Music, makes the people, come together…*

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*Lyrics by Madonna, from Music.

Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, I almost always use song lyrics as my blog post titles. I don’t really know when I began doing it on purpose, but I do know that music has been a central part of my experience of the home improvement process. Perhaps it was my attempt to make the renovation seem more like the best parts of my summer in Boston at art school, where our loooong work days were punctuated by a variety of different musical styles, contributed by a variety of different people. Perhaps it’s because Dave and his crew started out happily playing the radio (yes, the actual, commercial soaked, ten-song-per-day playing radio) during their workdays and I just couldn’t handle it. We were already squeezed into only one-third of our downstairs, and half of our upstairs (and by half I mean two of four rooms, but not half of the square footage – it was also probably more like a third) and sharing the airwaves with craptastic music was where I drew the line. Either way, we quickly remedied the situation by supplying loud computer speakers and a cord for a wi-fi equipped iPod.

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Like a fool, I fell in love with you…*

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So, in an effort to distract ourselves from the lingering sadness that comes when you lose a family member, and to distract my 8 year-old niece from missing her mother too much (who was away on a vacation/conference trip for 10 days) we took a little vacation to NYC to visit family. We (not in this order, and not all in one day, and I’m certain I’ve left something vital out): walked until our (my) feet were swollen; enjoyed the Botanic Garden in Brooklyn; walked across the Brooklyn Bridge (twice!); ate real New York pizza, bagels and doughnuts, and visited restaurants old and dear; saw Chinatown and, as my niece put it, a “Little Tiny Italy”; strolled through Central Park; (she) went to Coney Island and swam in the ocean; (she, ok and we) played at NY parks, including running through a sprinkler with her clothes on; took a trip to the New York Hall of Science (a kid-tastic highlight); visited with each and every auntie and (formerly) untle (now uncle – sigh) we could muster up, and just generally forgot about the world at home for a bit. Well, we mostly forgot about it. We did manage to do a little design reconnaissance at Room & Board.

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I won’t forget, I swear…*

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I am sad to report the passing of my beloved baby dog, Bec.

My beloveds.

May was a rough month. She was diagnosed with lung cancer on the first of May, and by May 30th she was gone (hence the blog absence). We are devastated by her loss, and are still adjusting to the new reality. We’re still coping, and trying to put our life into an order that has never existed. Until now I’d never known my husband without Bec – they were a package deal when we first started dating. It’s strange for both of us to have the whole house to ourselves… there’s no one to bark at the mailman, there’s no one to try to eat our dinner, or to get startled by the loudness of sound effects in movies, no one to get scared by the thunder and lightening, no one to greet us when we come home, and no one to curl up at the foot of the bed at night. We miss her dearly, and are doing our best to be grateful for our time with her, and to remember her in her healthiest days, rather than how sick she had become.

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I held my breath and said, “May I have the next one?”…*

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We shall now break from our regularly interior-focused blog posts to dedicate one entirely to the bloom of the month: lilacs. *Lyrics from Polkadots and Moonbeams as sung by a young, and dashing Frank Sinatra.

Welcome to Lilacland indeed.

Every year, as the lilacs bloom, we who are lucky enough to be near them, inhale their sweet fragrance with appropriate hunger. Lilacs do not last long, but they are powerful, delicate and abundant while they do. Last year my older sister shared with me the location (and knowledge) of lilacland, and this year my younger sister decided to make the journey home just to visit this place. I believe she said it was worth the bus fare. It was even worth the inevitable allergy flare-up.

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Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need…*

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Firstly, an update on the pup. Thank you guys for caring, and for sharing your own stories. Pet love cannot be underestimated, taken for granted, or fully explained if you haven’t experienced it. And I, for one, am among the lucky who get to experience it. The doggie had her visit with the specialist today who was pleased to see that the palliative care medicines that she’s on are helping. A lot. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that she’s got cancer, and that she’s not a candidate for surgery. After a long visit, and a slightly less-long conversation amongst ourselves, we’ve decided to just try to keep her comfortable for as long as possible. Chemotherapy, while possibly (20-30% chance at 20-30% improvement) assisting in keeping up her physical quality of life for as long as possible, would no doubt strain our baby’s nerves, thus degrading her emotional quality of life (vet visits are the bane of her existence and always have been). Short term problem, sure. But when we’re looking at only a couple of months (at best) for our little one, those short term problems really add up. So, for now, we’re on a hospice-like path. She’s regained her usual spunk, thanks to the steroid/painkiller combo, and has her appetite back. We’ll see how long the current drug therapy works, and adjust as we go. We’re hoping that if she were able to choose for herself, this would be the choice she’d make.

