Annnnd BREAK!

Well, I have successfully completed my first year of Graduate school!  I am almost half-way done with the program and that much closer to becoming a nurse-midwife!  It feels awesome!  But after year-round school for the last 12 months, I am pooped.  Have no fear though, I finally get my longest break since the start of school and have three FULL weeks off.  Sweet heaven!

Somehow last year when Scott requested his vacation time for this year, he was amazingly granted these last two weeks in December off.  Nobody else happened to request it (amazingly) and he won. We asked for the time, knowing this would be my longest break from school for the year, and thinking we would like to have a break together - never guessing that it would come at such a PERFECT and utterly needed time in our lives.  We have over 14 days off, in a row, together, for the first time in quite a while now.  As life has been less than a walk in the park for the last few months, we have decided to forgo all the things we usually adore about this season that just didn't seem as fun this year anymore.  We are simplifying and allowing ourselves to say "no" to all of the chaos we just really have no desire to deal with for this season.  Instead, we are focusing on each other, and our marriage, and our faith, overall.

We left the country this morning and are now in Montego Bay, Jamaica.  We'll probably be here for the next 10 days but have absolutely no plans other than focusing on being less sassy (in all the bad ways that get annoying) and just being together.  Also, there will be much time spent on the white sand, in the sun, enjoying a fair amount of Rum. And Red Stripe.

So, Merry Christmas a week early to all of you at home.  We send all of our love and hope that you too get a little time to focus on the people you love most, and things that are truly important to you.

Back to the Grindstone

Today is Scott's first day back at work!  For a 12-hour shift.  Please pray his neck and shoulders don't get too sore and he has the energy to make it though.  He's supposed to go back in tomorrow too, so we're hoping he does alright.
Also, a special thank you to everyone who covered his shifts until this point so he could rest as long as possible!  We are very, very grateful for you :)

The Next Step

We had Scott's follow up appointment yesterday, and as usual for us, we had some good news and some dumb news.
The good:

• Scott is healing fabulously.  The surgeon is very happy with how the incision site looks, Scott's range of motion, and advancement of activity.  In his opinion the surgery just couldn't have gone any better!  So, thanks everyone for all those prayers!
• The lymph node that we saw on ultrasound and CT back in October, which was the primary indication for surgery, was no longer a lymph node at all really - just a big old ugly tumor.  It was definitely time for it to go and we are all glad it's out.
• The left-over thyroid tissue which they removed was all negative for cancer.  We glad for this and think it's better to have it out and leave no doubt in our minds.
• The enlarged lymph node they suspected higher up in his neck (close to the base of his skull) was negative for any cancer.  In fact, they removed about 23 lymph nodes from that area as they were trying to get to this one specifically, and all of them were negative.  However, this leads us into the not-so-good news.

The Bad:

• The fatty tissue that was surrounding the lymph nodes which were close to the base of his skull was interspersed with medullary carcinoma.  
• It would be prudent to continue exploring various forms of treatment and we aren't done yet.

This is a big bummer for us, but we're diving into the next step.  The docs are all rather confused as it is unusual for cancer to spread through the fat in this way.  It would make more sense in our piddly minds for it to keep spreading through the lymph nodes as it has done so far - where it has an understandable blood flow and lymph flow and we can see why it easily travels throughout.  But no, Scott's already confusing and rare cancer has to get even more weird.
We've searched case reports and are pouring over the research, but unfortunately nothing similar to our situation has been published and nobody we've talked to has a clear cut answer.  The next step that our surgeon recommends, and which some new research is recommending, is that we move onto a type of radiation just for Scott's neck.  Since there are no tumor borders, the cancer in this area isn't something we can just go in and cut out as we've been doing with everything thus far.  Also, we wouldn't even know where to start (besides just harvesting every last little bit of fat from his neck which would be silly) as none of this showed up on any of the scans.  We are also running into the concern that if we just leave it, and it continues to grow and spread, each neck surgery we have begins to carry greater risks.
SO, in the next week hopefully, we are meeting with Scott's endocrinologist, as well as a radiation oncologist, to further discuss treatment options.  We are also consulting with our specialist in St. Louis to see if he has any other ideas.  I have finals next week and am working on my 20+ page paper for another class due after the weekend, so our plates are getting a liiiiiiittle full.  Also, Scott goes back to work on Saturday and we're hoping that all goes well.

