See Ya Later September

This has been a crazy last week of September.  

There was the debate of course, then George had to work 12-14 hour nights, then family stuff...and the real kicker...George's transmission went out in his truck.  Which at 10-11 years old wasn't completely unexpected, but it wasn't ideal timing though either.  We needed one more year out of it.

As Clayton would say, "What to do, what to do?"

Since we can't afford to keep fixing an old car, we are going to sell it as is and get a new one.  So I've been scouring the Internet trying to find our next ride.  Unfortunately for George, a truck just doesn't fit our budget. So we have been hunting something VERY affordable and VERY reliable.  We have learned with Clayton that you never know when his next emergency is around the corner and if he's alone with one of us, that person needs a reliable car.  And we can't afford a car right now that is going to cost us a bunch of money in repairs either.  Therefore getting an older truck with  higher mileage to fit our budget just wasn't going to fit Clayton's needs or ours.  And since he's our number one, his needs come before our wants.  So George compromised on getting a truck and agreed to an affordable 4x4 SUV instead.  What is this wonder car you ask?

A 2015 4x4 Jeep Patriot with a 7 year/100,000 mile warranty.  It has just 31,000 miles and came with an out the door price tag of under $17,000.  Woot woot!  It's simple, but fits our needs.  We aren't into luxury cars.  Our butts don't need to be warmed as we drive and we don't need touch screens.  We appreciate the simple things in life and are beyond happy with simple cars that meet our needs and don't have extras. 

We'll throw a towing package on it for the 4-wheeler and a rack for deer or whatever and we'll be good to go.  Even in a truck we wouldn't have gotten luxury features.  Cars get us from point A to B and we would rather spend money on experiences than unnecessary luxury.  Which I know isn't everyone's cup-of-tea, but that's how we roll.  

And I know around here most men are about their trucks, but George's new ride will make him more Eivin Kilcher than Willie Robertson which is 100x better in my book in every way.  I would pick an Eivin type over a Willie type every day of the week.  So the guys with their "woman wagon" comments (we haven't even picked up the car yet and George had already heard that) can take it and shove it because my husband is more of a God- loving, eco-friendly, DIY, doesn't need to measure his manhood by the size of his truck kind of guy and that is just the way I like it. :)

So going to pick up the car now and I'll come back next week to finish house posts.  And hopefully by Monday, I'll have some dates for Clayton's kidney procedure stuff too!

Fall Has Come...

The first day of fall...oh how I love this time of year.  Now matter what is going on it always makes me feel peaceful.

Oranges, golds and reds...mums just waiting to bloom and pumpkins of every shape, size and color...

Been adding some fall touches to the house...

Even Clayton's room is getting some  Fall/October love...

I raided Target's Halloween clearance last year and got three of these jack-o-lanterns. They are all slightly different and while I normally like real, natural decorations, I thought they were a perfect festive nightlight for Autumn for the wee man's room.  He loves little festive touches whatever the holiday.

FYI... Target has similar jack-o-lanterns this year too.  I scored mine after Halloween last year for $2.38 each!  Totally worth the smile they put on his face.

I was just telling my sister the other day, as I have George many times, that I am in this unique position of having a child that for the most part never has to grow up like the rest of us.  He doesn't have to grow into adult responsibilities, worries or burdens.  Not the way the rest of us do.  So I am in this ridiculously fun position of getting to build him a life that is as whimsical and magical as he can imagine.  That is such a gift for me as a mother I think.  Clayton's health robbed us of so much time, and God is giving it back to us in this challenging, but extraordinary way.

I hope I can live to 100+ making each day for Clayton more special and magical than the last.  Which is also hoping Clayton has a long life too.

Which brings me to a specific prayer request...Please pray whenever it crosses your mind for Clayton to have a long peaceful life, but for him to never be left alone on this earth without someone to love him and care for him the way he deserves.

Amen

Fading

My heart is aching...

