In Loving Memory

We wanted to let you know that Margaret died on Saturday. She was discharged from the hospital Friday afternoon and went back to her apartment in Assisted Living with Hospice care. She was kept comfortable and out of pain. Don and I stayed with her. The LPN left around midnight, giving us the medicines to administer. Don gave his mom a kiss and told her we were going to go to sleep and she should do the same..."I love you" was the last thing she heard from him. This was all very hard to cope with and we were talking for 10 minutes until Don got up to get some aspirin and check on his mom. She had stopped breathing in those 10 minutes and "went to sleep". We called the Hospice nurse and the funeral home and then packed up our pillows and drove home around 3am. We spent the weekend cleaning out her apartment and getting ready for our trip to Ohio for the funeral. We just couldn't face the apartment next week. We have our moments of tears and sadness...Don keeps picking up the phone to call her as usual. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers...they are very much appreciated.

Margaret

Margaret fell on Monday 21 and has been in the hospital ever since (it's Thurs). Her respiration rate was too high for her heart to continue as things were, and there was suspicion of pneumonia, so the hospital put a bi-pap mask on her to help her breathe. Her heart rate increased and her prognosis was not good. The doctor told us even if she got out of the hospital, she would never walk again and be in and out of the hospital / nursing home for 2 years. So, the kids made the decision to follow her wishes and remove the mask. Everyone said an emotional 'good-bye' and we expected her to go quickly and peacefully. However, she's a pretty strong woman and she is still with us. She is even being discharged tomorrow. She's not really responsive and we are following her wishes of "comfort care" treatment at this point. Hospice is being called in and she will go back to Assisted Living with Don and I taking shifts watching over her. It's been a heart-wrenching process to go through and watch her kids go through. We don't expect her to last long - but, as I said, she's a pretty strong person and surprised us all already. Thanks for all of your support, prayers and kind words. We'll keep you posted. (Obviously, things are on-hold at the house).

75

Ever have one of those moments when you think of something and you say to yourself “holy crap!?” I did. In one of my many moments of deep thought, I was coming back from the hospital last Friday and said to myself….”Ok, tomorrow we have to pick up my mom at the hospital and take her back to assisted living, and try to do some work on the house this weekend. Then it hit me. We have worked the past 75 weekends in a row!!! It actually may be a few more than this. I can’t believe it. Still can’t believe it. No wonder we are frazzed….
Mom is doing “ok,” but not great and we are still really worried. Agh! So hard for her!

Pics show our latest efforts…”finish work” on the windows. Sanding, painting, sealing the window boxes, frames, sills, etc. Wow, they really look sharp when done. Sunlight coming in has such an impact! Slow but sure work that is for sure, but better now than after we move in. Really cool to see the window sills with a coat of finish - and to think Dick D. and I made them from “scratch!” Quite a high level of satisfaction..

Trouble

Earlier this week, Don's mom Margaret was admitted to the hospital again. High heart rate is the problem. We are hoping the rate can be brought down and have her released soon. So, more stress, more delay, more worries. Couple pics of the latest. Countertops started. Living room at night with lights down low.....

Peace, D2

Labor Day Labor

In celebration of Labor Day Weekend, we went all out!
First things first. Our kitchen cabinets are pretty much all installed!!! Wow again. We absolutely love them, especially the “live edge” on the upper cabinets. Lights need to be hooked p and they are done. Countertops next.

Saturday – Main goal was to “finish” big windows in living room. Tasks included: sanding, caulking/taping, painting, sealing window frames, washing windows…. All on scaffolding. Also sanded, caulked/taped all other windows in house. Done. 14 hours.
Sunday - Goal was to finish all tiling in pantry and powder room. Did it. 13 hours
Monday - Goal, grout tiling and prep ceiling for area “below loft” More fun included.., unload all 43 – 16ft tongue and groove spruce boards, set up on saw horses, sand them, stain them, and then finish them with a clear sealer. Then, let dry while we worked on the grout. Then Debbie lifts all 43 boards up to Don who is on the upper deck, and then bring them in the house to dry. Extra credit…. Finished both windows in the kitchen to get area ready for counter top installation. Done. 10 hours.
Man, can we ever celebrate!

Hope to install "ceiling" this coming week/weekend.

Getting a bit closer..

Getting closer on the cabinets! Should be a productive long weekend. Finish tile in powder room and pantry, sand, finish and paint picture windows, and maybe start the tongue and groove sanding/staining to prep for install. Oh, the work. Oh, the excitement

Cabinets and lighting progress

Really don’t know what to say on this post - imagine that. Suffice to say we are really excited about the kitchen cabinets. Not all the way in but wow. We pretended again that we were cooking and actually had a fantastic sunset to look at from the stove/kitchen. Another wow as it is really becoming everything we have planned/dreamed it would be. Camera could not capture what we were seeing so had to take close-up to show ya. Cabinets look great, even just sitting on the floor. Lighting is really making everything wonderful. I think when cabinets are fully installed we are going to freak out! Enjoy the pix.