Bedlam!

     We are two-weeks postop and Scott is slowly improving each day.  He is progressively needing fewer and fewer pain meds, and we're now slowly starting to work on physical therapy for his neck which is pretty stiff and sore.  As long as he gets his daily nap in and has a couch or bigger chair to sit in for the majority of the time he's good to go.  After sitting in a regular chair or standing for a while, his neck still starts to get pretty sore and tired from holding his big head up.
     Scott did pretty well on our trip to and from Oklahoma this weekend and although we were hesitant about going and had our doubts, we're glad we did now.  It was great to see everyone and a nice change of scenery.  We flew into Tulsa on Thursday and got to spend some time with Scott's family and see some other friends.  On Friday evening we drove up to Stillwater and spent the night there with friends.  Saturday afternoon we headed out to tailgate.  It was COLD!  We are so glad the rain passed through in the morning and didn't stick around for the big festivities!

All bundled up at the tailgate

So fun to see good friends!

     The Oklahoma State victory made our trip up there even more worth-while and it was great to watch the game with everyone!  We stayed outside at the tailgate with several others and didn't go into the stadium, as Scott would have been miserable in the bleachers or standing for that long.  We were much happier in our giant chairs and wrapped in blankets outside under the tent watching the game on TV.

Yes - both of us fit into that one chair quite comfortably.  No I am not that tiny - the chair really was just giant.

     We drove back to Tulsa on Sunday morning and were able to do brunch with some of our besties in town that we never seem to be able to get enough time in with.  We got to meet the newest addition to the group, two-week old Levi, and had such a great time catching up on all the latest!

    Our trip home was uneventful and it was pretty exciting to come back to our fabulous house which we are still thoroughly enjoying!  Scott's follow-up appointment is tomorrow, along with lab draws to make sure his thyroid and calcium blood levels are behaving.  We should have more news regarding pathology from the surgery after all this, so stay tuned.  

Overdue Update

Scott is recovering fabulously!  He's had his ups and downs, but overall we are making good progress.  He has been one helluva patient though.  Continuously attempting to sneak off and do things he's not supposed to yet.  Like drive.  And climb ladders.  And carry ladders.  And carry various other things that are much heavier than his weight restriction of a jug of milk.  The neighbors have definitely heard their fair share of my scolding, and to them I am sorry.  It's his fault though.  

He spends his days migrating from the bed to the couch.  I'll hear him tinkering around in the kitchen or another room for about six minutes and then he gets tired and winds up on the couch again.  We're so blessed that he's also been getting pretty good sleep at night, and the frequency of needing his pain pills is decreasing each day.  His sore, tight neck muscles have been one of his biggest complaints.  Our friend Anne brought him a heatable neck wrap and it seems to help a lot. 

We've had lots of friends stop by and are so grateful for you all!  It really helps break up the monotony of Scott's life right now, and is very encouraging.  

In other news:  We got an early Christmas gift from Scott's parents and love, love it! A camera!  Our little point-and-shoot camera broke back in August and it's made updates with the house much more difficult.  SO, now there is one less excuse for lack of updates!  Here's a little video I took yesterday afternoon of our place.

This is why we can't have nice things

At 7:55am this morning Scott meandered outside to set up the timer on the sprinkler for our lawn quick before we left for the airport at 8:00. Two minutes later from our master bathroom I hear, "Ohhhhhhhhh no.   Oh no.  Oh dearrrrrr.  Megan....? Please don't kill me"
Usually not a good thing for your husband to say.
I took a deep breath and hesitantly stuck my head around the corner to see him standing in the middle of OUR NEW CARPET peeling his shoes off.  Yes, he had done it.  He had stepped in the giant pile of doggy ka-ka I had warned him about last night.  And then tracked it ALL. over. our. new. carpet.
Sheeeeeeeeeeet.
Literally.
EVERYWHERE.
Needless to say I am thankful that we got the highest grade of stain resistant carpet and that rush hour traffic was not horrendous.  Only took 20 minutes of me scrubbing away with Scott standing around rather helplessly as the whole squat and scrub is not quite into his physical activity plan yet.  True love right there folks.  Luckily we still made our flight.  And yes, Scott is still alive.

