Steve Thomas

Got a card from an old friend.
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/renovation-nation/

Pretty in Pigtails

Sophie seems to be back to her adorable self. She was out of school all week, which made for a tough week for us. She was discharged from the hospital a week ago and had a follow-up at the doctor's on Monday morning. The doctor was still not happy with the way her lungs sounded, and her oxygen level, while better, still wasn't where it needed to be. Oh, and her ear infection didn't appear to be any better.

We increased the nebulizer use to include a treatment at night as well. And she got a new antibiotic for the ear...one which had the lovely side effect of, um, "messy" diapers? So messy that we went through four outfits on Tuesday. Nice.

Thursday was really the turning point for her, and by the time we went back to the doctor on Friday morning, she was SO much better. The doctor was so happy and excited at how good her lungs sounded, and her oxygen level was just a bit shy of where it should be. YEAH!!! She can go back to school on Monday (and I can go back to working in the office!).

Today, we celebrated by taking her for her passport photo and running a few other errands. One of those errands included a stop at the local hardware store to look at new countertops and maybe a new cabinet for our bathroom. Of course, I was also drawn into the beautiful kitchen cabinet displays, which made me start dreaming about what my kitchen might look night with Shaker style cabinets and something other than almond formica. Perhaps a quick ballpark estimate is in order so I can build this little facelift into my savings plan for the year! We also went out to dinner tonight, since I'm suffering from a bit of cabin fever. Oh, I also enjoyed a much-needed night out with the neighborhood ladies last night...this was a rescheduled night from the Christmas season that was cancelled by the ice storm, and it couldn't have come at a better time after the last ten days!

Happy Valentines Day!

It has been a rough week for us. Poor Sophie, after being sick for two days, was diagnosed on Thursday afternoon with pneumonia. She and I spent the last two nights at the local hospital. Her oxygen levels were a little low, so she received supplemental oxygen and nebulizer treatments as well as antibiotics. We're happy to be home this morning. She was a real trooper through it all and charmed everyone at the hospital. The staff at the hospital was amazing, and we are thankful that she feels better and that we had such great medical support! She returns to the doctor on Monday for a checkup, and will hopefully be cleared to return to school.

Ready for Spring...

I know it was warmer here today (near 50!), but gosh, I'm ready for Spring this year. I don't mind snow for Christmas, and January is still so busy cleaning up after the holidays, but honestly, February and March really get to me. Blah.

We had a whole lotta nothin' planned for this weekend. Errands and groceries and laundry yesterday. Church and maybe a passport photo for Sophie today (we're hoping to visit Canada this summer!). K and I have some "rearranging" to do in the attic, both the storage side and the finished side. The finished side is what I call my Everything Else room - K's work desk, the filing cabinet, the treadmill, the sewing machine, etc. Well, I need to fit a few more things into my Everything Else room, so some things are just gonna have to go or find a new home themselves. I've already warned K that in a few weeks, we're tackling the basement. I don't care if we only clean out about 4 linear feet of stuff at a time, but it's time to purge some of that clutter. I'd love to get it organized enough to finish it a bit - cover the insulation on the walls, and build in some lockers at the foot of the stairs for snowpants and boots, etc.

And the other thing To Do in February is to tackle the taxes. I say "tackle", but I really mean "organize", as I learned about a decade ago that it's really not worth my aggravation to try to do them when I can pay a professional. Of course, I have a nice spreadsheet that I hand over with all the paperwork neatly categorized, so he always jokes that I do half the work for him anyway.

A few more signs of Spring...it's already time to send in the paperwork for EJ to go to camp this summer. And, we're doing the CSA (community-supported agriculture) thing this summer, so we sent in our check to participate in a farm share this summer! Basically, you prepay a sum of money to support a local farm, and each week for 18 weeks, you stop by one afternoon and pick up a box full of veggies, as your portion of the harvest. We also bought a fruit share to try out at the same farm - it's 12 weeks. We're really looking forward to it!