What happened to November?

I was shocked today to realize that the entire month of November has passed almost without my notice. So where did it go? What did I do? Here is a big, old catch-up of the month.

For a week I was in Portland helping my sister Barbara recover from a surgery. The good news is that the lung cancer was caught early and the lump removed was isolated. None the less, the recovery from a chest surgery is quite serious business.

But in our family, nothing keeps us from laughing, doing, and having fun. My other sister, Janice, and I took the opportunity of all three being together to record on tape some family stories as we put our old family albums in new scrapbooks.

Prior to leaving home, Mike and I started our great room remodel. After 20 years, we decided it was time for a new look. So first we had to take off the old wallpaper.

 

Then Rick the mudder came in to give new life to old walls.

 

The old window seats and built-in cabinet came out revealing a time capsule from 1988. (We put it back in the wall for yet another discovery.)

 

Of course the old rug had to go, but it was fun reminiscing about the 20 years of wear and tear it received. It was a housewarming gift from my sister Barbara. Thanks, Barbara, it had years and years of good use.

 

Now that the rug is up, we have the slate going down. Here is the set-up.

 

The orange is a stablizing membrane. Then the first slate went down today.

 

 

While the tile guys work on the floor, I'm out in the garage working on the woodwork. Mike is in his office working out the details of new lighting.

 

In the midst of all this, we had Thanksgiving. Because the house was so torn up we rented a house on the coast for the 4-day holiday. I was delighted to let my daughter Meg do much of the cooking.

 

But she had plenty of help.

 

My sister Janice brought my Mother over from Eugene for the feast.

 

We played games.

 

Took walks on the beach.

 

Mike's sister Eve met our grandson Noah for the first time.

 

We took the kids to the aquarium in Newport.

 

Mike totally bonded with Noah.

 

Some folks got really pooped out!

 

Now that we're into December, we are on a tight schedule for having our house put back together before Christmas. What color will the walls be? I'm playing around and haven't commited yet, but time is running out.