one has been saved for a project upstairs!

Cracks and pot marks everywhere!

Floyd hard at work! Getting the paint ready for me to edge in! I have to be on my bum anyways, may as well be working right?

So that has been keeping us busy in our free moments! We did actually get our christmas tree up! That was sooo exciting! I didn’t really expect to since I have been so sore, but we got it done! I would hang ornaments in about one minute increments before I had to run over to a chair to sit down and rest my poor tummy. But it was a lot of fun and its wonderful to see such cheer in this house that was just a year ago very diserted! Infact, I think its been between 2 or 3 years since anyone would have been here celebrating this holiday. Since our pockets are empty it was my goal to make the tree look cheery and country all at the same time! I wanted it to kind of look old fasioned! So with a couple of ideas and an amazing husband to help me carry those ideas out, we have our tree! The pictures don’t do it justice!

Here it is just leaning, before we got everything arranged. We dug through quite a few trees before we found this one! It is BEAUTIFUL! Its the first time we have ever had a tree that I couldn't reach the top! We always bought cheap ones thus short. Thanks so much to Aunt b and Uncle Bill for our Cmas tree! We couldn't have gotten it without them!

I thought a tin tub would give it a grand rustic look!

Grady's idea of helping! ) He had so much fun!

Floyd taking his decorating very seriously!

In one of my brief standing periods, Floyd caught a picture!

Grady taking a break from decorating to play with one of his new favorite toys! Thanks to cousin Kim for that! He absolutely LOVES it!

Here is our tree! Pinecones, lights, red bulbs, home made tags, and gold ribbon! Simple, but it works! The tin tub is my fav! The pictures don't do it justice!

Blurry but twinkly!

There you have it! I’m back! I will try to post updates from either Floyd’s computer or my mom’s when I am able to sit upright longer. I will also borrow my sister’s camera when I can. I know you all just “love” to listen to me ramble on about the house, but a picture IS worth a 1000 words! The pictures just show it all! Anyhow, love to you all! I hope your Thanksgivings were amazing a blessed!

Saturday we got to spend time with my family. We met them for lunch and just visited! I felt as if it had been ages since I had seen them and felt relaxed! Not worrying about the house in P-ville. Afterwards I met up with my good friend George and went shopping for a bit while Floyd and Grady went home to work and take a nap (I’ll let you figure out which boy did which!) Later that evening I got to spend some one on one time with my mom. So grand. I loved it!

So while I was with George, I was on the hunt for wallpaper. I think I mentioned in my previous post that I planned to wallpaper the back of the book shelves. I thought that it would just make the book shelves “pop!” But as it turned out, the majority of hardware stores were actually clearancing their selection out. And while this might sound like a good thing, it wasn’t. Most of them only had one roll of a design that might go and they weren’t reordering them since, of course, they were clearancing them out. Then if a store actually had enough square footage, it was ridiculously expensive since it was new.

I put my thinking cap on. What could give me the same look? Fabric! It could give a very artistic background and possibly be cheaper. So George very patiently drove me around while we looked for fabric. We just couldn’t find something that clicked. And finally we found it! As soon as we saw it we knew it was it! Bold! Bright! Artsy! George graciously purchased it for me and I am so grateful that he did. I could not be more excited with how it turned out! Thank you George!!!

Thus the fun began!!

Isn't the fabric amazing? I'm pretty attached! And there are my master tools: Spray adhesive and scissors!

The blank canvas

Kind of missed the first steps but here is the first book shelf nearly completed!

Floyd tucking the edges behind the shelves

Tuck tuck tuck!

Here I demonstrate the powers of spray adhesive - We sprayed it on the wall and on the edges of the fabric

Floyd measures to make sure the section I cut fits!

Floyd sprays the glue to put the fabric up! Super easy!

This whole project of putting fabric in the back of the bookshelves took about two hours. The bad part was we started at around 1AM so we finished around 3AM! Ha ha! But we got to sleep in the next morning so it wasn’t too horid! I was absolutely in love witht he new look! Once we completed it, I invited my mom and Aunt B over to help unpack some books! It was nice to start making a dent in our house full of boxes and to spend time visiting! Thank you for the help ladies!!! The shelves looked astounding. I LOVE it!

Aunt B and my mom unpacking books! Ah! So exciting!

Unpacking onto our beautiful shelves!

I then put fabric on the top of one of the more open shelves. Its going to hopefully host baskets and other knick knacks and tie in the shelves in the background! Ready for some pictures of our weekend project? Here we go!

Our beautiful library in the making!

Look at all of the boxes left to unpack! And then ignore them and look at the shelves! lol!

♥♥♥

I put fabric on the top part just to tie it in!

Here is a head on shot! ♥

There ya have it! I have the opposing shelves almost completed as far as painting goes. Sadly I didn’t have enough fabric for the back of that but I think this is just the perfect amount of accent. I love the color that I chose for the trim and shelves. Its such a yellowy cream color. It makes the extremely yellow color on the walls look even more outlandish! Tomorrow the second coat of mud on the cracks will be dry, sanded and I can start painting the rest of the colors on the wall! I am so excited. Here are the names to give you a clue: “Blaze” and “Applesauce Cake” I keep praying that they will look good and that my brain doesn’t fail me now!

I’m thrilled at the idea of having this room done before my surgery. It such a warm and inviting atmosphere and I can imagine wanting to spend a lot of time in here! Hopefully I will post again tomorrow with pictures galore. I feel so grateful that the room is turning out nice! Hopefully these ideas keep coming to me so the rest of the house will be as cozy as this!

Thanks for reading everyone! Its so nice to be able to share this journey with you all!