Backstory Blueprints Photo Archive January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 Current Blog

Thursday, September 1, 2005 Finish carpentry continued this week with emphasis on the upstairs bedroom and stairwell crown molding. In the past couple days Steve has also installed skirting on the stair walls and wainscotting in the dining room. He's getting as much done as his schedule will allow, busy as all high-demand contractors are. At a certain point he will not be able to continue until other workers complete their parts, namely cabinetry and some floor tile placement. Sequencing these things in the biggest challenge and has forced the realization that an October 2nd finish date is a pipe dream. Joy had her 33rd and last breast cancer radiation treatment this morning, so that phase of our concern is complete. As you may have read at the end of last month, Joy now gets to deal with a pre-cancerous pancreatic cyst which will be removed within the next few weeks. In an odd way we have the small breast cancer to thank for the broader examination which lead to the discovery of this potentially bigger problem caught in the early stages. Joy continues to roll with the punches with her inspiring, positive attitude. Tuesday, September 6, 2005 Steve jumped all over the house the next few days, hanging doors downstairs and installing crown molding. We cleaned up sawdust and molding pieces Sunday. Joy applied sealer to the master travertine tile floor. We sorted through 250 pieces of Rainforest marble which Tom will apply in the basement in the access hallway from the steps to the sliding door to the west and into the bathroom. We also realized that we'd like to see the same tile around the hearth, so we broke open the styrofoam containers and selected the pieces that made us look twice. Each piece is like a twelve-inch square of stand-alone modern art. We seriously thought about mounting and framing remaining pieces to display on a wall downstairs, but movie posters will probably win out. Wednesday, September 7, 2005 We met with Joy's doctors this morning to discuss immediate plans for the removal of part of her pancreas and were a little surprised to learn that they will be performing the operation September 20th. Now she gets to mentally prepare for this round of fun. Thursday, September 8, 2005 Tom installed about half the Rainforest and hopes to finish Sunday or Monday. Installation time was saved due to the fact that Joy was too busy to be there to help him with the picking, choosing and placement of each tile. Sunday, September 11, 2005 Friends and family day at the Gilford's. We had a surprise visit from our architect, Bill, and his wife, Trish. They seemed to approve of the goings on. It must be fun to see drawings on paper take on real structure. The folks, Derek and Sadie looked at Tom's latest tile work and Steve's hearth wood application. Tuesday, September 13, 2005 The hive was swarming with the simultaneous activity of four contractors. Manuel went places I'd never go with a ladder, spraying a shinier than expected brown tone over the majority of the house. This came after a Monday of masking doors, windows and railings and cutting back blackberry vines to make room for ladders on the east side. Millennium returned after two weeks of fabrication to set the kitchen marble tops (cafe forest) employing the artistry of matching up unruly slabs. The undermount stainless steel sinks fit well in the island and in front of the kitchen window. Joy gets to think about what to do with the splash at this point. Tom continued the downstairs marble. It appears I shorted him about 25 pieces. Joy was ready to have him take from the stash we'd set aside for the hearth but at 8:30 in the evening, he was at a point where he needed to leave us for a couple days anyway. Steve's focus has been on the great room hearth the past few days. He's turned a corner we had trouble visualizing into a stately work of art worthy of standing beside a view of Mt. Hood. Determined to give us an area to place a decorative light hanging over the fireplace, he angled out a soffit and ran a wire for the electricians to fit later. Bead-board runs down to the shelf over the fireplace and Steve's intricate wood trim gives the whole thing a dimension that picures can't communicate. Somehow during all this Joy got her 90 lineal feet of pantry shelf space too. We're patiently waiting for Matt, our cabinet man, to come and join the party, but the customers who yell the loudest get attended to first. Monday, September 19, 2005 Tom finished the basement marble and Steve continued with the great room hearth and finished the crown molding adding more intricate detail on each of the four walls below the crown molding. We did our weekly clean-up Sunday and visited with Uncle Dave and other relatives and friends over this stretch of days. Joy goes for pancreas surgery early Tuesday morning. If you've been following this development the last few weeks, you're aware that cysts with pre-cancerous cells were discovered, and that doctors feel removal of about one third of the pancreas will be necessary. Between this page and/or your calls to Gilford's where my mother, Sue, is helping us out, we'll try to keep you informed on how things are going for Joy. The well-wishing has been greatly appreciated. Tuesday, September 20, 2005 Your good thoughts have paid off. Joy's five-hour surgery went as well as the doctors had hoped. At 2pm today, after they wheeled her into the recovery room, I visited her and told her how well things went with the news that Doctor Paul was able to do the procedure laparoscopically and that the spleen was untouched. She went in and out of her anesthetized consciousness but seemed to be happy as she pushed her self-serve button for more pain medication. I also told her Matt got a key cabinet into place so Steve could continue with the dining room wainscotting and she smiled, grimaced and passed back into dreamland. I'll visit her mid-day tomorrow. Wednesday, September 21, 2005 Battling Joy's persistent nausea, nurses spent the day balancing her morphine levels and nausea medication. She looked peaceful when I saw her at noon and she was sharp enough to call us later about a customer she hadn't had time to deal with Monday. Parts of her body are still asleep and she's willing to stay in the hospital as long it takes to revive them. At least she's got her favorite HGTV (Home & Garden Television) to keep her company in her most lucid moments. Steve is doing evenings at our house to continue with the dining room wainscotting and some stair details. I got a shot of Matt's much anticipated desk which allowed Steve to continue. In meeting with Steve before the surgery, Joy had made him promise not to consult me on any artistic decisions, so all the conversation Steve and I had about a little detail on the desk splash didn't happen. Thursday, September 22, 2005 Day three was a rough one for Joy. Sore and sick she developed a low grade fever and wasn't feeling very sociable. We can't be sure when she'll be feeling good enough to leave the hospital. We've heard the third day is the worst, so we'll hope for improvement tomorrow. Friday, September 23, 2005 Another day of recuperation, a shower, not-so-great food, low-grade fever and a drain tube still attached. I hope to pick her up sometime tomorrow. Saturday, September 24, 2005 I picked Joy up at noon and after a brief trip to the pharmacy for oxycontin, we made our way to the house. Steve was there working on the dining room wainscotting and was a little surprised to see Joy up and around. Her energy lasted about long enough to soak in his latest work before we set off for some soup, fruits and vegetables at the grocery store and home to put her on the couch. Wednesday, September 28, 2005 Ups and downs on the road to recovery. Joy weaned herself from the pain medication and felt clearer than she's felt in days. I took her across town to have her drain tube removed and that added to her overall feeling of freedom. She has the tender pain isolated around the area of surgery but is finally lacking the constant pain that the medication helped to mask. She is eating more solid food but her stomach rebels with sharp pains at this point. We're predicting that she'll return to work on Monday. Because she was dying to talk to Steve about some finish details and because I knew she'd drive herself up to the house to do it, we detoured and watched Steve deal with a little more wainscotting and staircase railing work. Matt is in the apologizing phase, but that's not getting cabinets installed very quickly. We need his contribution to move this project to the final phases. Continue on to October

Backstory Blueprints Photo Archive January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 Current Blog