Watching people you love grow old is hard.  I'm mean it's wonderful...and I would rather grow old myself and watch others grow old than be faced with the alternative, but it's sad.  It's wonderful they have had a long full life, but it sucks knowing there won't be many more conversations or any of those special moments you know them for.  Normally I would not post about a specific family member, but I know this one doesn't use internet so it's safe for me to post.  This is my PawPaw...

He's still with us. But he's fading.  He's 87 and is the most wonderful man.  He has always had a good attitude about life and is one of the hardest working men you ever met.  To this day he is still fairly active (particularly for his age).  He has remained pretty well off physically and has only had a very slow decline over the years...until now.  He is starting to get more and more confused and have some falls.  I've watched two great grandmothers grow old, so I know how this goes.  My PawPaw might have a number of years left, but they will not be the same.  It is so tough to watch this man I love so, fade from the man I've always known him to be.

What's even tougher is that I know this is just the beginning.  I have been one of those fortunate people who still has all of my grandparents.  In my lifetime, I've even had three great grandfathers and two great grandmothers.  And while I haven't polled anyone, I think this makes me more of the exception than the rule.  It means though that you have the opportunity to get to know those who have reached/are reaching that stage of life that is both wonderful and trying.  Growing old is a gift.  A glorious gift too many have stolen from them.  So for the ones fortunate enough to grow old, it is a gift from God that should humble you and fill you with love and appreciation.  But it is a gift that comes with challenges.  Growing old is hard.  It's hard for the individual and hard for the loved ones around them. 

So I am beyond grateful I have had the past 30 years to get to know this man and even more appreciative that he and Clayton had time to get to know each other.  And now my heart is just aching as I watch him forget or confuse more and more.  Every visit right now, I see changes.  And I'm pretty positive my PawPaw is the greatest man in the history of forever and I am just devastated right now at the idea of losing him physically or mentally.  He holds a special place in my heart that no one else even comes close to...Sorry mom, sorry George.  He is the best kind of human being and if everyone was more like him the world would be a better place.  Can you say pedestal?  But he deserves to be there.

Obviously, I've had a tough weekend with this...and then with all the terror stuff going on posting about my house seemed a little silly.  So for now I'll plan on resuming house posts next week.  

So turn off the TV and the computer, log off FB or whatever social media bug you've been struck with, put the smart phone down and go love and appreciate the real people in real life that you have been blessed with.  No one will be here forever.  

No new medical news right now.

Tiny House Week Part 4: Not So Tiny Kitchen

I love our kitchen now, but it took a full two years to get to that place.  Whether it was cabinets, or cabinet paint or shelves, we have only been able to finish the kitchen a little at a time and so it took quite a while to get to the point where I could see my original vision coming true.  Folks might think well if it was only $30 or only $100 or whatnot, then why did it take so long to finish?  The simple answer is that if we added up all of the "only $30" expenses of unfinished projects in our house or yard, that total would get big quick.  So depending on available cash flow and seasons and what needed to be done when, we have just been chipping away at everything as best we can jumping from one room to the next or from the house to the yard.  The complicated answer would include all of Clayton's $50 copays, prescriptions and fun things like insurance or flat tires, etc.  Life happens and most of the time the things that you HAVE to prioritize are the ones that are the least fun or satisfying.  Here is a quick look at how far we've come:

These were the only upper cabinets we had until recent months.

I decided I didn't need an apron sink and have no regrets about that, but I LOVE my white cast iron sink.

Between moving in and now, the picture above and below are the only photos I could find of the kitchen.  They were when I was experimenting to see if I wanted to stain the lower cabinets at all.  But I decided the oak wasn't suited for that with the look I wanted.  You can't really even see it with the odd coloration of these photos.

Those days are behind us and YAY for where our kitchen is now, because I love it!  We knew from the beginning that in spite of having a smaller house, we were not going to sacrifice a reasonably sized kitchen.  I enjoy cooking and I almost always have a dog, kid or husband in there with me, so space was necessary.  I also like a rug under my feet in the kitchen and not hard flooring.  Because of that, I designed our kitchen so that a 5x7 rug would fit right in the middle.

