shaking off the dust...

Gosh, where to begin... I feel like I need to explain. I have not hosted any swaps, taught any classes, spent much time outside my home and am getting emails from girlfriends asking me if they are doing something wrong when they sign on to my blog because they keep getting my Feb 1 post and nothing else.

I have really neglected my entire life excepting my husband and children (thank goodness I have at least my priorities somewhat in the correct order!) In January we had a flood in our main hallway upstairs. We had no idea how much damage it caused. We had industrial fans and dehumidifiers, estimators, insurance agents, construction workers, drywallers, carpet installers, tile and wood floor installer (who was also our), baseboard painter and installer, painters (my husband and I), electrician (my DH who isn't really an electrician but did a wonderful job and fortunately didn't set off so much as a spark), tile remover (also my DH... what a handy guy!), etc... Thank God for insurance!

We were told we needed to replace the flooring throughout the entire house minus our kitchen area. It was like moving out and starting over without being able to move our stuff out completely. We were like gypsies moving from room to room.

Since we needed new flooring, we decided we should paint before it came in, and since we were going to paint, we thought, we may as well get new baseboards, and since we were getting new baseboards, we decided to get new light fixtures as well, and since we got new light fixtures, we thought new bathroom accessories and bathmats and shower curtains were essential as well as new bathroom mirrors, and since... it can get really out of hand.

One of my girlfriends said it was like the children's story "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie"

She was so right.

Well, now it is almost April and we are just getting started putting our home back together. I never had any idea that so much dust could ever be produced! It was so bad I had to throw out our couch covers and start fresh but it is nice being able to see my floors again and beginning to have some sort of organization back in our lives.

Here are some before and in the process photos:

Once the house is back together again, I promise to post some photos of a clean, organized and newly decorated home. Knowing that people live here, I wonder if that will ever happen??!!

Here's hoping!!

~xo