August 29, 2022 Monday--1am

Good Early Early Morning!

It's 1am and I am still awake so I figured I would start this and see how far I get.  It is technically Monday, after all--LOL!

Last Monday

Was so tired that I fell asleep from 5-8pm--LOL!  Some of my days are like that. 

Tuesday

I did laundry and even got it all put away with the bad knee.  Little accomplishments.  :) 

Wednesday

Real excitement!  Leah's sister, Ariel, and her husband, Ben, live in Minneapolis and said they could pick up the IKEA furniture and store the boxes in their garage for us!  Most of what I want to order is out of stock except for the wardrobes and little cabinets I want to use as end tables.  Ben drove his truck over to IKEA and picked them up!!  The first items are purchased and down in Minneapolis at Ariel's--TaDa!  That is so nice of them!!  As items come in stock they can pick them up (nearest IKEA to us is down there over 250 miles away) and when we are ready for the furniture we'll rent a UHaul!  So exciting!  Huge thanks to Ariel and Ben!!

Thursday

Leah had an appointment for a plumbing estimate.  He was going to check on the city code to see if it was okay to tuck a washer and dryer partway under the stairs or not.  Plumbing is the biggest expense because of adding the washer (and dryer) and the kitchenette with a sink and frig/freezer.  It will take a while to get that estimate.

Dagan works with a guy named Trent and he is absolutely another godsend for us.  He offered to help with the build, has done his own basement (much larger and D&L say looks very professional) and has helped others.  He and Leah are doing a kind of exchange.  What Trent did with his yard years ago has kind of died or faded away, I guess.  He knows about building, but not about landscaping.  Leah used to work at Baker Nursery and did landscaping so she is going to help him make up a landscaping plan for next spring and then will go over and help him plant everything.  How fantastic is that?!  Huge thanks also to Trent!!

Anyways, Leah and the boys came over with cat food for Allie on Thursday--and a huge catnip fish toy.  No masks!!  It was the first time since February, I think.  So nice to see their faces and get hugs!!  I was too excited to remember to take pictures!  It was also different to have a cat who hung around with all of us!  Allie enjoyed her new toy, too--as you can see her with her fish pillow after they left.  (She and I were both exhausted--LOL!)

Allie's newest spot she likes is on the glass folding table next to my chair.

Good higher view of the critters--baby bunny...

...and partridge family.  The baby is almost as big as the parents now.

There's also four partridges grouped up already.  They do that come fall.  Early fall?  The sparrows are grouping up, too, already.

Allie and I fit comfortably together like a pair of old slippers.  She is perfect.  It was truly meant to be.  Huge thanks to GA.  ;)

Anyways, Leah, the boys, and I went out to the garage so we could pull out my metal patio glider chair and table on to the grass for a picture--for selling.

Leah also took measurements of my bins I have in the garage to see how many we can stack up in these shelves up in their garage.  Four high!  Hurray!

Was wonderful (and a little weird yet) to get hugs goodbye.  So very nice!

Friday

Leah had an appointment with HVAC about the estimate for heating, humidifier and such.  Later she dropped off some taco hamburger she made for me.  We both said how nice it will be to just be able to send it downstairs one day soon rather than have to drive over--LOL

I set up more letters and worked on catching up all day.  Saw that Wanderlust 2023 was available at an early price of $89 (vs. $175).  I could make 3 payments of about $29 so I grabbed that opportunity right away.  I know it doesn't seem to make sense to most people when I haven't been able to participate...but I do so look forward to the videos every week,,,and every single class is mine to keep whenever I can get to them.  They have been food for my weary soul during all of this cancer ordeal and Keytruda weakness & exhaustion, for sure!  I'm all set to continue through next year.  :)

Saturday

First of all--this really cracked me up!!  Look what I got in the mail?!!   

How ridiculous, eh?  I got diagnosed in June of 2021--14 months ago--and this is the first I get information on their Cancer Support Group!  ROFL!  

Dagan picked me up about 4pm for a visit--yes, a visit!!  I showed him and he laughed, too.  What do you expect from a hospital that has only one full-time oncologist--that you don't even like, he said--lol!  Yes, and in this time I have been going there two part-time people have left.  What a joke.

Anyways, I went over for a short visit over dinner.  An actual visit and not a video call while they ate--whoohoo!

Almost forgot to get pictures again!

Not sure what Liam was doing--lol!

Anyways....drum roll!!!

Here is the totally out of proportion furniture plan sketch I made for my apartment!  

The actual dimensions of the rooms are pretty close because I kind of traced the old blueprint from when they had the house built that Leah sent me a picture of.  Leah and I have been working on the furniture plan for a few weeks.  When we put our heads together and bounce ideas off each other we always come up with the best plans...better than either of us would have come up with on our own.  This always happens--when we do cards or anything.  Love it!

My tastes have changed so very much over the last couple of decades--and since I no longer need any bedroom furniture because I haven't been able to sleep in a bed for years...well, that meant I could get rid of the big heavy bedroom set--TaDa!  That opened Pandora's box for me!  As you know, I have loved the simple lines of the cabinets I got for the studio and the new tables for studio and kitchen--all from IKEA...and my foremost concern is storage--storage--storage...well, IKEA and I are going to be even better friends--LOL!

