Camera / Back

My Camera is back in the picture - huzzah!

And my back is out of commision - OUCH!

First the bad news...
As we know, I've been doing a lot of lifting, carrying, moving, stretching - all kinds of 'putting the house back together' stuff that begins to wear on a person.

I used to have a bad back problem, sciatica to be exact, which I developed in grad school. All of that drafting. But when I had my kids it seemed to recede into the background, and I hadn't had a bad attack for almost 9 years.

Did I say background?

Friday night was Hannah's sleepover - which was small but beautiful! - and as I bent down to pour some seltzer for a parent, my back went, "Pop!" so loudly I was surprised no one else could hear it. I knew exactly what it was - and I was very sad.

I sat, I waited, I tried not to move too much or overreact - but the damage was done.

Something's not right in there, so I'll have it looked at on Monday or Tuesday. When I walk I look like - Gerry! We're a matched set, now. All we need are his & hers walkers.

Saturday I tried to rest for most of the day, but in the evening I bent over to dust something (because I am insane) and "Pop!" again. Pop goes the back.

So I'm in pretty bad pain - walking hurts, but not as bad as sitting. Laying down is agony. So I've been walking around, hoping to ease it up a bit. I'm flying out next Saturday for Texas, and I'm sure my back will be fine by then (it's time to become acquainted with our local chiro!) but I'm not looking forward to the flight, or to the lugging around of the suitcases that makes up most of my trips.

I just have to convince myself NOT to do any lifting - heavy or otherwise. Today we had a family meeting where I explained to the kids that the lax attitude they'd adopted about doing their chores and helping out had to change. Two months out of the routine will make anyone a little lax, especially a 9 & 11 year old!

So they've agreed not to make faces when I ask them to do their chores, and - even better - to try not to put me in a position where I have to ask. We're still pre-teen here, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it while I can.

The Good News
On Friday, just as I was packing up the POD (Project Of Death, which has actually become quite enjoyable - I'm making peace with the inevitable) my new battery charger arrived. I was able to get my camera going again and take some photos of the mitered POD -

AND of the kitchen/bathroom!
So here's the re-do as it stands. This afternoon Gerry and the kids put away all of the food stuffs so our dining room is looking MUCH more like a dining room! There are still details to be ironed out, but it's pretty much finished.

I'm absolutely in LOVE with the new bathroom, having it on the ground floor has had an amazing impact on our family so far (very positive!) and it's the best decision we could have made as we work toward Gerry's recovery. You go boy!

Having the laundry on the ground floor is also wonderful in that it allows Gerry to do a load every now and then - making him feel much more a working, functioning part of the daily life of the family (with fewer stairs to manage.) Oh, me too.

But the kitchen itself is a dream. It's lovely, it looks like a wonderful complement to the dining room and the rest of the house, has a nice "period" look but is also quite modern.

I thought we might be tight on space, but after putting all of the kitchen appliances away (in the uppermost cabinets), stowing the day to day dishes (in the above-counter cabinets) the pots & pans (pull out drawers and lower cabinets) and the food (balanced between the uper cabinets and drawers) we seem to have a bit of space leftover.

Not after we live with it for a bit, I'm sure, but it's nice to get it all put away.

I love the chair rail / picture rail in the kitchen that matches what's happening in the dining room (here's a look at the doorway between the two) It looks so wonderful - so organic - as if it were always the way the house was built.

The financial damage was less than we budgeted - how often can one say that? Our contractor (the young, creative one) was a dream to work with and we're very happy. If anyone in the Twin Cities needs work like this done, I HIGHLY recommend AC Home Design!

We saved money in lots of ways by buying 'scratch & dent' appliances, looking for bargains on bathroom tiles, putting together our own lighting fixtures instead of buying pre-made, etc. Our line of credit came through, so it's entirely covered by that - it's now a happy and snug part of our mortgage!

In the next few days I'll also take some photos of the new kitten, those will come later. I just can't walk upstairs right now - you know why...