Obviously we had to take into account having space to open the fridge, dishwasher or oven, but we had to consider layout first.  The main question was island or peninsula.  We went with the peninsula and though sometimes I think an island would be nice, I'm sure if I had an island I'd think a peninsula would sometimes be nice.  So no regrets.  I also choose to have a counter all one height on the peninsula verses the bar style alternative.  We had the bar style in our last home and I just wasn't the biggest fan of it functionally.

We just added the cabinet closest to the window and the cabinet over the fridge in the last two  to three months.  Both of those have exponentially increased our storage capacity; which was not bad to begin with.  Having those two cabinets makes everything feel so much more complete.  As did the addition of the open shelving in the spring.  Just like the bathroom, I knew I wanted open shelving, but I also knew it needed to be VERY affordable.  One of the more industrial looking DIY options I had found, added up quickly when I went to Lowe's to get materials; so I scrapped that idea and kept looking until I found the iron corbels I used in both the kitchen and the bathroom on eBay.  I think I was able to do the kitchen shelving for less than $45.

One of the projects we have left is to add trim to the area between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling to give the illusion that the cabinets go all the way to the ceiling and the top is simply open.  Eventually, we'll add a backsplash as well.

I do have one kitchen regret.  I wish we had gone ahead and done can lights.  We did the fluorescent because it was cheaper and quicker than the can lights and we were ready to be done.  We can always go back and change that if we ever want, but it certainly isn't a priority and not something that bothers me much.

This picture captures cabinet color best.  A dark blue-gray.

And just to drive on home my point that we have just recently gotten to this "happy place" with our kitchen, we literally just purchased the stools (on clearance) in the last two weeks.  Almost all of our kitchen progress was made between the two year and two and a half year marks.  I cannot even describe how much function we have added to our kitchen in that time.  For example, when I see Clayton sitting at the counter like a big boy eating or doing school stuff, it just makes my heart so damn happy.

The wall opposite the window houses our "drop" station and Clayton's school/food storage area.  Clayton knows where his snacks are all stored, so that way he can go in and out and get them on his own.  And upper storage is always a must for hiding things from the little bugger.  The upper cabinet was in my parent's home growing up all my life and was a buffet/china cabinet style piece of furniture that I had George hang on the wall for me.

So that's it.  That's our kitchen.  DIY from top to bottom with a few projects left:

-Add trim to upper cabinets/ceiling to give a more "finish" appearance
-Add trim/framing around backside of peninsula
-Add trim to window, make a valance.
-Add backsplash
-Add side panels around fridge for more "finished" appearance.

And honestly, it will probably be another couple years before we finish what's left.  But that's OK.  We aren't going anywhere.

Tiny House Week Part 3: Tiny Bath

I'm going to preface this post with saying that you'll see more of our house and our personal things and style in the coming days.  I have no idea what anyone might be expecting, but know that our home is filled with things we love.  We have family furniture that has been passed down, hunting trophies on the walls, family gifts or special tokens are found throughout.  I have a rule and it is if I don't love it, it can't come home or it has to go.  So our home is full of things we love that make us happy.  It is our own eclectic mix of country cottage, classic clean, lake house, hunting camp, farmhouse love.  We have been fortunate to have been given some beautiful pieces both furniture and decor.  We have also worked to DIY items and used my passion for thrifting to our benefit.  We are so blessed to have a roof over our heads and running water in our faucets and try never to forget that that is what matters.  The fact that we have a home to fill with things we love makes us more fortunate than many.  We try to live a modest lifestyle, we try to remember the gifts we've been given by those who love us and we try to never forget the gifts God has blessed us with.  I'm am very proud of our house and the sweat we put into building it with our own two hands.  I am also very proud of the love, hard work and blessings that have allowed me to turn it into our home.  But no matter how much we or anyone else loves their home, I think we should all pause to appreciate how amazingly fortunate we are to have simple things like a roof over our head, running water, AC in the summer, heat in the winter, the ability to refrigerate food, washers and dryers, a piece of land we can call our own and in most cases, basic security.  We are just so damn lucky that we were placed in these lives and not a less fortunate often more violent alternative.  

