Pic Heavy Update

Hubby's 'new' Truck-- 1990 Ford F250

Hubby's 'new' truck, 1990 Ford F250

Front Door Window Hand Painted

The Hangout Center and Right; In-process

The Hangout, Left; In Process

It's been a very busy... oops, uh, I was going to say a couple of weeks, but we're in March already, so... we're just always busy!

So, the first two pics are Hubby's 'new' truck that we got in February. He calls it "Stomper" and I call it Beast, because it tried to hurt me before the test drive! I twisted my ankle when getting out, and that was after barely being able to get in the thing because it's so high! Hubby's in love with his truck... *sigh* and when he's been driving it or needs to... "comfort" himself, he imitates the noise of his truck. He says, "I don't even listen to music in Stomper, because it talks to me." Silly man. We're getting use out of it already, though the week we got it Hubby was sick for about a week.

The middle picture is the new front door I had installed in November because of rot (see previous entry about that, if you want); I wanted some privacy, however, so I handpainted the inside of the window using regular craft acrylic paint mixed with white glue from the dollar store. It provides privacy, has my creative touch, and lets people know for sure who lives here! Not that we get many visitors. Maybe if work settles down a bit we'll be able to start having guests.

The last two pics are of the "in process" of The Hangout (aka, the upper part of our barn). There was bathroom piping (still intact), kitchen area (nasty! removed), and framed out walls and exposed insulation. The rat smell was horrendous, and I'm pleased to say that most of it seems to have been in the insulation which has been removed. This is part of the job we've hired a local contractor to do (M___, as previously mentioned), and we're very grateful to have his experience and patience in doing this job. I am learning, and helping as much as possible. The framed out wall on the right has since been completely removed; we're leaving the bathroom framed in, and the left side, and then M____ will finish framing out the back bedroom during this project. A lot of the sheetrock is up, and tomorrow we start with the GreenFiber (R) blow-in insulation. The latter named insulation is not rat or insect friendly, but it is environmentally and family friendly! It's made from recycled material, and doesn't contain hazardous/toxic chemicals. I'm very, very excited about getting what I want, and being able to help with the process while learning.

I think I'll be of more help when it's time to tape and mud, as I don't yet have enough strength to help lift the sheetrock, but M____ has been nice enough to let me help do the screwing (oh so many jokes!). Yesterday Hubby and I walked through, as Hubby has been very busy with aiding getting the kids back on track with their schooling (Daddy is still so important to the little boogers) and spending much-needed time with them, and thus he hadn't seen the progress. Hubby was so excited about it, and can't wait to get it done up there. I am hoping M___ will let me help more, as we're reaching our budget max for this project; we decided to do this project, however, because of how important it is to our family life and quality of living. Not to mention it will enable us to have guests. As it stands now, there's barely room to have dinner guests over, much less stay-the-night guests! Yup, very excited about getting this project done.

Just before the first of March, we got hit with a little more snow and another minor wind storm. The previous wind storms took off some of the shingles on the barn, but the replacements are part of The Hangout project. Before the end of the day the snow was gone, so there wasn't much problems from it-- not directly. Again, the moisture problem is insane!

After being on natural (desiccated) thyroid for... a while, and incremented increases, my blood thyroid levels are finally down to where they need to be. There are still some symptoms, which I expect will just take time to wane. I've had to take A LOT of rest every day, and still can't perform to my 'usual', which is frustrating to say the least. On the positive side, however, I am effortlessly losing weight now! I'll find out this coming week if I'm down to my "pre-major-medical-problem" weight, and if so then I'll rejoice! More importantly, my waist measurement has decreased significantly, which indicates losing visceral fat (the bad fat that surrounds your important organs, like your heart and lungs and liver, etc), which in turn means better health for me. As I have been giving serious attention to my health since 2008, I am very happy about finally seeing progress. And, no longer does candy call my name from the shelves like it used to when I'm in the store. Bugs that they have candy by every register, as for someone like me, it's the equivalent of putting alcohol in front of an alcoholic or cigarettes in front of a smoker. Nonetheless, there's not the... attraction to it like before. When on occasion I do look, I just remind myself of how sick I feel after eating more than 2 bites. And with prices on everything being higher, it just doesn't make sense to spend money on something that makes me feel sick and that causes health problems.

The Boy and Girl are doing well, and have thoroughly enjoyed Dad being home. I think we're finally settling into a... routine that is our life. It's taken longer than usual, but we're finally getting to a point that we remember what it's like to be together as a full family. Good stuff.

There you have our family update and some photos, too! I'd better get this posted before I lose connectivity again. And, I've got some outdoor work to get done before it gets dark and/or starts raining again.

~Cedeham~