Dec 20: Bathroom update and prosaics

Short version: At more than seven weeks and counting, I'm still at the hotel.  Feel free to stop reading now!

The last couple weeks have been a whirlwind.  It could be argued that I should have started looking for things six weeks or so ago, but the contractor didn't go over things with me until Friday before last.  Making things even more difficult the estimate wasn't done until last Friday.  Now it's rush, rush, rush and are those things in stock?  This is, of course, typical for contractors under the best of circumstances, and they have NJ Sandy victims as their defense.  Besides, we all know I work better under pressure.

There is no question that with the bathroom stripped down to studs, subfloor and outside brick wall that this is the time to update and change.  But there are a lot of things that aren't covered by the insurance.  All the insulating, walls, tiling and the vent fan will be covered; that's several thousand dollars. But insurance doesn't cover the tub, change in plumbing, toilet, vanity, mirror & cabinet; technically those are not damaged and could be put back.  But who wants a 1970s blue tub inserted into nice new tile?  And I really don't love white in the bathroom: I've spent too much personal and professional time in hospitals to have that at home when I have a choice, so going with 'almond'.  The two cabinets were covered with gilt; not my style. All of those things mount up fairly quickly.

Since things are being re-done, it's the perfect opportunity to update and improve as well.  So, there is now going to be a 24" octagon window added: a huge improvement visually and light-wise.  A heated floor is only about $500, and since a tile floor is replacing the linoleum it will make things very cozy, as well as safer: won't need a slippery bathmat should my ability to move around become compromised.  That's actually the source of a lot of this.  The bedroom closet that intruded into the bathroom is now being moved forward, this will allow a tiled seat to be installed, along with a long grab-bar.  In order for that to be useful there needs to be a handheld sprayer there, easy to do now since the ceiling is open.  All these things add up, and without having had a budget for all this.  But in addition to the obvious benefits to me now, there are also long-term huge pluses: increasing re-sale value, and allowing me to stay in the house longer should my health get worse.  Major practicality, especially with an income-producing property.  If my health stays wonderfully stable, I still have a kick-ass new bathroom!

This past Tuesday was, I hope, the last of the major purchases, as well as running around.  Here was the day:

-Meet with contractor, discuss finances and firm-up the design.
-Make a batch of fudge (done once a year and major attitudes from certain people if not done)
-Go to bank, sign all papers that now officially re-finances my house down to a 12-year mortgage and gives a new home equity line of credit
-Eat very quickly at place that has gluten free items
-Drive to Downingtown showroom for picking out vanity & cabinets
-Go to BJs for supplies
-Back to house, use neighbor's bathroom (a frequent occurrence whenever at house)
-Make two more batches of fudge
-Make 8 pairs of earrings for gifts to gals in office
-Go to Sears, finally buy new washer to replace the one that overflowed
-Back to house, take fudge out from pans and discover too late that it was premature as...
-Make two more batches of fudge (total of five, barely enough!)
-Spend about 30 minutes cutting second batch up carefully so it firms up appropriately
-Drive back to hotel
-Wash hair
-Write out a very few holiday cards
-Collapse into bed

Needless to say, I'm still recovering, especially after two busy days at work.

With the way things are going, plus several days lost with the holidays, I doubt I'll be back in the house before 2-3 weeks.  I'd be willing to move back as soon as the toilet and shower are functional, but the whole place needs to be cleaned by professionals to rid it of the dust and dirt from all this, and there is re-painting being done in all the affected rooms, so I couldn't be back in until the smell had decreased a little. 

So, that's the update.  Thanks for checking in,   Laurie

Dec 17: Thoughts on the Sandy Hook tragedy

There are several things I should be doing now, but none of them were as important as venting on this horrible event.

This incident has so many aspects, so many things to respond to.  The horror for the parents and family members of the fallen, the survivor's guilt, the impact on the community, the loss of innocence for the rest of the children in that school, the empty chairs in the years to come. 

My thoughts are primarily with the first responders on scene.  The police, and then the paramedics, who went through the areas of carnage, and checked for signs of life in the midst of all the blood; and found none, over and over and over and over.....  Their sense of anger, frustration, helplessness which must have recurred more than two dozen times.  They will never, ever, ever forget that feeling.  It will be with them, permanently. If you don't have a clue what this impact is like, go back and read my May 11 2009 posting.  That was just one child.  I can't comprehend it being magnified by 20.   Fortunately, CISD is much more prevalent and accepted now.  But dealing emotionally with the horror doesn't mean you don't remember it--trust me.