PostOp Day #2

This morning the docs came in, stopped the PCA, took out one of Scott's drains and wrote discharge orders.  Pretty exciting stuff, except he had a nasty migraine that was making him really nauseated - we think it might have been from the dilaudid in his PCA, but who knows.  Fortunately we got a bunch of anti-nausea/vomiting meds in his IV before they took that out and it held him over until we got home.  Once home he was able to get a really good nap in and his headache finally went away.

We've been lounging around moving back and forth from the couch to the bed.  A few neighbors have come to visit and we've been catching up on all we missed over the last few days. It's SOOO nice to be in the new house!!!!  Scott's parents and younger sister are still here (the rest of the family flew home on Tuesday) and we all have tons of room to do as we please.  Such a big change from our little shotgun house down the street!  The thing I love the most right now is that all the walls of our master bedroom are insulated and since there is carpet in there, it is so quiet when you're in there with the door closed.  Scott can happily nap in peace while we carry on our noisy lives out here in the main living space, cleaning and continuing to move things in from the other house.  Such heaven.  

Wonder of all wonders!

The 3ft love seat actually DOES pull out into a little bit longer of a bed!  Joyous bliss!  I actually finally got a little bit of much needed, most glorious sleep last night and so did Scott.  Waiting for docs to round now.....

PostOp Day #1

Thanks for all the texts, visits, and prayers everyone!  Scott is doing well today!  They got a PCA (pump that has dose-controlled strong pain medicine that he can push a button and give himself every 10 minutes or longer as needed) going for him right away after the surgery yesterday which was very helpful!  His pain has been very well controlled and we are so grateful for that!
Nausea and vomiting has been the issue.  He spewed all over himself, the floor, and just barely missed his recovery nurse after surgery and then it continued for the rest of the evening.  They got lots of anti-nausea/vomiting medicine on board and finally we were able to get everything under control around 11:00 last night.  Sorry for those who were affected by this! (A few queezy guests definitely weren't expecting that) Fortunately it hasn't bothered him today and they were able to advance him to a regular diet for breakfast.  So far he's keeping it down and feeling fine.
He has two drains in still and is very sleepy and rather gorked out..  We are so glad he was able to get some good sleep last night, and I'm glad I stayed here overnight.  Waking up about every hour silencing beeping pumps and alarms and getting stuff for him, compounded with my lack of sleep over the last few days, has turned me into somewhat of a zombie though.  Also, the three-foot love seat available for me made for an interesting sleeping situation.  I'm going home to take a nap here in a little bit and that will hopefully help.
Come visit if you want and are in town.  I doubt we'll be getting discharged today.  And thanks again for all the love and support!  We really, really appreciate it!

DONE

Whew.  Surgery is finally over!  Scott is waking up in the PACU as I type.
He was under anesthesia for a little over 6 hrs.  I was starting to get a little anxious and antsy and am glad it is done.  I am also SO grateful that Scott's family has been here with me and for all the support from our friends.
Dr. Moore said the lymph node we were especially worried about, and did the surgery for, definitely needed to come out - it was about 2cm and rock hard with plenty of yucky looking tissue.  I'm sure pathology reports will confirm we made the right choice.
They also took out the last little border of thyroid tissue that was left in, along with another lymph node that looked like it could develop into something, much higher in his neck. (We will see how the pathology reports come back on those as well). These were the difficult parts as they were very close to important nerves and blood vessels and there was scar tissue and fat that needed to be dissected through with great care.  He said everything went well though and they are happy with the outcome so far!
Scott has two drains in and we will most likely by in the hospital for two nights.  I'll update as we know more.  Please keep us in your prayers that there is no additional bleeding and we can keep pain levels under control.

Sexy socks and SCD's are on....

Sexy hat is too....                 

And we're ready to go!

He just rolled back to the OR, so here we go!  Keep the prayers coming!

