Progress

on most fronts.

The great attic clean-out is completed. I left a couple of boxes of stuff up there (old records, my old hairdryer, my flower preservation sand) but everything else is out. I spent today cleaning the boys' crib and cradle and taking them to storage.

There were much happier finds in this last push. This is a box of the books that I used to fall in love with reading. My first series book set was the Cherry Ames nurse series. Each was a mystery with an ALMOST romance on the fringes (although I don't know that Cherry ever actually ended up with anyone.

There is a Cherry Ames website and they announce that the books are back in print. I see my 8th graders reading romances that embarrass me sometimes so I'm glad to see books with a little more appropriate content coming available again.

And Missy, you can relax now. I found another box of baby clothes (these used by BOTH boys and my favorites) and they are in much better shape than the last box. The bibs at the top of this post were part of the collection. There was another - a teddy bear with a Valentine heart that was just too far gone to keep - but most of them are very usable.

Some of the other treasures:


This was our favorite photo session with our oldest. He was a happy baby with, as you can see, a huge smile.

There's a funny story about the superbaby session. B--- was ten weeks old in this picture. There was another couple there with their eight week old who, I would guess, was probably a preemie. He was very little and - well, to be blunt - scrawny. When the parents heard that B--- was ten weeks, the mother gave a rather shocked look as she looked down at her little one. I've always wished that I'd had the presence of mind to tell that mom that B--- had been born two weeks late so, although in calendar terms he was only two weeks older than her baby, in developmental terms he was at least a month older, maybe more if her's had been early.

Another survivor of twenty-five years in the attic was my younger son's first Christmas outfit. G--- was born in October and was almost exactly one month old when this picture was taken.

I was able to rescue their crib and cradle as well, although a couple of decades in a damp attic were not kind to the springs and metal fittings. G--- grabbed all of this as I handed it down out of the attic and was especially thrilled with the cradle. He didn't even know we had it and I said, "That's not surprising as you're the last baby to sleep in it."

Other treasures that survived included some knitted pieces my mom had done. My babies were pretty big (8lb4oz and 9lb 4oz) and didn't wear Grandma's beautifully knitted sweaters very much. I will pay them proper homage here.




















I had my last appointment for six months with the cardiologist on Thursday. Before I post the outcome, let me say that this whole adventure in cardiology started when I commented to my internist that I realized that for four years I had been committing slow suicide by ignoring my health, and that I was trying to get back. Among other things, I was starting to feel the strain of carrying over a hundred extra pounds on my hips, knees and feet and knew I needed to lose the weight, but the only thing that is going to work now is to ramp up my metabolism (currently at slug pace) and exercise. I asked for guidance to do that safely. The internist expressed a concern about my rapid pulse rate. I said I was sure my heart was fine but out of shape and that I needed conditioning to get it in shape, which would bring my pulse down. She strongly recommended the testing, which I've been doing for a few months, now, and the verdict is in.

My heart is fine. I'm out of shape and need to exercise to get my heart back in shape, which will bring my pulse down.

I spent four afternoons/evenings on union stuff this week. Boring and exasperating at the same time. Nuff said about that.

The back room restoration project hit a huge snag this week. I went to buy a new acrylic pan for the bottom of the shower and learned that they (Kohler) do not make that size. In fact, near as we could tell, nobody makes that size. (Well, I think I saw that the company that makes really cheesey pans made that size but I was not interested.) So, now our fixer-upper guy will tile the floor of the shower as well as the sides. This puts the shower part of the project behind G---'s move-in date, but the rest of the room leaped ahead today. Miguel and his crew (yes, union) are AMAZING! They took out the attic access stairs, repaired the wallboard on the ceiling and taped it, scraped off the acoustic (popcorn) and repaired what was left behind, then put a coat of quick-set up as the first step in applying an new "knock-down" texture.


They put down nail strip for my carpet (I had to lift it to make sure the pad had not mildewed with the leak, which it had not.) They took out both the bedroom door and the bathroom door and replaced them, adding wide moulding around the edges. Very handsome. I love the handles I bought. I put an entry set on the bedroom door so that G--- could lock himself in securely but so that we would have a key in case of emergency. We also put a matching bathroom set on the bathroom door. they look great.

The guys cleaned everything up on their way out. G--- should be able to come tomorrow to work and we will take down what's left of the wallpaper (in bedroom and bathroom) and finish preparing the walls for painting. We need to take down the closet doors and paint them. I need to buy more trim which they will use to finish the doors and which we will use as baseboard, too. With luck the room will be ready to paint early next week. Meanwhile, Miguel said he should be able to come back early in the week to finish the "repair" work in the shower (none of the framing was plumb which, we said, probably contributed to the leaking) and set the concrete for the floor.

Absolutely no stitching has occurred. Closest I came was finding this in with the baby things.

I think my mom did them, though I'm not sure. I'll have to check. My sis is a HUGE Beatrix Potter fan and she may have done this (although she never got much into crafts.)

To finish this up, Cheryl was asking about Utah travel (on a motorcycle) in May. I have no idea what the weather will be like. They seem to be moving into spring - until it starts snowing again. Wish I could be more help but it's a La Nina - coupled with climate change - winter. No predicting.