I haven't updated our progress on the house in a while, primarily because I haven't been making any. I've been diagnosed with an auto-immune disease but am still in the preliminary testing stages and am obviously hoping the diagnosis is wrong. However, I've had enough trouble functioning that it's been all up to the man of the house to get nearly everything accomplished. In the photo below, I had to cover up the half-dressed person painting above our built-in entertainment center because he is Strongly Against having his photo uploaded to the internet. I left the hand with the paintbrush, though, so you can see he was hard at work.
The living area is almost done! It's been great to watch the yellow disappear. It was just not my thing. In the kitchen? The sunny yellow is tolerable with a lot of other color thrown in. In a living area, not so much. At any rate, we've managed to move our "good shelves", the IKEA Timmermans, and hope to load them up soon. We've been loaned a pickup truck for a week and this week will be more about hauling as much of the remaining furniture as possible rather than settling in, though. Most everything has been moved in CR-V loads, so you can see why our move has stretched out over 2 months, already. Here are the Timmermans, all sad and empty, prior to being moved to the new house:
Reading-wise:
- The Sandcastle Girls was the last book I finished. Since then, I've been reading Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson but it took me about 5 days to read 50 pages. I haven't found much time (or energy) for reading. I'm still reading Miss Buncle's Book and have added
- The Stars Shine Bright by Sibella Giorello. I'm enjoying both. I love Sibella Giorello's mystery series. It's very unusual for me to like a series so much that I find it unbearable to pass up a new release but I can't bear to miss a book by Giorello.
Just walked in (the past week's arrivals with links to descriptive website pages):
- The White Forest by Adam McOmber - from Simon & Schuster for review
- The Map of the Sky by Felix J. Palma - from Atria via Shelf Awareness
- The Other Half of Me by Morgan McCarthy - from Free Press for review
- The Exceptions by David Cristofano - from Grand Central for review
- Circling the Waggins and Born Without a Tail by Cayr Ariel Wulff - from author for review
- Decorate by Holly Becker - purchase
- The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons - from Paperback Swap
Some of the whys and wherefores:
- Miss Buncle's Book sounded like an upbeat form of entertainment. I'm finding that it is; I just haven't been able to stay awake very long during my normal reading time.
- The White Forest sounds like a perfect, atmospheric and creepy read for fall. I don't know whether I'll join in on the RIP Challenge or if it will even continue in 2012 (spooky reads) but Carl's challenge has become so ingrained that I tend to look for ghostly, paranormal, mysterious reads to begin curling up with in September even when I don't join in.
- The Exceptions by David Cristofano apparently continues the story from The Girl She Used to Be, which I thought was quite nearly a perfect book, stylistically, although a bit disturbing.
- I bought Decorate by Holly Becker and Joanna Copestick because I like Undecorate so much. They're actually not companions (not the same publisher, near as I can tell) but they look like they belong together and I need inspiration.
- Bob Tarte, author of Kitty Cornered (whose wonderful book Enslaved by Ducks currently costs only $1.99 for Kindle) posted info about Circling the Waggins on Facebook and I commented that I'd be adding it to my wishlist. Bob apparently told the author that I write book reviews and she contacted me. I seldom accept books directly from authors but I trust Bob and his circle of friends. Ariel Wulff sent me both of her published books rather than just the new one.
I didn't realize:
Miss Buncle's Book is also published by Persephone Books. Cool. My copy is from Sourcebooks and I do love the Sourcebooks cover.
My sidebar is taunting me:
I have three books I need to review. Soon, I hope. Soon, soon.
Happy Tuesday from Bookfool!
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I am very sorry to hear that you may be facing a serious illness, and I will be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. Please take care of yourself, my friend, and let the hubs do the heavy lifting. I love that the kitties are so interested in everything!
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely letting him do the heavy lifting, Heather! Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. I truly appreciate them.
DeleteThe kitties are such nuts. I just love 'em to death. They keep things cheerful. :)
The cats look like they've been helping! And I'll keep my fingers crossed that the diagnosis is WRONG.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, they're incredibly helpful, Jill. :) Thanks! Appreciate the crossed fingers!!
DeleteSorry to read of your diagnosis. Our son has an autoimmune disease so I know what a struggle it is. I'm sending good vibes your way.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good vibes, Kathy!! I'm sorry your son has an autoimmune disease. I've read a lot about the one I've been diagnosed with and it sounds frankly awful.
DeleteNancy, I'm hoping that the doctors are wrong and that you will soon be feeling better and filling those shelves up with all kinds of books!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kay! I'm hopoing they're wrong, too. I fit the profile to a T, though. Hoping I have something similar but not as vicious. I can't wait to load the shelves!!!
DeleteOh, that just stinks about the autoimmune disease! I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis which is an autoimmune disease that thankfully has pretty decent treatments. I sincerely hope that you feel better, and that they find that it is something different and benign. If you ever need a listening ear just shoot me an email.
ReplyDeleteAnd the kitties are of course, darling as ever!
I may take you up on that offer, Alyce. Thanks for the good wishes. If it is the disorder they think it is, the treatment is absolutely brutal and only helps. There's no cure. So, I'm still holding out hope that it's something else, even though my online research isn't turning up anything else that it could be.
DeleteThanks! The kitties are such troupers. I hope they like the new house. We're almost done with the painting (or, rather, the husband is finishing up) so we should be able to move them to the new house by the end of the week!
