Merry Christmas!

 

The Deepwood Estate

7/29/2012 - Catching up on photos that have been sitting on my phone while watching the Summer Olympics. These are from last December (2011).... I went on a tour of the Deepwood Estate with my Bible Study group (Jana, Jeanne, Christine) and my mother also tagged along, which was lovely. We toured the home and then we went out for dessert at Gerry Frank's Konditorei. I was still recovering from gallbladder surgery, so it was my first outing in almost two months (besides church) that didn't involve doctors or hospitals! And I could even eat the cake!

Love the tower! And there's a sun room off to the left.

An unusual split flue that allows for a window in the middle.

The house was full of amazing stained glass.

Beautiful woodwork everywhere.
The Door  with the glass window on the right is actually curved to fit into the wall!

Love the detail on old hinges.

A sweet corner in the kitchen.

Looking down the unusually curved stairs with a globe light on the pillar.
The stained glass windows sit over a curved landing with window seats.

Listening to the tour guide.... we are all envying this room.

More beautiful stained glass; even in the bathroom.
Also, notice the paneling!

Part of the gardens that were originally designed by Elizabeth Lord & Edith Schryver. 

Cake! At the Konditorei...

Me, Jeanne, Jana and Christine. 

Scandinavia, holidays and waffles

I've really been digging Scandinavian blogs lately. I'm especially enjoying Hei Astrid, Krims Krams and Brit-Arnhild's House in the Woods. Maybe it's because Scandinavians know how to do winter right. They also know how to do interior design right. mmm.

Blurry photo of candle sconce and a bucket with decorative dead greenery and pretty dead bird.

I was lying here feeling sorry for myself (I'm doing a lot of lying around right now, listening to stories and napping) when I got inspired to steal my mothers candle sconces and put up a smidgen of a Christmas decoration above my bed. Now I just have to get one of my ever lovin' brothers to put on my red and white comforter cover and I'll be on my way to holiday happiness.

Though now I just lie in bed paranoid that I'm going to drift off to sleep and the candles are going to explode and next thing I know there are three foot black flames licking up my wall.

I made these waffles for dinner tonight. Or I mixed them up and Daddy cooked them. Awesome waffle maker that man is. Daniel also finished baking our classic Christmas is coming Molasses Spiced Cookies. Starting to feel the holidays a bit.

I'm wearing a striped shirt today. Which makes me quite happy. I don't think I've owned a striped shirt for over 10 years. I think the last shirt I owned that was striped had a v-neck and I got sunburned in it at camp one year. I then had to wear it for the next three days as no other shirts had a matching neck line. Fond memories.

Said striped shirt. Also notice raccoon in background.

One of Jacob's main love languages is gifts. And if he is feeling concerned or loving toward you, he gives you a stuffed animal to sleep with. Last night, I got Mister Raccoon to watch over me. I tell you, I slept better for it.

Reading Scandinavian blogs and thinking about Scandinavian interior design has got me reevaluating what I like in design. And the only problem is that I can't figure out a name for what I like. Which isn't very helpful. I can think of decorating styles I'm not. And styles I admire. But I'm not sure what I like to live in. Eclectic might be the word. But it's not a very helpful or descriptive word. Expensive also works I guess.

Also, did you know that one of the reasons I got pulled out of public schools was... we studied Scandinavia in fourth grade and all we learned about were trolls and fairy tales. Helpful for when shows like Once Upon a Time and Grimm are all the rage, but not really helpful. At all.

Surgery, etc.

Well, quite a bit has happened since I posted. I began the week with a gallbladder and ended it without one.

I met with the surgeon on Monday. It was one of the most painless appts I've ever had. I think it helped that I looked pretty pathetic. I had started feeling a whole 'nother notch worse on Sunday, really achy and tired, so he pretty much said, let's do this sooner rather than later and I think we can fit you in on Tuesday. And I thought, Praise God.

So on Tuesday, I got it out. Nothing to spectacular. I do remember going into the operating room and joking with the anesthesiologist about the Christmas music playing. I thought that was pretty awesome that they had music playing in the operating room. Thankfully, I didn't really seem to get nervous before the operation; or else I was just too out of it!

Dad was so sweet and he took me. Once I had woken up and been wheeled into the recovery room he just hung out with me while I slept. Every once in a while he would give me a little cracker or soda. Eventually he ran out of laptop juice and we realized that we could turn on the TV and watch cable.  Yes! (we don't have cable) We found Modern Marvels and decided it was nice that we had the same taste in TV shows.  I then slept on and off for what seemed like hours, but eventually I felt well enough to try moving around and then we headed home.

Me. Not at my best. I think my dad was bored.

 Once we got home, everyone was very eager to see my war wounds, two under my ribs and one near the belly button. (I also have an impressive 4" circle bruise under my belly button!) and Daniel made me some Hot Chocolate to sip. Also, my mother anticipated that I would be wanting some English muffins and got them out from the freezer an hour before I got home. I didn't know this so when I got home, so I was bummed when Daniel came and told me there weren't any in the freezer. I was SO sure that I had seen some earlier! Then happy surprise when Mom told me the truth. I love her.

Now, if I had to do it all over again, I would have stayed in the hospital overnight. I didn't take my pain meds as quickly as I could have/should have when I got home, so I wasn't as comfortable as I could have been until around 2am. I also didn't realize that I was going to have to sleep in the LZ boy couch/chair thingy. Thank God we had it though! So yeah, next time, spend the night.The next morning, Tyler, who is so sweet and kind loaned me his 4" foam topper mattress so that I could sleep on my bed. I also lowered my sleep number from 100 to 30 and added about 4-6 pillows in a wedge formation so I could sleep on my back. Yay for pillows!Also, big secret out there. My mother shared this with me, so all credit goes to her. If you like electric blankets, put them underneath you. This has made all the difference. It makes it so much easier to get up, since I only have to deal with the comforter! And it has a much different, more comforting sort of warmth, if that makes any sense....

Anyways, recovery has been slow but fine. And really, in some ways I felt better hours after the surgery than I had in weeks! I did come down with a fever one night, which worried us, but the surgeon said it was probably nothing to be concerned about and thankfully it broke that night. Mostly I've just been doing a lot of sleeping. The first three days I slept a good couple of hours almost every time I took my pain meds. Today's the first day I haven't felt like I slept all day. My appetite is also slowly coming back! Tonight I ate the more food than I think I've eaten all week.

So, I'm glad this week is over. And I'm definitely looking forward to feeling like it's Christmas season and actually taking part in it. Instead of me just observing it. I love going to Portland at Christmastime and today the family went, gasp, without me! Oh well, I guess I forgive them. And really, my family's been just great; they deserved a day of having fun without having to wait on me hand and foot. :)