Recipe for Mild Chaos

1 post-op Bulldog
9 family members flying into town in one day from various places
1 sad partial shift at work
3 vehicles
1 doctor appointment
3/4 pre-op appointment
1 leaking gas line

Sign up for a shift at work to help out three weeks ago and then realize the you-know-what is hitting the fan all at once.  Try to find someone to cover shift unsuccessfully thanks to midnight showing of Breaking Dawn several hours before shift starts and AWHONN classes.  Contemplate just calling in sick.  Decide to put big girl panties on and work.  Get up extra early to make sure bulldog gets pain meds and time to potty.
Arrive at work and discover the saddest of sad situations that happens on L&D has just occurred.  Thank God the unit is not insane and there is time to adequately deal with everything.  Have husband go to airport in rush hour to pick up 6 family members - three of which are under the age of 3.  Rent minivan.
Get news that gas pipe is leaking at new house and Entergy thinks it will be ok until Monday.  Realize we now have no heat, hot water, or working stove at new house.  Decide to still "kind of move in" this weekend as originally planned.  Make sure husband goes in for pre-op workup.  Find amazing co-worker who agrees to come in and cover last four hours of shift. Rush across town to husband's doctor appointment - find out PET scan shows nothing new and surgery will continue as originally planned.  Rejoice.
Dilemma of two cars at hospital. Drive home alone.  Have husband pick up last three family members and an additional dog at airport and drive home in rush hour.  Finished when 1000 sq ft shotgun house is bursting at the seams and cannot handle any more activity.  Enjoy!

Additional topping: Cover with wine and let cool overnight.  Fly in one more family member tomorrow morning.

New year for me!

Had a fabulous birthday yesterday and am thankful for all the love you all sent my way.  I felt preeetty special.  Scott got off of his 30hr call yesterday morning and brought me donuts and flowers - he's such a rock star :)  Last night we went out for sushi at Kyoto, one of my favorite little restaurants, and then met up with more friends for desert at Sucre!

They finished sanding the floors yesterday and put the first coat of polyurethane on!!!

Today they will be buffing everything out.  Then mixing all the sawdust (they've saved this all from sanding the down the floors) with corn starch and whatever else is in their secret concoction and going around filling in all the cracks between the floor boards, before they add another coat.  Several coats are required and each one brings out an added level of the richness that is in those old boards.

We have a date!

Today we met with Dr. Moore at Ochsner.  We really like him.  Scott knows all the residents with him right now too and likes them, which makes everything a little bit like a party when we go in for these appointments.  We had a very long chat about everything and looked at the scans together and have a plan.  Scott will be having a PET scan on Friday - just to make sure nothing else lights up. (This is the glorified CT scan where they give him the special dye that the cancer loves and measure uptake times to see what shows up).  Next week we have a follow-up appointment for that to review scan results and sign consents and do pre-op stuff.

Monday, November 21 we're on the books for surgery.

The plan is to do a little more involved of a surgery than originally thought.  The first lymph node that we noted definitely needs to come out.  There is another good sized lymph node that doesn't look too bad yet, but the consensus is that we should just take it out now while we're in there to avoid another surgery later.  Also, they will be taking the tiny little border of Thyroid tissue that was left from the first surgery as the idea is that while it's in there - it's just a risk for growing more cancer.
So, please pray for us.  Lucy has surgery scheduled next Wednesday for her knee (an appointment we have agonized over how to handle, and then waited and waited for, and cannot move now), the house will be ready to be moved into by next weekend, and then Scott has surgery the following Monday.  I am fighting to get ahead with school and have an overwhelming amount of work to get done in between all of this.  Also, it would be good if I found time to go to the grocery store sometime and could clean my nasty fridge out.  Details that are low priority for now... Again, *deep breaths* and one day at a time - I kinda wanna puke when I think as far ahead about everything as I just did.

News finally!

We finally heard from our surgeon in St. Louis on Monday evening.  Scott and him discussed the worrisome scans and increasing lab values and figured out a plan of action.  He said that this surgery should be relatively straight forward and not as involved as the last one, so we can do it here!  Also, he was somewhat dumbfounded that there could even be anything there still, as he said he took 87 lymph nodes out of that area of Scott's neck in the first surgery, which means there shouldn't be any left.  I guess this little one's a fighter - it's days are numbered though now.
We have been in contact with a surgeon here at Ochsner in town, and he had a cancellation today and will be fitting us in for an appointment this afternoon.  (Thank you so much Eric for agreeing on such short notice to cover the ICU for Scott for an hour so we can go to this!)  So, hopefully we'll have more news following this, and possibly even a surgery date!

Flooooooors!

