Making ourselves at home

I got Juan to come over one last time after work so I had a chance to get another picture, another hug, and say goodbye again. This time goodbye consisted of: Happy your brother's birthday, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year. I was just thankful he had the chance to swing by and eat a quick dinner with us one last time. 

We are "home" now and still trying to settle in after a whirlwind of a month. Today was the first day I've actually had to be able to be still and feel like I could catch my breath. I ended up getting sick with a nasty head cold for a few days from getting very little sleep the last night there (waiting up for David when he went out with his college buddies one last time) and the first night home (getting in at 2:30 a.m. and waking up to my cats at 6:00ish), and just over-extending myself catching up on doing laundry (not at home), getting groceries (after not shopping for 3 weeks), seeing family (for the duration of a Cowboy's game), and celebrating David's birthday (at a movie till 10:30 at night). So I spent Friday night in bed, all day Saturday in bed, and then we did online church today so I could just rest and make sure I'm well enough for work tomorrow (no, we don't get the whole week of Thanksgiving off here, just Thursday and Friday). Thankfully I feel 90% better today than yesterday.  I think God and my body just found a way to force me to stay home and rest. 

David and I flew back to Indiana on Friday, November 11th. We really struggled to know the best way to get him home (and almost resorted to our friends' offer to drive us home), but after David got new casts on on at his appointment on Tuesday, everything started to change. He got the use of his elbows back, and his wrists felt much more secure and stable in the new casts, so he started using his fingers a lot more. Within 24 hours, he found himself able to eat finger foods by himself, use a fork and spoon, put on and remove certain items of clothing, and hold and manipulate his phone a little more easily. So we decided we could attempt a normal flight, as long as it was a non-stop flight so he could avoid a restroom as much as possible. We checked in all of our luggage except for our backpacks, and our friend Warren helped us get the luggage up to the counter. Once we got to the gate, we explained (showed) his handicap, and they let us pre-board. That was a big concern, especially on Southwest because there are no assigned seats. We needed a middle seat and an aisle seat, leaving the window seat open for a last minute person boarding. Thankfully, it all worked out just right. 

Our flight got in a little early, and we got off just fine without any issues. But Mike got stuck trapped in a bunch of traffic outside the airport, and he couldn't park to come in to help us with our luggage. We waited and waited for a really long time before any of the luggage came out for our plane, and then when it finally did, we found one of our suitcases open in a container because the zipper had completely broken. (Could be my own fault for packing it too full???) When I saw my underwear hanging out, I knew we had a problem. LOL. This definitely added a bit of stress to the fact that I was already trying to figure out how to handle 3 suitcases and 2 backpacks without David's help. When I figured out there was no way to close the suitcase, I had to figure out what to do with the luggage. So, we put the winter jacket on David, shoved the other winter jacket into one of the other suitcases, and shoved all the underwear, socks, and shirts into the 2 backpacks. Poor David was beyond frustrated that he couldn't help, and then once he had a jacket on, it wasn't obvious why he wasn't helping. I left David with the broken suitcase and a backpack, while I wheeled the other two suitcases and my backpack out to the truck sitting in park right outside our gate. I couldn't even hug Mike because he then rushed in to help David with the broken suitcase and his own backpack.  Not quite the reunion I envisioned after being apart for 3 weeks, nor the way Mike wanted to welcome David back to Indiana under his already unfortunate circumstances. I probably could have asked for help, but well, you know me. We figured it out. So, the flight was fine, and all went well, except for that last hiccup.

Then we still had an hour or so to drive home after that. David was hungry and wanted to stop at McDonald's, but we quickly found out that Indiana is not like Dallas. Not many things are open 24 hours. So we pulled in to our driveway around 2:30 in the morning. Just in time for the grand tour! The house didn't look the same as I left it 3 weeks prior, and David hadn't seen it at all since we looked at it for the first time back on July 20th, when it was filled to the brim with stuff everywhere and the walls looked like a clown had thrown up inside. 

