HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY...

A very special little guy made me this St. Paddy's Day blessing.  It is hanging proudly on my sewing room storage cabinet. 

Speaking of my sewing room...there are lots of things going on!  I have continued to empty out my old sewing room (how the heck did I get so much stuff IN that tiny room?).  The contractor has almost completed my french doors, I assembled my portable design wall (how did I EVER live without one?!) and my button rug is now back where it belongs!  Now that I can almost see the "finished" room I am really itching to get it all completed.  But, the sewing room isn't the only thing happening at the cottage...

The contractor is almost finished installing and painting new baseboards in the basement.  On Monday the laminate flooring that we picked out for the "office" area in the basement will be installed.  Later that day the contractor will finish up the last of the baseboard work.  Then on Wednesday the carpeting will be installed.   THEN we can go out and buy new furniture to replace everything that was destroyed.  Joy...NOT.  I loved the way our basement looked pre-flood and while some of those things can be purchased still, one or two items are no longer made.  And all of that new furniture is going to mean a ton of work for J and his dear girlfriend!  I REALLY hate to impose on them, but Dear Hubby and I have absolutely no other option!  Both of us have significant health problems making us incapable of doing all of this on our own.  We are SO blessed to have their help!  They have truly been life-savers here at the cottage. 

While loving my son to death is a given, the love I feel for his dear girlfriend is so strong sometimes I have to remind myself that she isn't actually my daughter!  But she will be, as soon as their lives and finances have settled down enough to get married.  Unfortunately, Murphy has been visiting their lives almost as often as ours!  Every time they take two steps forward, it is followed by about six steps back!  But they love one another and the three of them are already a "family" in the truest sense of the word.  And her adorable son?  This "grandma" and "grandpa" are absolutely smitten with the little guy!  I don't know who is more anxious for them to be married, LOL!

All in all, in the big scheme of things, I am truly lucky and truly blessed.  I have a wonderful family, a lovely home (including my awesome new sewing room), food on the table and clothes on my back.  That's all I could ever want or need.  The dark days are over and it is time to focus on the light!  I'm alive and doin' fine!