They are in progress!!!  The guys came Monday to finish patching all the holes.  We've had to move several H/AC vents due to the fact that we completely re-did the floor plan on the house, and a few other things, so there were quite a few boards that needed to be taken up and replaced.

This is no easy feat. These floors were solidly put together over 100 years ago and had no intentions of coming apart easily.  Also, Scott had to do some good hunting to find other flooring that matched that we could replace whole areas of boards with.  Anyway!  That's all finished now, as of yesterday!

Then, they started on the sanding!  They have the noisiest, dustiest machine with the coarsest sandpaper I've ever seen.  

It's a father-son business run by two good 'ol boys who are quite wild and wonderful - such a hoot to just sit and watch and listen to.  Dad runs the big sander, while son crawls around him and hammers in or pulls out nails that are too high so there's nothing to stub your toe on.

I think they plan on finishing the sanding today and then they do several coats of polyurethane and refinish the floors, making them fresh and beautiful - and quite smelly.  They plan on being done by Friday and then we crank the AC up to take all the moisture out and let the house just sit for quite a few days while the horrible smells that will give you a migraine like no other work their way out and the finish dries and sets up.  We should be in by Thanksgiving! *fingers crossed*

ALSO!  We have running water in our kitchen now after Scott and I spent a few hours on plumbing yesterday.  It's pretty exciting folks!

Our Week So Far:

1. Still no news on surgery
2. A good amount of time spent doing this:  

   3.  Scott spending everyday at the hospital - and still working on the house upon coming home.  

   4. Usually doing this:

Or working on wiring.....                     .

   5. Lucy's surgery for her destroyed knee finally scheduled - let's hope Scott's surgery day doesn't end up at the same time.

   6. Refer to #1 again.  

   7. Trying to stay on top of school and get as many projects out of the way as possible before I'm caring for two little post-op patients here at home in the next few weeks :)

We're trying to be patient - the waiting is the hardest part.  However, we know that everything happens for a purpose and the timing will be perfect in the end.  It's just difficult to sit on this side of it all, not knowing, while everything gets decided upon and worked out.  

Halloween Festivities

One of the things Scott and I love the most about living here in New Orleans is our neighborhood, and how close everyone is - both physically and emotionally.  If you've ever been to visit us - or nearly any old N.O. neighborhood - you know how close the homes are here.  We can hear lots that happens, and everyone is rather nosey about other people's business - which we love.  We feel safe, always have someone to call when we need help, and are never bored.  We not only know almost every person who lives on our block, but it is rare that a day goes by where we don't have discussions with them and enjoy spending time together - sitting on the porch in the evenings drinking wine, sharing meals, borrowing clothes, and running errands together.  The sense of community makes me feel like I'm back in college, living in a dorm again - except we all have our own houses.  We consider some of our neighbors to be some of our closest friends here

On Saturday night our (nearly) next door neighbors and close friends, Skip & Maria, finally got married.  It was a very unique, intimate New Orleans wedding, complete with costumes, and a live band.  We had a blast!

Steve Jobs & the fairy

The weather was perfect and the setting was gorgeous on the front porch of a neighborhood friend's home.

Following the ceremony, there was a lively second line, complete with sparklers, to the reception venue just a few blocks away.  We spent the evening eating, dancing, and playing in the photo booth.  It was all so beautiful and we are so so happy for you, Skip and Maria, and so fortunate to have you in our lives!!!

It's back.

Yes, the C-word.  It's reared it's ugly head again and we're gearing up for the next battle.
We had Scott's routine lab work done a couple weeks ago and were a little concerned when his Calcitonin levels came back at 930 - the highest they've been since his thyroidectomy and radical neck dissection almost two years ago.  So, since it's been almost a year since we last did CT scans and ultrasounds, we decided that should happen.
They did them on Monday and by Thursday morning we had official confirmation that yes, he has another lymph node that looks bad in his neck and it needs to come out.  Meaning it's time to start planning surgery again and it should probably happen within the next month.
His scans are on a CD and in the mail right now, headed to our specialist in St. Louis.  He will review them and we should know within a few days whether we need to go back there for surgery or if it can be done here locally.  So, for now we don't really know anything.  Except the cancer is back and surgery is needed.