Crazy, sadly, will never go away.  But the 24 hour constant news coverage will only feed the next insane person's hopes for being immortalized when they take their anger out on the world by butchering innocent people  Don't feed the monster.

And then, of course, there is the issue of gun control.  Assault weapons are not needed for protecting yourself.  To those whose defense of this is 'if bad guys couldn't get them legally they would still find a way': no argument.  But the harder you make it, the more it will decrease a person's ability to slaughter large numbers of people in seconds.  We won't be able to get all the assault weapons and magazines of bullets out of circulation in one year, two years or even ten, but if they are no longer widely available they will decrease over time.  We won't be able to save every person now, but maybe it will make a difference for the next generation, or the one after that. 

Lastly, to rephrase the words of my minster during yesterday's sermon:  what does it say about us as a nation that we have these horrors over and over: Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, and more: yet do NOTHING to change things? 

The definition of insanity to to repeat the same action over and over but expect a different response.  Is that not what we as a nation are doing?  What is wrong with us?

Please look into thebradycampaign.org and consider a donation. 

Thanks for checking in,    Laurie

Dec 6: Yes, still alive!

When last we spoke (ok, typed/read) I was pretty sick.  It's been over two weeks and I'm just now feeling better.  It was a rough ride.  The infection was gone by the time the ten days of antibiotics were finished, but the inflammation in my lungs remained.  The coughing attacks were pretty scary, especially worrisome with the incident in June and my worry of bursting a blood vessel.  Was using the albuterol (aka 'rescue inhaler') at least every four hours. 

I'm ashamed to say that it was less than a week ago that I finally realized there was an element of heart failure as well: being on the inhaled steroids, having increased the dose and being incredibly sensitive to the steroid part increased my fluid retention.  For those who aren't medically oriented saying that I'm in heart failure sounds critical, but as with many things in both medicine and life heart failure occurs in degrees.  And as was found out almost nine years ago I don't present 'normally'.  Because I have very good pumping function my body compensates very well, which is good.  But it makes it more difficult to diagnose.  For me the signs are coughing and some swelling in my left leg only.  (Left groin seemed to be the favorite place for large probs and wires to be inserted during the surgeries and my guess is it damaged some lymph nodes, so more swelling on that side.)  My cough I attributed to the inflammation, and the edema was pretty subtle until I really looked for it.  Within a day of re-starting the diuretics my cough improved. 

Tuesday, after a particularly bad attack at work, I promised the staff I'd go to the doctor's the next day.  Couldn't get an appointment with my physician, had to see the nurse practitioner.  She was very nice but, honestly, couldn't come up with anything I hadn't already done.  Increased the inhaled steroids to the top dose for another week or two, so will remain taking the diuretics at least every other day. 

My going back to the house frequently has been mentioned by everyone.  Being there can't be avoided entirely, and of course the majority of my stuff is still there, especially all my jewelry supplies right at the time of year when I need them the most.  But I'm going to reduce time in all the dust as much as possible, although that being said I have to meet with the contractor tomorrow.

My bathroom is now down to studs, brick and the ugly blue bathtub.  I've picked out another tub, and the design of the room has been decided by the nice man at Delaware Valley Plumbing (advertisement deliberate!).  The Universe took care of me, because when I stumbled in there it was without a clue of what to do or where to start.  That being said nothing has been accomplished in the past week.  People who have experienced re-doing anything in their house have experienced this and there is a reason it's the subject of comedians.  I await the assessment and approval of the monetary amount so that I have a budget to work with, because there is a huge variation in the price of tile and only so much upgrading I can absorb.

So, life continues on.  Busy, finally now feeling better.  For better or worse the time that everything happened was when I was planning on buckling down to find craft shows to sell at, besides a dismal one last weekend there aren't anymore I signed up for.  Good news: weekends a little less hectic.  Bad news: only place to sell my jewelry and make back any of what I put out for supplies is at work.

Will try to post something more poetic in the future.....

Thanks for checking in,    Laurie