Mother-In-Law

I went to visit my mother-in-law today. She actually seemed to be doing pretty well. Jane had put a foam pad under her couch cushions to raise the level of the couch and she can actually stand up from the couch now.

Hospice is coming in and bringing supplies and providing some services. A lady came today and gave her a bath and the nurse will come tomorrow. The CNA will come three days a week and the nurse two days, I believe.

We helped her with some chores she needed done and she had us go through some photos and pick some out that we wanted. She had gone through pictures and had pictures of the family up in the den and she was very pleased with them.

Abandoned

Well, it seems I have totally abandoned this blog...

I was so busy prior to leaving on vacation, then didn't post while on Ocracoke. I came back two days ago, but have been pretty worn out.

So, a little update:

• Ocracoke was great, as always, but the weather wasn't so wonderful: gale force winds much of the time and torrential rain a couple of days. Most of the time it was impossible to go on the beach without feeling like you were getting sandblasted and the simplest task, like lighting the stove for coffee was a challenge. The old tent couldn't hold up under the rain and wind so we got a replacement tent at Walmart. We still managed to have fun, but it was not the restful and refreshing time we needed.
• Neal's mom is now out of the hospital and at home with Hospice care and someone who stays during the night. So, she doesn't have a lot of time left. I don't know how Daddy Joe will manage. He will want to stay in his home but he'll have to have someone with him.
• We leave tomorrow to go to David and Melissa's house. I realize that we may have to cut the trip short depending on Becky's condition. But hopefully she will live a while longer. I know Rachel will be very sad if she passes away before she gets home mid August.

I guess that is it, except for the break-up of a marriage in our family, which I won't say who. Even though no one reads this, it is public and the party involved doesn't want the news spread around just yet. So, mum's the word.

Day 4

I didn't get that much done today. I painted and Neal cut the plywood I needed to alter the cabinet. Tomorrow I should get that put together and primed, and hopefully, painted so I can put the counter top/sink on it and get the faucet hooked back up. Painting all of the trim is slow going though, but it needs to be done slowly to look good.

Played bass tonight with Ward Ring, Kirby Smith and Darrell Howard for the Lion's Club meeting in High Point. I didn't mess up too badly, with one exception, but they didn't seem to mind and the crowd didn't seem to know.

I had a good time and the playing I've done lately makes me want to get back into it some. Maybe we can have another birthday party for Neal in September, as long as we avoid the Hoppin' John Fiddler's Convention weekend!

Day 3

I didn't get that much done today but I did get to Lowes. I really overestimated the size of my car and found that the 4x4 foot sheets of plywood would not fit in.

A couple of guys in the parking lot saw me trying to put the plywood in and they came running to help. They quickly saw that it would not fit so they put them on top of my car. Luckily I had some rope in my car, although I could have gone back into Lowes and bought some.

They were so nice....they even offered to put the wood in their van and follow me home! They were Spanish speaking and the one who seemed to speak the most English told me he was from Peru. We talked about the world cup...he said he didn't like any of the European teams and that his little girl who is 5, cried when the US lost!

I got some paint on the cabinet and the window trim, plus a couple of walls primed and then one of them painted. I hope the primer is going to work to hide all of the white splotches I made on the wall with the ceiling paint. I thought that would serve as primer, but when I painted with the semi gloss, the flat paint absorbed more and it looked awful. Luckily I only did one small part, to see if it would work.

I didn't buy enough Kilz though so I need to get some more tomorrow.

Tomorrow is when I play bass with Ward's band. I sure hope I don't mess it up for the rest of them!

Day 2

This has got to be more than day 2...I am so achy and tired. Plus, I was working outside today for most of the time b/c I was priming doors and painting hardware. It was easier to do it outside than in.

But, I got everything on my list done. I wanted to go to Lowes but I'll do that tomorrow. I need plywood to alter the cabinet and I need more paint, since I decided to paint all of the woodwork to match the cabinet.

Tomorrow I plan to begin painting the cabinets and woodwork, make the changes to the cabinet (building up the floor and putting in the divider and shelf). I also need to sand one of the places I fixed today; it was under the previous towel bar and there was still wallpaper attached there. I had to wet it and peel...a little at a time.

Bathroom Remodel, Day One

Arghh....I am so tired and I have white primer all over my hands because I neglected to wear gloves while priming the woodwork in Sarah's bathroom.

I got a good start today; here's what I did:

• Took down cabinet doors, removed drawers, took hinges and knobs off
• Removed toilet paper holder
• Removed the two doors, removed the doorknobs and removed the hinges
• Filled holes in cabinet with wood putty and sanded
• Disconnected faucet pipes and removed top of cabinet and sink
• Removed shoe mold
• Sanded the woodwork and window
• Primed all of the woodwork including the cabinet, inside and out
• Removed the vent cover from the ceiling and took the light loose
• Repaired the sheetrock up on the ceiling and where the backsplash had been.

Tomorrow I plan to:

• Prime the doors and cabinet doors (outside so it isn't so stinky)
• Sand the sheetrock repair and prime the ceiling part
• Paint the ceiling
• Sand and spray prime/paint the door hinges and screws
• Maybe prime and paint the doorknobs
• If I have any energy after that, I may sand the woodwork in the bathroom.

I am also going to go get some plywood to build up the bottom of the cabinets and some wood to make a divider between some of the cabinet doors so that I can put a shelf in there and use baskets instead of having four cabinet doors; I'll only have two.

Now I think it is time to relax and hopefully get to sleep.

Happy Birthday Anne, Almost

Anne's birthday is Wednesday, July 7 but she wants to go to Asheville for it, so we celebrated tonight.

Thom and Melissa (who just celebrated their 5th wedding anniversary), John and Pat, Mom, Ben, Sarah's friend Scout and Anne's friend Kelly and her boyfriend Juan were here. Anne got a lot of nice presents and seemed to like them all. Now she, Ben, Kelly and Juan are on the patio with sprinklers and other toys doing God knows what.

Oh, and she is also wearing a pink flashing tiara.

Anyway, it was a successful birthday party.

Home Again

I got home late this afternoon and I immediately went through withdrawal pains from being at Amy's. She wants me to come up again in August, for the Fiddler's Convention and I just might do that. A rest before starting back to school.

Oh well....

Is "I Forgot" a Good Reason?

It is Friday and I haven't posted since Monday because, I forgot. Since Wednesday I have been at Amy's and I am having a splendid time. On Wednesday we went to the Independence Jam, on Thursday we went for a walk/hike in the morning and had a baby shower/Hen Party/Jam in the evening and today we went for a float trip on the New River with Eddy Bakeberg.

Now I am here by myself b/c Amy has gone to Abingdon to be with her hubby and I am planning to leave in the morning. So, I'll have this evening to relax and totally chill before heading home tomorrow. I'll do what I always like to do here...sit on the porch and read. The weather is so lovely. They have been having hot weather too, but this week has been marvelous!

Well, enough of this for now. I am going to finish the dishes and maybe fix a little something to eat and head for the porch, book in hand.