Oooo! The House At Tyneford. I've had my eye on that one. Love the kitty pics and yet they make me sort of irritated. I hate when kitties just won't stay out of things. ;)
ReplyDeleteI put The House At Tyneford on my wish list because of a list of suggestions I read -- specifically for people who like Downton Abbey. I'm hoping I'll love it. Hope you do, too, when you get around to reading it!
DeleteOh, really? I love it that my cats are into everything. It's fun to watch them explore. Now . . . I wouldn't like it if they walked through paint, so that's why we've waited to move them into the new house. They'll have a lot more exploring to accomplish, once we do move them! That's assuming they don't hide under the bed for the rest of the year. Cats are not particularly into moving, after all. :)
That's where I know Miss Buncle's Book from! It's one of the Persephone's I want!! I'm so sorry to hear about the auto immune disorder, Nance :( I know we talked a little about it over email and I was so hoping it was a wrong diagnosis. Sound like maybe it's still a possibility? I so hope so!! More than anything, regardless of the diagnosis I just hope you feel better soon! And I LOVE your IKEA bookshelves :D They look so fantastic!! Also love the censored pics of the hubby, lol. Cracked me up. XOXO
ReplyDeleteI had no idea Miss Buncle was a Persephone. It's fun reading.
DeleteWell, we haven't gotten past that preliminary diagnosis but I can tell you it just acts like everything I've read, unfortunately. The worst part of this is that because it's something big that requires a specialist, I'm not being treated. So, I just can't do much of anything. I wish they'd at least go ahead and give me something to help the symptoms. Waiting is hell.
Thanks! I love those IKEA shelves, too. We'd hoped to fill our house with them. The Timmerman style had been around for at least 10 years (David had an old German IKEA catalog) before we began buying them. And, then . . . they discontinued Timmerman. I'd buy more if they'd bring the style back (and throw out some other shelves).
Glad you liked that pic. :)
and now, a HAPPY WEDNESDAY! Thanks for the post card. :) I'll wait awhile and maybe wait until I get your new addy before I send something...
ReplyDeleteSomething about empty bookshelves that look so clean and inviting. Have fun continuing to move and may you feel energetic enough to decorate and unpack.
Thanks, Carrie! Happy Wednesday to you, too! I'll send you my new address. Huzzybuns has spent a few nights there, but I've stayed at the old house because the kitties don't like being left alone. When they move, I move. Shouldn't be long.
DeleteGood point about empty bookshelves looking inviting! They're *getting* clean. I was stunned at the sheer quantity of dust on them. I thought I'd kept up with it a bit better than that!
Thanks! I can do a few boxes' worth of packing at a time and that's about it. I spend most of my time being an achy bum. It sucks. I'm waiting for the second round of blood tests and then I'll get an appointment with a specialist. No treatment till then, unfortunately.
I have a copy of Miss Buncle's Book, but haven't started it. I've read, but not reviewed, The White Forest. I'm eager to hear what you think about it.
ReplyDeleteGood thoughts on the way that your diagnosis is not what they suspect.
Cool! We seem to end up reading a lot of the same books (in spurts) sometimes, don't we? It'll be a few weeks till I get to The White Forest because I'm so far behind on my ARCs but I'm really looking forward to it. I hope you enjoyed it.
DeleteThanks. It's not looking good, at this point, but I'm still hopeful it's a wrong diagnosis.
Oh Nancy, I'm so sorry to hear about the medical issues. As if migraines weren't enough! I hope so very much that the diagnosis turns out to be wrong. I know some auto-immune diseases are far easier to deal with than others, but from what I gleaned from the comments here, if the diagnosis is correct, you don't have an easy road ahead. My heart is aching for you, but I will also keep it full of positive thoughts for you. *hugs*
ReplyDeleteDebi,
DeleteI got good news back. All the follow-up tests were negative so they're thinking the initial test was a false positive. Woot! I'm still going to go to a specialist to just ask about the trouble I was having because it took weeks before I even began to feel better, but I'm thinking it may have been caused by food allergies. If so, no problem. We've already started working on a gluten-free, extremely healthy diet and I have gone from exhausted and achy to having tons of energy (still a little sore in the joints but nothing like I was). I will be a happy, happy girl if I find out that's all I have to do to keep the pain away!!! Thanks for the hugs and thoughts!!!
I love those IKEA Timmerman's!! We don't have an IKEA anywhere around here, which is probably a good thing. ;)
ReplyDeleteI picked up a copy of The House at Tyneford a few months ago. Let me know when you're ready to read it and maybe I'll join you in a buddy read. That is, if it's after September. Bellezza and I are getting ready to start our buddy read of The Thorn Birds. I probably should've gotten a headstart on it earlier this month!
When you get a chance, can you send me your new address via email? Thanks!
Thanks! The Timmermans are our favorite shelves. I would have filled my house with them, if I could have. We don't have an IKEA nearby, either. We actually drove to Houston to buy those. And, we've been to Dallas to pick up some other IKEA things. I'm not sure which is closer, Dallas or Atlanta. Neither is particularly convenient. I think they're both close to 6 hours away. Houston was farther but the only IKEA in the South, at the time, as I recall.
DeleteOh, cool, I'd love to buddy read The House at Tyneford with you! It'll be after September. I still have loads of ARCs to finish. Have fun with The Thorn Birds. It's a chunkster!
I've sent you an email with my address. :)