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I really feel that I’m losing my best friend, I can’t believe this could be the end…*

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I don’t know how my every-other-daily blog posts turned into week-and-a-half-ly blog posts, but there you have it. Things have been slow on the home improvement front. And it’s difficult to photograph paint drying. But, I can report that I have completed the painting of the cabinet and shelves, the second coat is on the wall, and a coat of enamel paint is curing on the countertops. I finally tackled the stripe treatment that I threatened (promised) to do, even if I did simplify it a bit (for expediency as well as design – sometimes less is more). Everything is coming together nicely, and the weather improvements mean that I can open the windows while I use toxic enamel paint.

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Let it go, this too shall pass…*

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*Lyrics from OK GO’s This Too Shall Pass.

So, for the past month (I looked it up since it seems like it’s been longer) I’ve been battling the never ending saga of tooth pain. If you’ve ever suffered from anything related to that, you’ll understand exactly why I’ve barely done anything but bathe, eat soft food, haven’t exercised, and have only gotten mildly through my punch list for the family bath. After my latest dental examination showed that I might not just have one tooth in peril, but two (cue meltdown here) I’ve decided to stop feeling badly about neglecting my work, and my blog. I will be back at it, and the exercise, too, once I feel that my tooth pain issues have been properly addressed, and when I feel safe in encouraging blood to pump freely (and quickly) through my head.

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And my head told my heart “let love grow”…*

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*Lyrics from Mumford & Sons’ song Winter Winds, from their album Sigh No More.

Spring has finally, and truly, begun here in the northeast and I couldn’t be happier. It’s that wonderful time of year, before the allergies really kick in, and before the mosquitoes take over (though I confess to already having two bites from one walk sans socks). Before you realize that soon you’ll be showing your legs to the world (by hook or by crook, shorts are an evil necessity in summer), soon you’ll be wishing you can have a third shower every day, and that soon you’ll be exhausted at the thought of turning on a single burner to cook (and you can forget baking). For now, we can remain blissful in the awakening of our landscape, our newfound bird and squirrel population (a point driven home by a surge in roadkill being picked clean by crows), our ability to occasionally open the windows to let a fresh, slightly warm breeze into the house. It is a joyous time, made especially joyous by the bountiful buds and blooms that begin to emerge as if gifts (as our neighbors like to say) from Mother Nature herself. Gifts they are, slowly unwrapping, slowly and carefully making us stop dead in our tracks as we see yet another hit of color in our formerly brown-gray, seemingly lifeless vistas.

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We both know that it’s time, So walk on by…*

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*Lyrics from Fitz & The Tantrums’ song Winds of Change from their album Pickin’ Up the Pieces.

Ok, I’ll fess up. I’ve been slacking on the blog lately. I blame the dentist. Or rather my wimpy constitution. (Turns out minor tooth pain is all-consuming, even when it’s planned.) And I blame my epic lack of emotional fortitude. Watching that bathroom come together inch by inch really damaged my psyche. And made me want nothing to do with finishing it. But I have to. It’s my job (the hubs is busy like the dickens, and has NO time to fiddle around with joint compound, grout sealer, or primer and paint).

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The book of love has music in it, in fact that’s where music comes from…*

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*Version by The Airborne Toxic Event, lyrics by Magnetic Fields.

As the last bits of winter melt away (though we are expecting another winter storm this Friday), and as my efforts to recover from dentist-induced injuries continue, I find myself reflecting on the changes that have occurred in the past year, and the past ten years, really. In the past year we’ve: met our contractors for the first time; signed contracts and pulled permits; spent more money than we knew we had/had to; renovated our kitchen and three bathrooms (almost done with the last bathroom); had our entire house rewired; painted every inch of trim and walls in the first floor (except the ceiling and crown moldings), and half of the second; and started friendships that will (hopefully) last the rest of our days.

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