Progress in the Basement

Thank you for your wonderful words while I was sick. 

 Blogger kindness is one of my favorite reasons for blogging.

As I said in my last post, Mr. M. has been working on the basement flooring while I was sick on the couch. 

I did go down and supervise every once in a while, but so far.

IT LOOKS WONDERFUL!!

Look at that beautiful wood laminate floor.  

We bought the flooring at Lumber Liquidators.

I love how the white painted desk looks against it.

We choose wood laminate for several reasons; the basement originally has a cement floor and we did not want to glue, hammer or tile.

That only left the choice of floating floor.

We already have radiant floors and it is warmer than if it was not heated, but the cement was just colder on the feet.

I found out several years ago that I am not really a fan of oak wood.

Our current floor in the main hall and dinning room are heart pine wood, stained medium dark.

In the basement we went with the pine laminate that is lighter.

We chose a lighter color because we do not have a lot of natural light in the basement.

When we started finishing the basement six years ago, my brother gave us two faux skylight panels for the florescent lights.  You can almost see the birds flying, at least that is what we were able to convince our 2 year old son at the time. 

 Nope, not birds, dead flies.

We have two of these multipane doors, one on each side at the bottom of the stairs.

One door leads into the family, playroom, workout side of the basement and the other leads into the storage, laundry area and a door that leads to the outside entrance.

Keeping it real.

In this picture, I am in the process of rearranging everything so we can start laying down the floor.

This is the other side of the room.

See, I do pack a lot of stuff in one room. 

This is that same view of above with new flooring.

100% better!

This picture shows some of the pieces I picked up to go in the room.

This will be one of many firetrucks that will be throughout the room.

  I bought this one at a local antique shop.

I also have a surprise project that is inspired by firetrucks.

I have two of these postcard pillows I bought on sale at Joann Fabrics.

This is the blue that will no longer be on the walls.

I lived with it for almost 5 years.

Nope, can't do it.

I will try blue in little doses, accent pillows and such, but NOT the walls.

The foreground color is what the walls are painted now.

See, blue accents.  

That I can handle.

I have two more wing back chairs and a footstool or two that I have to make slipcovers for.

I am thinking I would like to incorporate some of these fabrics, but I have not figured that out yet.

So, that is the basement progress so far.

Mr. M. is out trying to track down the remaining baseboard molding needed so he can finish the flooring and I can start painting.  He knows the faster he gets the trim up, the faster I start painting, and once I start painting I have I have to finish asap, and it will only take me a few days.

Then the fun part begins, putting the room back in order and all the extras that make the room come alive, shelves, chairs, couches, tables and accents.

I'm in Pain Here

I can say that I have been busy.

Sick that is.

Man, I do not get sick that often, but when I do it kicks my butt.

For the first time since I started my job, I had to call in sick.

That is NOT something I do.

I had a horrible cough, so bad that I found out what muscles are used in your back to cough.

I called in twice.

Totally unheard of!

I could barely move without crying out in pain that is how much it hurt.

I went to my Dr., they were not much help, you have a virus-three ibuprofen and you can go back to work tomorrow.

HELLO, WHAT ABOUT MY BACK?

I know I looked at the woman like she had a couple of horns coming out of her head.

That is how I felt!

So then I did the smart thing and went to the Chiropractor.

She could tell how much pain I was in, she showed some sympathy, did her magic and even though I was still in pain, I felt better mentally when I left.

  Like she was listening to me and really understood what was wrong.

I had a day off and then I did go back to work on Friday like the good Dr. said I could.

Even my manager could see I should not be at work. 

 But, because they were short staffed, I stayed through lunch and then was sent home early.

I was able to rest over the weekend.

I still have the cough but my back is feeling so much better.

It was my first time going to a Chiropractor, but it will definitely not be my last.

While I was busy being sick, Mr. M. was busy putting some new flooring in the basement.

I am in love with how good it looks already.

Have you ever had a bad experience with your Dr.?  Feeling like they really weren't paying attention?

Well, I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend!

Be My Valentine

Valentine's Day

is not

just about

roses

and 

chocolates

It's about the everyday of love.

I hope my darling knows he is my everyday love.

Happy Valentine's Day 

Mr. M.

For the Day of Love

Ah, to be in love.

Getting ready for that special day of LOVE.

Valentine's Day 

is 

also

OUR ANNIVERSARY!

14 Years!

Yep, still in love!

In fact, even more!

I set the kitchen table to show you how it will look for the kids on Valentine's morning.

Of course, as soon as I took the picture I had to quick clean up the table before all the candy was eaten.

Kids, no Mr. M. has a huge sweet tooth.

I do not have as many decorations for this holiday as I do Halloween or Christmas.

I don't really have much red either.

I decorated the mantels in the living room and the dinning room and the tables.

My decoupaged moose is one of my favorites.

 I made her using a paper form and some tissue paper of red roses.

Paper, fabric, wood and cloth hearts of different sizes

Simple is the dinning room.

The kids love eating in the dinning room.

We turn off the lights and eat by candle light.

The small gold hearts are left overs from our wedding reception.

These two hearts are my favorite.

I just love the colors and textures in this picture.

I wish all a wonderful Valentine's Day filled with lots of LOVE!

I am joining with Debra from Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday a Vintage Valentine's Party.

Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday.

And Courtney at French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday.

 and
Dear Lilly for Dear Lilly's Valentines Party.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

A Little Boy's Dream

Some of my readers may already know Mr. M. is a volunteer fireman for our local town.  Each year we attend an installation ceremony to install the new officers for the year.

 A special little boy made this year even more special.

Mr. M's fire company was one of four local fire companies called upon by Make-a-Wish Foundation to fulfill this little boys' dream of becoming a fireman.

Mr. M. and I attended the ceremony and watched as this special boy received a fireman's badge and certification making him an official Niagara County Fire Department member.

It was an amazing site to see, firemen humbled by this little boy and his family.  I don't think this little boy will ever really know that it was all of us who were given the special gift by being allowed to be involved in his dream.