UPON US ALL...

Looks relaxing doesn't it?  This was last weekend at the lake, just relaxing with my coffee, looking out at the sunlight glinting off the lake.  As the sun moves over our house to the West, and you are on the actual lake as opposed to the bay, there is a magical time in the late afternoon when the whole lake seems to light up with diamonds.  Hence, the name Diamond Lake.  There is actually a book written about the lake, Diamond Sparkles, and you can find it on Amazon if you'd like.  

I pretty much finished up this corner of the Great room.  You may know we reupholstered the furniture, which was in super shape.  The glider rockers may be 80's 'country-ish', but if you ever had the pleasure of sitting in one of these babies...heaven!   We have to oil them pretty regularly, its second nature to rock and look at the water.  This is my favorite reading spot in the summer (in the winter I'm in front of the fireplace).  The details...the reproduction railway lantern from Target from their line of Farmhouse decor, Beekman 1802.  I also bought 2 additional, although different lamps  from this line for our bedroom.  At about $30, they are perfect for my budget and decor.  You can only find these online, by the way.

The last thing was looking everywhere for an area rug, getting discouraged at the lack of round ones, and so undecided if I wanted a natural or shag, beige or gray, or just use the one I had before.  And then while I was looking at the lamps online at Target, lo and behold I found this, The Eyelash Rug! If you look at the fibers up close they look like little eyelashes, or in my case, the faux kind that I've been known to use Elmer's Glue to reapply for social functions.  Since the furniture is angled, a 5x7 rectangle worked fine.  I was happy, The Husband was happy, and of course the dogs.  Funny, The Husband was very much wanting to have a say in everything I chose in putting the rooms back together but I don't think he really had much patience and he now lets me have my way.  :)

All we have left now is to hang the curtains for these humongous windows.  We have them but whenever I look in that direction, The Husband busies himself with something 'important'.  It's really only the winter nights that creep me out sitting here.  One night I saw the moonlight reflecting off a huge opossum ambling along the shore.  Another, a few pairs of eyes glowing at me, I'm sure raccoons.  

I'm off and running with buying flowers at the grocery store again.  It is just so dreary out and I don't really have many plants.  I did buy some shamrocks to put in  pot last Sunday.  The Southside Irish Parade always takes place the Sunday before St. Paddy's Day just a few blocks away.  It's actually the largest St. Patrick's Day parade outside of Ireland, beating out the one in downtown Chicago.  We always make our corned beef and cabbage the day of the parade.  On the 17th we'll probably have lasagna or Wiener Schnitzel.  ;-D

I really wanted to share this picture so you can see my glass coffee table which sadly, I have to say goodbye to.  I've only had it about 3 or 4 years but if you looks closely at the corners, they are lethally sharp.  When Elsie started walking we covered the whole table with a heavy quilt.  I understand you can find some sort of thingies to attach to corners of furniture at stores which cater to little ones.  We still aren't reassured.  What happens when the kids decide to jump on the couch or have a pillow fight?  And so, the old domino effect started.  I wanted a fabric ottoman to replace the table which could double as seating, but what sort of fabric?  I'd been wanting to reupholster our 15 year old floral sofa so I really needed to work on that fabric first.  Sounds like I do a lot of recovering furniture...what can I say?  You can't beat a quality piece.

I found a family owned business here in Chicago a few blocks away.  And this is the fabric I chose for the couch.  It's hard to tell the color but the owner, Manuel, kept insisting it was gray.  Perhaps since I had said I wanted gray.  And it should be done any day now.  In the picture with the coffee table you can see the club chair, a sort of light beige.  So...now I'm flipping out over an area rug.  This whole decorating/redecorating/designing stuff is not for me.  If I were an artist I'd definitely be a starving artist.  Nothing would get done.  I'd pick up a paint brush, put it down, and then sleep on it a few more weeks.  

I'll keep you posted.  

Madelyn turned 4 months old on the 10th.  It is amazing how fast she is growing.  And while we thought she looked like Emily so much in the first 4 weeks, she has totally morphed into her daddy, Mike.  She is being christened this Sunday.  Her gown was made out of a part of Emily's wedding dress.  I can't wait to share pictures.  

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I've been really down for the count health~wise, and I had so many of you wish me well that I thought I needed an explanation.  

For almost a year I have been taking a powerful medication to suppress the immune system.  Primarily used to help rejection of organs in patients who received donated organs, it was found to help in a lot of other diseases, in my case, severe and advanced eczema that hadn't responded to any other treatment over the past 25 years.  You can read more about all of this in my post here.  The main reason I'm telling you about this medication is that it suppresses the immune system in an effort to keep it from attacking good cells, and it leaves you wide open to infections.  

In January, what was thought to be a suspicious lump in my left breast, was diagnosed as an enlarged lymph node among many others, after a mammogram, ultrasound and needle biopsy (no walk in the park).  And then finally, given my fatigue and the nodes indicating signs of infection, I was tested for Mono.  Bingo.

I hope I haven't gone on too long.  I think when we share experiences we can feel connected, and in some cases, give others the courage to seek out answers and not give up.  I know that I was trying to put on a happy face a lot, not only on my blog, but in my everyday life with family and friends. 

 I was so incredibly tired, I simply could not go on telling myself it was because I wasn't twenty anymore or that it was the doldrums of winter.  The truth was I had to set my alarm for noon.  Yes, 12:00 p.m. or I would sleep all afternoon.  12 hours a night was not sufficient.  I would jump out of bed at 9:00 a.m., get dressed, straighten up the house in flash (and a terrible job at that), and meticulously make my bed.  Then I would crawl  back on it under  a throw with a book next to me, all in an attempt to look like I had drifted off while reading in case someone popped in.  I slept for hours on end.  I stopped answering my phone, I didn't have the energy to speak.  I did my grocery shopping at a little 'Mom and Pop' store nearby where I could get in and out in 15 minutes (and you know that grocery shopping is like Disney World for me).  I would pick up sandwiches, chicken dinners or any sort of entree the store made up fresh.  

I don't think The Husband really suspected my lack of activity but this was at the time that we didn't have a diagnosis.  Before I was diagnosed I was just filled with shame.  Watching him go to work everyday, hearing my kids talk about the stresses of their jobs.  I would go to the doctor or the post office or whatever and I would stare at the workers and ask myself, "How does this person get up at 5-6 a.m., shower, dress, eat breakfast, commute and start to think at that early hour?"  It all seemed unreal, surreal.  I'm sure I was/am bordering on clinical depression.

Well, I'm seeing an infectious disease doctor now.  He's not so sure it's mono, which he explains is an infection caused by the Epstein-Barr virus.  It could be any type of infection in any part of my body.  And it can be reactivating itself over and over.  I donated a ton of blood last week and I hope they have more answers.  He believes some of my symptoms can be treated.  I'm very grateful for all of the wonderful, emphatic doctors I've had but I am so tired of needles!

I'll keep you all posted.  Feel free to share any of your experiences, we can all certainly learn something from each other.  Moreover, let me know what you think of the furniture!  Please...I didn't write about this for so long because I didn't want a lot of attention or drama.  Now that you know the whole story I'll give you updates but other than that, I want to focus on fun things...if I can stay awake that long!

Jane x