My New Bedroom and washer/dryer

been sleeping in my room now for a month. a few weeks ago Joe set up my washer/dryer the day before he had to go on a trip. well, mom and I were alone in the house and decided to try it out. we ( I ) put the clothes in and the soap, shut the door turned the dials and proceeded to go into the kitchen to eat dinner. when all of a sudden we heard this loud BANGING!!! We went into the room and saw the washer/dryer going crazy swaying back and forth and actually moving across the room ( I thought this stuff only happened on cheezy '70's sitcom  episodes )  we rebalanced the clothes and shut the door. a few minutes later the same thing happened, so mom ended up finishing  the clothes  down the basement. now we just have to wait for Joe to get home to see what the heck happened!!!

My New Bedroom Christmas Day

Woke up in my new bedroom Christmas morning. I'm not used to all the windows so it was very bright. But very cozy. went into the new big bathroom and into the shower; It was so easy!! The inspector came and gave a thumbs up to everything... except the ramp ( which we have had for 17 YEARS!!!)  he said the new code calls for a metal railing to go along the ramp and steps. So Joe went out and bought the necessary materials. ( complying to NYC code!) it was huge metal piping, not very decorative. I didn't mind but I thought mom was going to have a stroke. but, when they saw how easy it was for me to ascend the stairs she accepted it. so all that was left was to wait for the inspector... again!!
The inspector came for the second time and we were all set for him to approve the railing. when he left the house he called Joe and UGH!!! the railing has to go along the WHOLE deck not just the steps. so we are still not approved. Update to come!!!

My New Bedroom

Well, it's finally here, tonight I will be sleeping in my new bedroom.  -- let me start from the beginning. The whole venture started over the summer, I wanted to expand my bathroom to be wheelchair accessible and we decided to add on to my bedroom as a whole-10 feet to be exact.
 The first thing we did was get a contractor, my neighbor's relative.Then we needed a plumber, so we asked my uncle who's good friend, Jay, is a plumber, but he couldn't do the work, so he brought in someone else and he would consult.-- Here is a small world story, The partner is the uncle of  one of my friends from the Spina Bifida clinic who I have recently got in touch with trough Facebook!! Well, my friend and i had a laugh over that. Unfortunately, he didn't work out and we had to get another plumber.

My New Bedroom (Part II)

This past weekend the contractors have been putting in my bathroom: On Saturday at dinner, Mom asked me about where to put grab bars and brought me into the room which has the sink toilet and shower pan already installed along with the tile. We needed now to place grab bars for when i am maneuvering from the sink to toilet to the shower and also to my new washer/dryer. so she had me going through the motions and, as usual, we had a little... SARCASTIC FOR ...HUGE...; tiff. She would ask me the same question over and OVER!! Frustrated, I said ' exactly what answer to you want me to give.' (OK wrong thing to say  guess ) she stormed out and that was the end of the bathroom venture for the night.  I went into the kitchen and the table was not cleaned off but I said to myself ( If i clean it off she'll comment, so the heck with it ) and of course she came out and said  'So you couldn't even clear the table' -( Damned if I do, Damned if I don't). We went to bed in a huff.
 Sunday morning we woke up and made up. I took a shower , had breakfast and Mom, Joe and Myself went into the room to figure out the grab bar situation,

My New Bedroom/sitting room

Well, it's Friday and the time is almost here the room is DONE.!!!!!! all that Is left is some touch up painting ( Mom's in there as I write) and to get all my furniture back in the room!! tomorrow I will go down the basement where my stuff has been stored and go through it and TRY to purge some stuff I don't need ( wish me luck I am never really good at getting rid of stuff!!) Mom says that I should be sleeping in my room Saturday night!!!

My new Bedroom-- First Installment of more to come

Well,today the painters are here. They are painting the walls of my new bigger Bedroom. Tan and Shark (blue) I just went to see the progress and it is beautiful! Let me backtrack…. I thought I started this entry when I began this venture, but apparently not, so I have a lot of ground to cover

. Over the summer, I decided to expand my bedroom into a sitting area since this is where I spend most of my time (other than times like now when I am on the computer playing games, and writing my blog).



Throughout this ordeal I have moved temporarily into the back spare bedroom, I thought it was going to be a nuisance but the bed is SOOO COMFORTABLE, even more than my day bed. Mom said it's because there is a board between the box spring and mattress, so she said Joe will put a board in my bed if I want (and I DO!)



The First thing I picked out was my floor; I went with my Aunt Patti and my mother to G Fried Carpet. and met a salesperson I can't remember his name I just recall he was a Yankee fan and the Yankees were playing that night so he and my Aunt ( another staunch Yankee fan) were chatting away about the game and the players ( HO!HUM!) The walls were filled from top to bottom with samples. I told him I needed a floor that had good traction and one that wouldn't scuff, since I sometimes use my wheelchair in the house. That narrowed it down to a reasonable amount. I started to pick out tiles and --You guessed it,-- Mom found something wrong with EVERY choice I made; the first one I picked and loved Mom said that it had a pattern in it, and it would drive me nuts when it was down. after biting my tongue, I picked 4 samples, gave a deposit and took them home - One was too white, I said it made my room look like an examination room in a doctors office, and another, which I really liked, Mom said it had a color in it that would clash if I wanted to change my color scheme, even though to me it looked neutral. (The HS Art major strikes again).In the end I ended up with my original pick. (Score 1 for me)
Next stop, Blackman, a bathroom showcase place where I saw many bathrooms set up, again nothing struck me right away. The place was HUGE! There I picked out a sink. and toilet: I saw a shower from a vendor in my book from the Abilities Expo, but It was a one piece pre fabricated and the material seemed slippery so I bought three pieces separate; a shower pan, shower chair and a hand shower. the contractors ( a neighbor's cousin and his son) have been working diligently to get my room framed out. and finally finished that, the spackler was here and took two days. and boy did my room finally look like a room.

My summer Florida Vacation

The first week of July, Mom and I did what we've been doing for the past few summers; packed up and took a off for Florida with my Aunt Patti.We got there on July 6th; Patti stayed for 5 days and in that time we swam in the pool,.went to her in-laws for a visit .and our cousins' kids and grandkids came. We went to Hollywood beach and  rented one of those terrific beach wheelchairs, all we had to do was show a license. (you can even buy one  from http://www.wheeleez.com/ ). Mom and Patti wheeled me right down to the water, and I went in;. the waves were amazing; mom and Patti were holding on to me for dear life, Had fun but lost a pair of earrings in the process. On another day, Mom and I took Auntie to 'Le Tub' a fantastic hamburger place near the water. we got a table in the back and the waitress asked us if we wanted bug spray... after a while we took her up on the offer it was very buggy (guess the flies like the burgers too!!). The hamburgers were delicious, but that's not all we were treated too, while looking out at the water we started to see what looked like air bubbles from fish; everyone got up from their seats too look out; It turned out to be ...MANATEES!! Our waitress said she's been working there for more than 10 years and this was the First time she saw a Manatee!!! HOW EXCITING!!Patti left and we stayed for another 2 weeks, at first we felt homesick but we stayed, and got down to business decorating our condo.First up was  my room; I had to do something with nanny's old furniture. We realized we couldn't get rid of it, so we did the next best thing... Changed the draw pulls; and boy did that change the look completely from 'Nanny old-fashioned' to 'Lisa Modern'. Then we (Read: 'mom') made new slipcovers for the living room couch throw pillows. and, finally, what we have set out to do for the last few trips down....Put a fresh coat of paint and went to the store and bought new chairs and cushions for the lanai, AAAHHH beautiful......