Two months later...

The last two months have gone by so fast (too fast!).

About a month ago we moved my dad into the memory care unit of an assisted living facility.  It was, I think, meant to be...

We were given two day's notice by the rehab facility that he was being released the day before Thanksgiving. Of course we weren't prepared for that, so made arrangements to move him into their skilled nursing section (how convenient for them).

Skilled nursing is what you think of when you think "nursing home" - hospital beds and old people sitting in wheelchairs in the hallway.

I couldn't stand it.

Then, the director of one of the assisted living facilities I'd visited when he was first taken to the hospital called the day after Thanksgiving.  I had liked the facility, but thought it was too big - all elevators and long hallways.  He'd never find his way back to his room.

But she suggested their memory care unit.  I'd driven by it.  It was smaller.

Well, I happened to be in town.  She had time to meet with me an hour later.  I called my brother and he was available too.

They had three rooms available and by the end of the day we'd put down a deposit and by that Monday he moved in.

I didn't know if he'd like it.  He always said he wanted to stay at home, with visiting nurses to take care of him.

But he actually likes it! (Maybe because they took the guys to Hooters last week.)

I don't really care why.  I'm just happy he's happy and being taken care of.

Work is still going well.  I like it. It's stressful and I am REALLY busy.  But the people are nice (for the most part!).

I've been doing a lot of work on the house.  I'm tired of living in a construction zone, so am focusing on getting rooms done livable. I'm still working on multiple rooms at once (currently the master bedroom and dining room), but there is a plan and a light at the end of the tunnel!

Part of that plan involves getting "new" furniture.  My furniture consists mostly of hand-me-downs and IKEA.

I love the hand-me-downs.

I hate the IKEA.

So, I got rid of it.  All of it.

Then, just last weekend, I finally moved back into the master bedroom (remember this? That was almost exactly a year ago!).

I moved in a dresser I got from a garage sale, and a chest of drawers I got from a thrift store in New York (Thomasville!).  I set my little tv on top and hooked up the Wii so I can watch Deadwood, and thought "This is horrible.".

I needed something I could set my big tv on to watch Deadwood (it is SO GOOD!).

I needed one of those low, wide dressers.

I needed something like this...

This is a photo of an Ethan Allen dresser that was being sold by a furniture store in Maryland.

Two days ago, I found a dresser exactly like this at Goodwill for $35.88 (for Ethan Allen!).  Similar dressers are currently listed on eBay from $595 (without the mirror) to $1,200.

Also in the plan is removing the old, ugly medicine cabinet in the bathroom...

again, not my photo. this time it's from Home Depot

with a mirror and light fixture.

And, since I'm putting the big tv on the dresser, I won't be needing the mirror, so...

Two birds, one $35.88 stone.

That same night I found found The Light Between Oceans, which is supposed to be really good, and at a different Goodwill near me (that has the BEST selection of books),  I've recently found The Girl on the Train and The Goldfinch, in hardback, for $1 each.

The Girl on the Train was really good. I'm 88 pages into The Goldfinch (only 683 to go!), but it's already really good too.

Finally, I've tried a few new recipes - some were just ok, some were really good...

This Balsamic Mushroom Pasta from Girl Gone Gourmet was incredible! It was so good, I've already made it twice.

I also liked this Pineapple Fried Rice from Damn Delicious.

And finally, I was at my brother's house on Christmas Eve, and someone claimed their homemade Ritz Cracker fake Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patties (one of my favorite Girl Scout Cookies!!) were even better than the real thing.

No way.

Way.