Alright, I got around to taking a few more pictures. Master Bedroom Before: After: Main upstairs hallway Before: After: Main hall bathroom Before: After: And these I don't really have befores of and also clarifies where some things are laid out in the house.... This is the main hallway from the front door.  The first door is the Harry Potter bathroom.  The second door is a large closet, and behind that you see what will be the mudroom. Harry Potter bathroom.  Small half bath that sits tucked under the main staircase. Back hallway the goes from the kitchen into the living room. Future mudroom. This is not drawn to scale at all, but maybe it will help with how the house is laid out for anyone who is curious. Main Floor Second Floor Obviously there are still a tons of projects left to conquer. both big and smal...

Here are some compare photos on how this house is progressing after six months.  Please note: approximately three of those months I was recovering from the broken ankle so little got done. Main floor: Dining room Before: After: Kitchen Before: After:  (this room has barely been touched and these pictures are a bit old.) Foyer Before: After: Living Room: Before: After: Second Floor Elodie's Room Before: Before: Emmaline's Room Before:  After: The boys' Room Before: After: I don't have any current photos of the master bedroom.  I'll take some and post those later.  I also don't have any of the main hall or the main hall bathroom on the second floor.  So I'll put all of that in another post soon.  Along with some outdoor photos.   There is still a lot of wo...

It's the month of November already.  The month known mostly for the time to be thankful.  Each year I adopt the challenge to be thankful for something each day.  I post these thoughts on Facebook as well, mostly as a way to torture other people.  And also because I think I am hilarious.  I also save each day in Evernote.  I like to go back and read the past thankful thoughts.  (Full confession:  I also have a notebook in Evernote of Random Thoughts.  I also have a lot of those.) What I have discovered each year is that some of the things I have been thankful for change.  But even some of the random things I find myself being thankful for, indoor plumbing, repeat themselves each year.  Some things change......two years ago I seemed to be ever thankful for wine.  Which I am still thankful for, but not quite to that extent. Some things we are thankful for are a given.  Things we should be thankful for every day of our live...

You ever pause in life and think, "Where the hell have I been and where the hell am I going?"  No?  Then don't bother to continue reading this post. I have asked God why more times than I care to remember.  It is an insane thing to.  And even if He was going to tell me, let's be honest, I probably wouldn't like the answer.  I also have a tendency to not live in the moment, which is probably why I am asking about the past and then the future. I have had a lot of time to think over the course of the last few weeks.  I know you expect me to say that I've been napping (and I did do a decent amount of resting after surgery), watching tv (and I have watched plenty), reading (yes, that too), playing games or goofing off on the internet.  All would be true.  But what I have found myself doing most days is sitting in relative silence for hours at a time.   Alone with my thoughts.  Have you ever done that for hours at a time, days on end? ...

I assume most anyone reading this is coming here via Facebook.  In which case you know a lot of what is posted on here.  I thought I would take some time to tell about why I am back to blogging, at least for a hot second. Four weeks ago began as a normal day.  Except the kids were out of school and Mark had the day off work.  There was no rush to the day.  We all lazed about for the better part of the morning.  We had nothing on the calendar for the day and it was nice to just take our time.  I was finally ready to go ahead and shower at about one or so in the afternoon.  I went upstairs to gather my clothes and thought I should go ahead and start a load of laundry before I hopped in the shower.  I sorted about two loads into the basket.  Made the trip down the main staircase.  Made my way to the basement stairs and began my descent down the more narrow, more steep, and not quite fixed stairs.  I hit the third or so stair fro...