We're pretty bummed about the whole thing, but trying to stay positive.  It could be worse - the lymph node is at least in a relatively easily accessible location.  It's in his neck right next to where his doctor in St. Louis took out all the other ones in January 2010.  The timing is not ideal (when is cancer timing ever ideal though, right?) with everything going on with our house, school, and residency. We will get through though.  We just need lots of prayers and are trying to take it all one day at a time.  I'll let you know when we know more.

Final Countdown

We have scheduled the floor guys to come NEXT WEEK!  This means we are on a time crunch and still have so much to do!  Trim, closet doors, fixing windows, installing light fixtures and getting plumbing fixtures hooked up. The floors being sanded down and refinished is huge as this is the last big step before moving in!

After that we are basically set!  We are getting excited, but also feeling the pressure.  Scott starts his ICU rotation on Tuesday (going in almost every day with 30hr days every three days) so the timing is perfect as he will basically be worthless outside of the hospital.  I am so grateful for such a hard working, motivated husband.  He really has been such a trooper - working his shifts at the hospital and then coming home and working 4-8 hours on the house (or working those hours and then going into the hospital at night).  I am just so blessed to have such a stellar dude that I'm married to and had to brag a little at how well he provides for us.
Here are a few pictures.  All the details are coming together and we are slowly scratching off details on Vinnie's final list

.  

Trying to decide on paint colors...

Erica and Roman in bedroom #1 with the new paint (ignore the shelving to your right - it will be moved eventually)

Bedroom #2 - painting in progress (it's finished now)

Aaaaaand bedroom #3 - still need to scrape that window down and prime and paint it.

Putting our last craigslist appliance, the double oven, in - it was a beast to deal with, but is absolutely beautiful :)  If an oven can be beautiful...

Installing the hardware our neighbor found for us at a garage sale which we painted to coordinate with our kitchen.

Fans and light fixtures going in (don't worry - we'll put the blades on soon)

Sissy Visits!

Erica came to visit for the last 5 days with my sweet little three-month-old nephew, Roman.  She flew all by herself with him and was quite the supermom.  We didn't do anything too wild but had such a good time together, catching up on lots of missed time together.

We spent quite a bit of time over at the new house.  Picked paint colors for the last three bedrooms and painted for several hours.  Roman helped a little.

Inspecting Vinnie's carpentry work

He already has quite the little personality and it was SO fun to be able to spend so much time with him.  Check out that smirk!

Roman with Uncle Scott

I am so proud of what an excellent mommy my sister has become.  It's so beautiful to watch how well she does with him - makes me pretty proud of her :)

They flew out yesterday afternoon and it was hard to see them go.  I miss them so much already!

Fall

I think it is finally here in New Orleans!  Today the temp dropped from high-80's to mid-50's in a matter of hours, and the wind is blowing like crazy.  This weather puts me in the mood for sweat pants and baking!  (It's also a good excuse to procrastinate on the homework...)  So, I quick mixed up some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip bread.  Oh. My. Deliciousness.  I'm trying to stick to only one piece tonight.  We'll see how that goes...

Ariyah's been bugging me for a piece as well.  I just had to get her little face in there for you all to see how guilty she tries to make me feel for not sharing...

We're getting closer!

We're moving right along with the house!

Sorry the video cut off early - I ran out of room on the memory card.  I was about to tell you where the toilet and new double vanity will be going.

This vanity was our find of the month so far.  It is solid poplar, with a granite top and two under-mount sinks. It was originally $1100 at Lowe's and happened to be on sale last weekend so we went to buy it and discovered it was slightly damaged (a little nick I'll never point out to anyone and will be impressed if you can find), so they marked it down some more.  While they were trying to load it onto the cart to take to the register, the manager broke the back-splash and we bargained them down even further!  We ended up getting it for $375 and are so happy about it!

We're hoping to be moving into the house sometime in the first half of November and are getting more and more excited about it.  We're hoping we don't have any big set-backs before now and then and that everything continues to stay on track.

The details that matter

The last two weeks have been full of finish carpentry.  We've been putting up crown moulding, hanging doors, painting, and working on plumbing and electric work like crazy.

A stack of trim - ready to go up.

 Vinnie found us a fabulous deal on moulding/trim at a warehouse and they practically gave it to us.  We're so happy to have someone on our side who knows where the good deals are and who knows how to talk his way into an even better deal before you even know what's happened.