When I left, we had absolutely everything in the living room. Mike and I had been painting the spare bedroom so we could at least sleep and have our stuff in a more private location when people came over to help work on the house. We had two fireplace looking heaters that kept us pretty warm at night. We had plywood sitting on the counters for a makeshift countertop. The sink was hooked up enough to use with a 5 gallon bucket underneath, so you had to use the water sparingly and make sure you emptied the bucket outside often before it got too heavy and ended up splashing all over the place. We had a microwave, stove, and oven, but none were hooked up yet, so I did all my cooking with an electric skillet or a crockpot. The other two bedrooms were completely unusable and shut off at all times. The basement wall was 3/4 of the way done, probably. I will not say that I was at all disappointed to stay in a finished house for awhile in Texas. 

I knew that Mike worked non-stop while I was gone (except for a couple times to celebrate his birthday with family), but he wouldn't show me pictures or tell me anything he was doing. He didn't want me to have any opportunity to set myself up for something and then be disappointed, and he just wanted me to be surprised. He did warn me, though, that I was still coming home to a lot of unfinished, still-in-process projects. 

My new countertops, and flowers and a candle that Chrissy's mom left for me after working for several days at the house. 

The one and only closet in the house for now that Mike worked super hard to completely redo with new drywall and everything. Now we all three are sharing it. 

One of the heaters in the room (which actually keeps it quite toasty), a new door, new trim around the door, and freshly painted walls (painted paneling, actually) with a toasted almond color that I picked out. 

A new little cabinet/counter that Chrissy's dad built for us to fill in the space between the stove and the wall. It's just not set in yet. 

The stove and microwave are hooked up now, but the propane tank is still empty, so I still can't use the stove or oven. But, hey, the microwave is a big step up from where we were. 

My sink is fully functional now, as well as the garbage disposal. 

Chrissy's dad removed the built in cutting board and made me a new one. 

(He's very crafty with any wood-working task).

The spare bedroom walls (painted paneling). Mike and I took the spare room for now, and David took the mattress in the living room so he can stay up later than me. 

The doorway they framed/built between the other two bedrooms, making it a doorway from the master bedroom into what will be the master bath and large walk-in closet. 

A new window in the master bedroom.

A now bigger master bedroom (after they extended the wall 19 inches, plus they put in a new door. Mike hoped so badly to finish this room and get our bed here from storage before we got back, but he just ran out of time. It will be done soon enough, though. 

An elongated living room (with an 18 inch longer wall, a freshly painted wall, a fully-functional woodburning stove, a red-brick platform, some firewood outside, and a new electric-reclining leather couch (that we found on market place and picked up Saturday night). 

We also got our table from storage, so it will be nice to eat our dinners as a family at the table rather than on plastic trays in the living room. 

A room ready for the foam insulation guy to come insulate it so it won't be so chilly in there! (It's been in the teens and 20's at night the last few days!)

After the grand tour, I fell immediately asleep, only to wake up super early to two cats who wanted fed and a lot of snow falling. A few hours later, I went out to get a massive amount of groceries, came home and took a long nap before we went back out to go pick up a couch.

Sunday we went to church, went out to eat, went to storage to get our table and some cubbies to store our clothes, went to New Song to do laundry, and went to Matt and Chrissy's for dinner and to watch the Cowboys' game. Monday and Tuesday I took David to work with me, and Wednesday he went to work with Mike. Somehow he turned 21 overnight, so we went out for dinner at Chili's after work (while it snowed for his birthday), and then we went to see Black Panther--Wakonda Forever, a Marvel movie that had just come out a few days earlier. Surprisingly, it looked like we had the whole theater to ourselves (except for the 6 people that trickled in right before it started). 

Not the 21st birthday party he envisioned, but it warmed my heart to spend it with him. Even Matt and Chrissy couldn't join us because all their kids got sick. But we'll get a cake and have a postponed celebration with them later.