Kitchen Tile - nailed it!

Updates galore….. well, somewhat. Simply, we are pretty excited. In the past week since the kitchen tile mess, we now have new bath cabinets (no counter tops), tile in the kitchen, painted hallways and foyer, a few more outlets and switches, and even had a surprise visit from friends.
I’ll try to keep it short. Cabinets were installed in a day and look great. Really make it seem like we are getting close. We elected to have the cabinetry without the toe-kicks, and be free-standing, or wall-mounted. We like the look, and especially like how they make the room feel more open. Counter tops next.
We are thrilled about the kitchen tile. Just a week ago we were almost in tears and now we are on cloud nine. This tile seems to do it all. Looks great with the wall color, makes the stone heater really pop and warm, and believe it will be perfect for the kitchen cabinets that will be delivered Monday, and installed on Tues/Wed. Are we excited about that? Oh yeah! Overall, we think it will all come together once the cabinets and appliances are in…. and most of all believe it will hit the mark of having a kitchen with an little bit of an old/modern “Italian” look and flare – is that possible? Regardless, we think it will be just what we envisioned. Make no mistake, it is a load of work!
On Saturday evening, our friends Lisa and Dick Norris stopped in, we had dinner, and they stayed the night in our apt. Debbie knew they were coming but I didn’t. Debbie convinced me to take a break and head to the orchard for a walk and get some fruit. Great idea actually. Just as we get to the orchard, Lisa and Dick spring out of nowhere and yell “surprise!” I about crapped my pants. It was great. Had a great night watching the sunset and then had dinner in Bow. They left in the morning. What great people they are. Always have fun with them and they always pump us up with our house adventure. Love em!
OK I am beat again. Big week. Could have almost all of the kitchen in place by the end of the week.

Rut Roe....Tile in and Tile out....

Guess it had to happen sooner or later. We had been doing pretty well picking colors and tiles….. until we picked our kitchen tile. So, it’s Friday, and Deb’s co-worker, Kathy offers to take her pick-up truck to Seattle with Debbie taking our truck to pick up all the tile! How nice was that!! Wow, what a kind gesture that was! They arrive Friday afternoon. We unload it all and schlepped it upstairs… ready to go for Sat.
Long story short is as we continued to lay the tile, the busier it got and the more it started to look like camouflage… or something. The look was fighting everything. Stuff looked great in the store but we only got to see one tile and there are about 12 different tiles to make up the whole thing.. once we saw tiles with a large blue/grey blob, we got concernec. After about 45 tiles, I said I thought it looked horrible. Deb nodded. We wanted to cry. We had lunch, called Sandra/Jon, and a few friends for advice and they agreed it was time to tear it up, and “don’t look back.” We reluctantly agreed it was best. Did the deed, washed all the tiles and cleaned up the thinset. Another couple hours. Will either sell tile, or might be able to use somewhere else in the house. Another delay we did not need….. now kitchen cabinets may be next week. Of course, still have to install new tile when it comes….again. Did a load of painting on Sunday. God Bless, Debbie. She did a second coat on the entire kitchen ceiling, and more! As Astro from the Jetson’s says…. Rut Roe….
Best thing as of Friday is Margaret was evaluated and approved to move back to Creekside in assisted living! Back to her buddies, bingo, etc. She really impressed. Evaluators came to nursing home, asked her to stand up and she did, walked to her walker and walked out the door! So impressive and inspiring! I know there were a whole lot of people who essentially “wrote her off” when she broke her hip. Also, said she would not last a year after Barney died, also said she could not move anywhere…..etc. etc. Still not a cake walk ahead but just goes to show heh…?

Kitchen Cans

Kitchen lighting has started. These are “can” lights, as they say in the electrician world….We are really happy with the look. Paint looks great. Tile is next. Install the stove, and then the kitchen cabinets next week. The pics are all about the same but from slightly different viewpoints around the house. That’s all folks.

Let there be light..... almost.

Had you fooled on the first pic. Actually, this is not electrical lighting. It is the sun coming in our picture windows during a fantastic sunset! Keeping this post very short. Electrical trim out has started but no lights yet. Kevin, Deb and I put in front door! Photo coming. And, for fun, the nature scenery is from Cascade Pass, North Cascade N.P. … a less than 2 hour drive from our place in Bow. This is just one reason why we moved here. Fantastic place! We plan to hike to the pass before the road closes… All I got. Later. D2