Floors Are In

After repairing the back door and replacing the rotting wood, we finally got our floor down the day before we went out of town.  It is really hard to get used to a dark wood floor, since I've had white vinyl for the last 10 years.  But, I really like it a lot.

I like the contrast of the darker wood against the medium wood cabinets.  The wood is a 5-inch, hand-scraped hickory.  Definitely not what I'm used to.

Tomorrow morning the counters and sink will be installed.  Our water hook-up won't happen until Wednesday (hopefully).  We had it all planned so that it would be finished right after we returned home from our trip to Illinois, but it didn't go as we expected.

FYI to our family in Illinois...all went well on our trip home.  We had planned on leaving for home on Monday morning, but we had discussed the idea of driving through the night.  When I mentioned it to the boys, they were all excited.  So, after dinner on Sunday, we left Illinois at around 7:30 pm, EST.  Mike did amazingly well.  I tried driving a bit, but had to turn it back over to Mike after my eyes started crossing at about 3:00 am.  We arrived home at 9:05 am this morning and took a short nap.  All the kids did great.  We even had Moxie with us.

One thing about me and vacations...I end up eating something with gluten in it at some time or another.  I should know better.  Some things effect me worse than others.  I can eat a half piece of pizza with no problems, but give me some noodles, and I'm a mess.  Most people have an intestinal issue with gluten products.  I, on the other hand, have a skin issue.  This is the worst it has been in a long time.  If you are squeamish, don't look.  My hand looks horrible, and it hurts even more.

My hands are swollen, cracked, and blistered.  And this is on day 4 AFTER I ate the Chinese noodles from Panda Express.  I really did not think 3 bites would hurt me this badly.  Hopefully, in a few days, the swelling will go down.  It is hard to wash dishes, bathe my children or even myself when my hands are like this.  I end up with band aids and ointment all over my fingers just to stop the burning.  Lesson learned.