First of all, though, I have to show you the Egress window wells for the basement apartment.  I took pictures when I was there.  It is hard to show how huge they are.  

North side of the house. 

South side of the house.

Here's a couple pics from when the house was being built to give you an idea how big they are.

There's a ledge inside (to assist with escape in an emergency because they are so deep) and a lot of light comes in...even on the north side of the house.  I think there's only about 4 feet to the floor from the windowsill. 

I will even be able to have flowers in the window wells!!  Leah says she will fix them up and stain them.  They just have random weeds growing in them right now.  (Window wells do usually tend to be generally low on normal priority levels--lol!)  

If you are interested...I tried to get pictures of the IKEA furniture off the website...finally got them on to the computer...but then could not get them on to the blog.  So I literally took pictures of my laptop screen.  So they aren't the best, but you will have an idea of the plans.

What is already ordered?

Two of these wardrobes that will go along the living room wall there next to the studio.  

I wanted all my clothes and all the paper-type stuff for writing in the living room.  These wardrobes will hold everything from my bedroom closet--plus the things I keep on the shelf above and the floor below in there...and maybe even a little more.  ;)

The other items already waiting in Ariel's garage are three of these 2-drawer cabinets I will use as end tables.  Yes, they are larger than normal and long.

I will face the drawers out on the two end spots and drawers forward with the center one.  They are likely going to be filled with paper goods--literally paper, envelopes, printer paper and anything for letters.  (I do buy in bulk.)

I wanted the surface area to be longer and wider than normal because, as you know, my lazy susans have become a wonderful (albeit weird) essential in my life the past few years.  I am tired of them hanging off the edges of my smaller assortment of end tables with no room to spare.  I will have lots of room to set things and even for Allie to sit or sprawl.  (It has become known she loves to sprawl up on things so having more room is an unexpected plus for her, too.)  LOTS of storage!  :)

Speaking of storage.

I plan to get two of these for the wall the TV is going on...

...with this set of drawers in-between the other two.

The center one has a couple deeper drawers for larger items and it is lower than the two 12-drawer units...so that the TV can go above it on the wall.  I'll only use one side of one of the 12-drawer dressers for actual clothes...the rest will be for storage.

Then on the living room wall between the pocket front door and the south window will go two of these!  (But not with sliding doors--can get them with drawers that pull open.) 

Leah took a picture of the one they have in the school room.  The satchels fit inside the bottom deeper part with the solid doors!!  SO exciting to me!!  

I wondered where in the world would I fit all our satchels!?

You may recall I have a hallway full of them...

See!  Not kidding!

Even a little bit more in the studio.

More than half of them have art & craft things in them and the rest have cards in them (made and store bought).  So all the ones related to letter writing will go in the living room bookcases.

In the studio I'll have two of these on the center wall next to the die cut table.  It's just like the one D&L have in the school room--and the rest of the many satchels will fit in the bottoms of them.  

Leah says I could leave the doors off entirely for these two in the studio if I want to since everything is open shelves in the studio to get to easily and be able to see.  Just so excited I will actually have a proper place for all the satchels even!  Could it get any better than this!! :) 

And finally the bookcase that goes right around the corner of the room!!  This will go from the pocket door to the bathroom right around to the north window in the studio.  Will likely have another regular size bookcase added to the left side, too.

This is what the corner bookcase looks like at D&Ls.

It is really nice!  I got to see everything when I was there...upstairs and down.  (We're still planning bathroom and kitchen stuff, too, of course.)

So--all those IKEA shelves and dressers are going to replace: three bedroom dressers & a nightstand, my bedroom closet, 10 bookcases, the TV cabinet, and my desk.  It may have seemed like a lot till you heard that--ROFL!  And I haven't even gotten to thinking about the garage...but none of that needs to come into the apartment, I don't think.  Most of that will actually be gone before I move.  

Lots of purging ahead.

Don't worry that it will be dark and gloomy...I will add color in accents around and with art and rugs and such.

You know how I like color.  ;)

Goodness!

So besides all that I have a few pics from Leah, too.  

Peas from the garden...

...and the boys shucking on the deck.

So serious.

At the water park.

At the zoo again...

..and Ian climbing one of their trees.

She also sent this video for Gramma.  

When Ian was hearing how the basement was going to be my apartment and they couldn't just come in without permission...the first thing Ian said was he wanted to make me a doorbell.   

I do admire his endless enthusiasm and creativity...but I'm not sure I will end up with a working doorbell--lol!  

Anyways, I actually finished the blog!  Whoohoo!  It is 3:45am and maybe I can sleep now that I have already showed you everything and chatted about all the stuff.  Brain just so busy I can't sleep sometimes--LOL!  But this night owl can probably catch a few winks now that I got that all out.  So exciting!!  Leah and I just can't quit when we get to texting, emailing, or chatting on the phone.  Tonight we were discussing the bookcases...and floors...and rugs...and cabinets for the bathroom and kitchen--LOL!

Time to try to sleep.  Allie is sound asleep sprawled in front of the TV...so I can't use the remote--ROFL!  

I might have to get up and move her over. ;)  But I will have sweet dreams.  Can picture my new home more clearly all the time.  Nite! Nite!  Chat some more next week.  :) :)