Updated fireplace tile

BEFORE

The tile installed around the fireplace when I built this house was cheap and "vanilla" looking. The hearth was narrow and several years ago Joel had a log roll out of the fireplace and scorch the carpet. I have been wanting to re-tile for years and Kevin and his Dad - Russ, have the tools and skill.

I love the new look! It makes the fireplace stand out much more and makes it a feature in the room. We extended the hearth which has made it appear to be in a better scale. I am still undecided on whether to paint the mantle a different color and what to do with the Heritage Wall. I think i am going to move it and put something different above the fireplace.

....AND AFTER

Weekend to refresh in Florida

I had a great long weekend recharge in Florida. Left Indy 6am Friday morning and returned Monday afternoon in time to get Eli for dinner. Friday and Saturday were beautiful clear blue sky days - 75F. I had so many memories of our week there in September. Visited the beach at Fort Desoto. The picnic tables are in different places on the beach - but I couldn't help smile at the infamous "nap on the beach" photo. I sat on the beach Saturday a.m. and got a bad burn on my chest and neck and shoulders - so covered up after that. Sunday was actually cloudy and rainy and mid afternoon a huge fog rolled in - a "sea mist" I suppose.

I read and napped a lot, watched TV at night and went to bed early. I went to Crabby Bills Friday night and had a dozen oysters on the half shell - $5.99!! Can you believe it? The atmosphere was busy and loud - nice to see people enjoying themselves in these tough economic times. The oysters were from Louisiana and were HUGE. They were so good I went back Saturday for another dozen for lunch + a Bloody Mary, then went to Billy's (close to Vasili's place were we had the Lobster) that night and got 30 Peel-and-eat shrimp - basically prawns that you peel yourself. 30 sound like a lot - but they are fairly small.

Sunday, lest I break out in boils, I decided to have just a half dozen oysters for lunch......3.99! as well as the steamer bucket - more shrimp and mussels and clams.

Oh......I forgot that Friday for lunch I went to the Hurricane - the lovely restaurant we went to the first night we were there - with the balcony and sunset views - and had a Grilled Grouper sandwich - their specialty and fresh from the Gulf.

I didn't take my camera and there really wasn't anything photo worthy...but I did have this postcard on my fridge. Mum and Dad - you may recall the big pink palace - "The don Cazair Resort" in the bottom left of the postcard. Crabby Bill's is up the beach just after the green space.

Hannah & Jason's Wedding

Saturday was a perfect day in every way! It was casual, yet elegant. Hannah and Jason are a lovely couple. They were married by a local Judge in Jason's parent's home. They had tables and chairs brought in and all the food was catered except for Kevin's special beef tenderloin which he had marinating Friday night and cooked at the Esmail's. There were 23 guests + 1 dog !! Kevin did really well considering his daughter was getting married!

Winter Wonderland

We had 12.5" of snow last night - the third biggest one-time snow fall in history. We were snowed in today - school was canceled - I emailed my team to stay home. I thought I'd get a lot done - but with everyone snowed in, LOTS of emails to deal with and I didn't get any special projects done.

Oh well...we are all safe and have plenty of food in the house. It took Kevin 3 hours to drive 20 miles last night from the south side. Rather than another 1-2 hours on the road to get home, he stayed here. Joel and Jeremy went sledding today. Joel tried to get out of the neighborhood, but we were still snowed in so Jeremy had to pick him up in a tall 4-wheeler.

I cleaned the snow off the bird feeders for the hungry birds - see Mr. Finch on the table above having some breakfast.

Joel participates in All-State Choir

Joel was selected to be in the All-State High School Choir again this year. There are about 325 of the best highschool choir students selected by audition each year. They have several practices at an area school, and then they all converge downtown for 2 days of rehearsals with a renowned Choir Conductor, Dr. William Skoog, from Bowling Green State University, culminating in a performance at the end of the weekend for all the choir teachers around the State. Their performance was awesome.

You can see Joel's head poking through in the upper right corner, 5th from the left. There was a set of normal risers, and another set of risers behind it, which is why you can't see him very well.

Here he is while they were filing on the stage........



After the performance.......Joel, Todd and Eli. Eli alwasy loves to see Joel sing, or play piano or violin.

Coldest temps in 12 years

News here - yesterday the coldest day in 12 years - when I left the house yesterday morning it was -11F (-23C) and warmed up to a balmy 7F (-14C). This morning we work up to a VERY cold house.....and realized the furnace had gone out. I called a repair man and he was able to be here within 30 minutes. The blower on the furnace is out - so it is still making hot air, just not blowing it into the house. We are sitting by the fire in coats and hats. The repair man had to go to the supply house to get a new blower and will be back. It is going to be an expensive day!!!! Of course the furnace would go out on the coldest day in 12 years!!

Aussie Money Redeemed

Thanks for redeeming our pitiful $20bill Granny! This is Joel's Aussie $$ collection. The display turned out nicely. It is on the wall in his room.

Blemished Beamer

Joel was in a little fender this week. A lady ran into the back of him...so it wasn't his fault....but his baby is blemished. Don Lanteigne took him to a repair guy who can fix it AND give the whole car a new paint job. The insurance may right the car off - but Joel will still get a check to repair it, even if there is a little subsidy of money. The good news is no one was hurt, and the car is still drivable.

Lesson Learned: don't iron Aussie $$

As you will remember Mum and Dad, we have been trying to find a way to display Joel's Aussie $$ collection. I found a frame that will take all the bills - similar to the one you found for us at Castleton Square Mall, but larger so all the bills are displayed.

The $20 was a little crumpled - so I thought I'd give it a quick press before framing it. Ha!

Will a bank take back a maimed bill and trade it for a new one? If so - I'll mail it to Mum for an exchange. If not, I'll send some US$ and we'll trade at Valda's International Bank of Australia.

Eli is home.

I arrived at the hospital this morning for my 24 hour shift with Eli and to relieve Todd. Eli had all his IVs out, his catheter out and was sitting on the fold-out couch for parents to sleep on. You can see Eli's bed to the far left of the photo.

I was amazed at how good he looked. Todd said he ate a good breakfast. He is tolerating his pain meds orally. The doctor said there was no reason to keep him in the hospital - so he sent us all home. We had a hospital bed delivered at Todd's and the home health nurse visited.

He is doing so well. He doesn't seem to be in any pain and Todd said he was crawling around tonight and didn't really want to be in the bed. We will continue to give him some pain meds - especially at night.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers! God has his hand on Eli.