Catching up!

 Gosh did life get busy!  In the past few weeks, we have managed to finish enough of the bathroom renovation to have a fully functional three piece bathroom.  We hosted Thanksgiving.  I got sick after that and lost 2 days of my life to sleeping! LOL We decorated the house for Christmas inside (outside was all ready decked) and more. . . 

First, the bathroom renovation that never ends   the progress on modernizing our bathroom!  At long last we have a functioning LARGE shower and a functioning SMALL sink.  The sink was intended to be as space saving as possible and it is.  The shower is epic and for us seems gigantic though I know there are others much larger.  It is 48 inches wide and when you used to shower in an old tub shower combo, truly this is the very lap of luxury.  The showerhead is high and cascades wonderfully. The hand shower option works as planned. And we did a good job levelling the floor as we have no water pools in the shower pan after a shower. It drains as it should which was of considerable concern as nothing in our house is level and plumb and this includes floors!  There is still a lot of finish work to do.  We need to tape and mud the walls, paint them, get up tile, finish the closet, trim out the window and get a floor in.  But everything is at least workable and with the possible exception of finishing the interior of the closet, further work is on hold til after the holidays.

This is probably  not the best picture, but there are 6 niches so every family member has their own spot to put their beauty products.  

Next up was Thanksgiving.  We were hosting this year and I was super excited. Last year with lockdown it was just us. Ilove to host gatherings!  This year we were able to have my father in law, sister in law, the kids godparents and a friend of theirs at the table with us.  This meant that in order to have enough room we had to empty our living room of furniture and rent tables.  Much of the week before the holiday was devoted to such things.I had Wednesday off from work and finished up prep that day.  There is lovely brass flatware that my FIL and MIL got when he was stationed in Thailand and I use that every Thanksgiving.  My MIL died far too soon and it is kind of a way of having her with us at the table as those meant so much to her.  We made 4 pies, I made 2 batches of parker house rolls, we brined our turkey for the first time ever.  I did not have to cook myself a veg option because a friend brought me eggplant parm which I adore.  It was a day filled with laughter and fun.  By the end of the day I had a slight cough which I thought nothing about.  I had been up and down from our attic getting supplies. It is dusty up there and I was of course talking like crazy.  

I woke up Friday tired and with the same little cough.  We spent the day putting away harvest decor and putting the living room back together. I felt fine, just a bit tired but the pace of life could easily explain that.  Saturday I woke up and it was decorating day.  As the day went on I had a bit more cough but again I was up in the attic as we had 12 boxes of decorations to bring down. We decorated the inside of the house to a fair-thee-well.  It really looks great.  By afternoon though I was realizing this cough was not dust or allergies or talking too much.  I was also starting to get congested. I decided I should stay in my room till we knew what was up.  

To further add to the drama, KC had invited friends over for a game night that night.  I was able to get a covid test and it was negative, so we decided if I just stayed in my room the kids could have their friends over.  I did, and spent the rest of the day reading and sleeping.  That was my life for Sunday and Monday too as the cough got worse.  That and lethargy were my only real symptoms.  A second covid test was also negative and by Tuesday I was highly improved so I went back to work.

This weekend was also busy.  Yesterday was our church's craft fair.  Elisabeth and I visited there, looking for unusual gifts for people on our list.  In the afternoon KC and I went downtown to our city's Festival of Trees.  We have done this together every year except last year and it felt good to admire the trees together again.  In the evening we decorated chocolate houses and then watched Jingle Jangle which is one of our favorite Christmas movies.

Things are busy all through December but I am grateful that we have opportunities to BE busy, especially since last year had very little ways to celebrate with others.  I feel we did a good job making it special and we all were grateful for our health but this year feels like some of our beloved traditions have returned and I so love that!