Kinda blurry picture of the crown moulding in the living room

Here's the front bathroom.  We bought the vanity at Home Depot, I painted the walls in Arabian Sands (by Behr), and we're doing the oiled bronze fixtures for a little added flair.  Yesterday Vinnie put a door on that bathroom. Today Scott's putting in the drain on that shower and finishing the plumbing for it and the toilet, which we bought yesterday, so we can finally have a somewhat working bathroom over there!

Scott's dad came down for three days last week (he was a trooper with his recently operated on broken ankle and all).  We set up little work stations with comfy stools for him and he helped Scott figure out the rest of the major electric work.  Scott's been working on connecting everything throughout the house for the last few weeks now.  A big task considering we have about 150 outlets and light switches alone (not including light fixtures) - the more the merrier, right?

Another big project has been the master bathroom shower.  We were originally going to do an Acrylic shower insert which we special ordered through Home Depot.  Three days after it was supposed to arrive, a few weeks ago, they told us it was back ordered for at least 5 more weeks.  Such a frustration.  SO, back to the drawing board.  We decided to go with a tile shower, but were afraid of leaking, due to the fact that we have heard only horror stories of completely tiled showers which crack and leak within a few years.  Because we really like the brand new sub floor we put in throughout that whole area of the house, we decided to play it safe and hopefully avoid leaks and termites and rot and all the fun things that come along with water seeping into places it shouldn't, with a fiberglass insert for the base.

I painted the room last week and we went shopping for the tile on Monday evening.  We picked out a marble tile from our local flooring outlet place for $1.99/sq ft and love it.  

Scott found the glass tile border on clearance at Home Depot.  We have enough to hopefully carry that through to a back-splash for our vanity and maybe around the bathtub in the room?  Details that can be added later as we go. 

Our tile man is over there grouting everything as we speak and will be done with it today so Scott can move onto the plumbing in that room next.  

Kitchen Progress

Everyday new details are added to the kitchen.  Vinnie has worked hard on the pride and joy of this house and I really have no idea where we'd be without him.  He is so creative and so FAST at just making beautiful things out of nothing!  Also he is so knowledgeable.  If we don't know how to do something, or have a question about where to start or proceed with a project, Vinnie knows exactly what to do. And he listens.  This is the biggest thing I love about him that I have learned many other construction guys lack.  You go over the details and hash everything out multiple times and you come back 10 minutes later and they're doing something completely different.  But not our beloved Vinnie.  I could sing his praises all day long and our kitchen reflects how wonderful his attention to detail is.

So, without further delay - here are pictures to catch you up on what's happened in our kitchen since my last update.

First - please remember that this is what the room looked like in May:

And here's where we are now:

Granite being installed in August:

A close-up of our Verde Butterfly granite:

Trying to make final decisions on the paint colors...

We went with Behr Laurel Mist (that green) for all the walls in the kitchen, living room, and back hallway, and Behr Castle Path (reduced by 25%) for the ceiling in the living room, with an even lighter version of it for the kitchen ceiling.

Putting up the back-splash: 2in x 2in slate with a stone border.

Tying the kitchen together with finishing details.  If you look closely you will notice above the cabinets where he added the border of our stone back-splash below the crown molding for added height, color, and to tie everything together.  All the molding was taped up at this point as we tried to decide a color for it.

Back-splash behind the stove top.  

Vinnie had the tin piece "just lying around" and we've since polyurethaned in to darken it and take out the extra colors caused by oils on it.  I love it there!

Vinnie putting all the grout in the back-splash:

Another one of Vinnie working - nailing all the trim into place:

If you notice on these last few pictures the beams are darker with a richer color.  These were the original beams used to build the house - they were originally 24ft long here, spanning the width of the house.  Vinnie cut them and sistered two of each together when we decided to add the vaulted ceiling in the kitchen.  All that was done to them for the color was sanding them down (to remove the big imperfections and coloration differences) and adding a coat of polyurethane.  I love the character they add to the kitchen!  Another great, great idea by Vinnie.

And this is what it all looked like a few day ago!  More details have since been finished, but it is really getting close to being done!

View down the back hallway so you can see the stained-glass windows