A great weekend!!

All smiles for Grandpa! :-)

I have to say, I walked into work with a smile on my face this morning because I had such a great weekend! The greatness of this past weekend is due to the fact that my dad came for a visit! Hooray! I was so glad to see him, and I'm so happy that he got to spend time with Abby. (Abigail loves her Grandpa Al!!)

I don't want to put everything into today's post (because then what would I have to write about the rest of the week?!). But, I definitely do want to thank my dad for everything he did for us this weekend. This homeowner business can be a bit overwhelming at times, and my dad is such a pro with everything around the house and is so willing to help us when he visits. I don't know where we'd be without him. :-)

The two big projects that my dad worked on this weekend were putting a ceiling fan in Abigail's room and installing an interior door to our laundry room. (Note: I say these are big projects. My dad thought they were pretty easy!) Dad arrived around noon on Thursday, and by the time I got home at 5:30, the fan was installed in Abby's room. I took the day off on Friday, and after dropping Abby off at daycare**, Dad and I went shopping for all the materials needed to install the interior door downstairs. I should probably explain that our house was set up as a mother/daughter, with the upstairs and downstairs as two separate apartments. Carey and I wanted the space, so we're doing some small renovations to make the downstairs feel less like an apartment and more like an extension of our house. Because the former residents in the top and bottom apartments both needed to use the laundry room, there is a door at the back of the house to access the washer and dryer. Well, I didn't like the idea of having to go outside at my own house to do laundry, plus the external door to the laundry room was letting all sorts of heat escape and wasn't very sturdy, presenting a security hazard.

Habitat for Humanity has a ReStore in Ronkonkoma, about 25 minutes from our house. All the items in the ReStore are donated, and all proceeds benefit Habitat. So, while there's no guarantee that the ReStore will have what you need, if they do have what you're looking for, you'll get a great deal! Luckily for us, they had a pre-hung interior door for less than half of what we'd pay anywhere else. So, we bought it, stopped by Home Depot for the rest of our supplies, and dad had the door installed before Carey got home from work on Friday! The door still needs to be painted, but I'm going to wait to do that until I paint the rest of the downstairs. Last night, Carey and I did our first loads of laundry at our house that didn't require us to go outside!

My dad putting a gigantic hole in our wall! (Luckily, he filled it in!
Pictures of the finished door to come soon!)

My dad was also generous enough to help us with some other small projects around the house. For example, he installed a new switch in the ceiling fan in the kitchen and he fixed the closet doors in the front guest room downstairs. (I watched him closely, so we'll have to see if I can fix the closet doors in the back guest bedroom downstairs!) All of the help that our dad is giving us is really helping to make our house seem like our home, and we are very grateful!

Of course, all work and no play makes for a very boring visit for dad. So, we spent time watching March Madness (yes, the love of basketball is hereditary!), and on Saturday night, Bart, Melissa, and the girls, as well as Carey's dad, came over for dinner. My dad made some of his famous chili (too spicy for me, but rave reviews from everyone else!), and Carey made his bacon-wrapped pork loin. And, of course, Abby got all sorts of cuddles from Grandpa. Who wouldn't love that?!?!


** You might be wondering why I put Abby into daycare on Friday if I had the day off. She was doing so well last week, and Natalie and Norma said that is was important to keep her on a schedule so that she is used to spending time with them and the other kiddies at Tutor Time. So, while I did go pick her up earlier than I normally would, she still spent the day at daycare. According to Norma, Abby had a great day on Friday. She ate like a champ and took two long naps while she was there. When I dropped her off on Friday morning, Natalie showed me some pictures that she'd take on Thursday of Abby. Abby was sitting in a Bumbo and then a Boppy, playing with a few of the other kiddies. (Given, at this stage, "playing with other kids" consists of sitting there and staring at each other, with the occasional smile and/or squeal.) But, I could see it on her face that she was having a good time. (I could also see that she was flashing her dimples at a little boy named Derrick, but I'll worry about that later...) So, while it's still hard to leave her at daycare (and probably always will be to a certain extent), I can see that she is being well-cared for and stimulated while Carey and I are at work.