So thank you God for all you have blessed us with; most importantly of which is Clayton and our safety and security.

Amen.

So...we only have one bathroom...and it is small...and I LOVE it!  Working within 1000 sq ft, I had to make some choices about where to allocate space.  Ultimately, I chose a large closet and a small bathroom.  Why you ask?

1) I don't want to spend more time then absolutely necessary cleaning a bathroom.  Smaller bathroom=less cleaning.

2) Storage space was more valuable than a large bathroom.

We had a huge master bath in our old house with walk in shower, garden tub, his and her vanities and a toilet closet.  But it just wasn't all necessary.  So when browsing Pinterest while planning I saw the picture below and realized that was all we needed.  The bare minimum.  And you know what? We don't miss the big bath at all.  The only thing bathroom related we would change is having a second bathroom.  The small addition that will one day come will remedy that.  Sometimes George and Clayton get their wires crossed and Clayton doesn't know how to wait very well, so he's peed off the porch a time or two.  So definitely a second bath one day.

Inspiration Picture. Source Unknown.

We were in this house for two years before I finally added shelving.  With such a small vanity, the open shelving storage was very welcome.  We pared our bathroom accessories/necessities down to what we really needed and we have plenty of space for everything.  We don't feel like we are lacking anything; we don't miss anything; we are completely content with our tiny bathroom.

One thing we did to make the bath feel larger since technically this is our forever master bathroom, is we utilized the dead space beside the shower.  We considered doing floor to ceiling skinny built-in shelving, but settled on a bench instead.  I have to say that was the best decision because it makes the shower feel large, open, and with the combination of white subway tile, very light.  Since that addition made our entire tub/shower opening too wide for a traditional shower curtain, I used two curtain panels.  The combination dresses up the bathroom and makes it feel more master-like in spite of its small size.

And all the tiling was done by yours truly.

And my shelves! Oh, how I love them. I knew I wanted something open or door-less, but I had to decide on style.  Which technically was dictated by price.  These  pretty ladies were what I came up with and the whole project cost less than $35! Woot, woot!

Sources:

Curtains- West Elm clearance

Van Gough Tree print- wedding gift from my sister

Vanity- freebie from friend's parents' reno...even can with faucet. But the counter I DIYed.

Vanity mirror- freebie (still deciding on proper makeover)

Shelving brackets-eBay

Wire basket over toilet- World Market

TP Basket- Pottery Barn clearance

The bathroom isn't quite done.  Here's what's left on the list:

-paint vanity, replace knobs

-finish vanity mirror makeover

-add backsplash piece to vanity counter

-add one shelve above door and bath bench

And then of course the whole house needs trim added or replaced (door casing); and all trim and doors have to be painted.  The great thing is that we can get to that stuff in our own time and aren't rushed.  Back again tomorrow...kitchen maybe? Or master?  Depends on which one is cleanest I guess :)

P.S.  The future 2nd bathroom won't be any bigger than the first :)

Tiny House Week Part 2: Clayton's Room

Building on yesterday's back story on taking a leap of faith and building our own house, I want to stress that we did it because of stress.  We needed to change our lives and dismiss the idea that we were "suppose" to live a certain way and instead forge our own path to make our lives better in spite of all the obstacles we had been given.  Life with Clayton was too complicated for both of us to work.  And one income was too stressful for the life we were living.  The stress of everything had become overwhelming to both of us.  So I started making very deliberate efforts to eliminate stress everywhere it wasn't absolutely necessary.  I then developed ways for us to divide and conquer as best we could.
I rock at being Clayton's advocate and medical manager; so naturally, that became my role and allowed George to stress less over that.  I also manage our finances, which means George can do his thing and go to work everyday and not have to worry so much about crunching the numbers.  I predominantly carry those burdens for us and that allows George to focus on what he needs to focus on which is being our provider.  And to ensure he would be the best provider possible, we agreed he would finish his degree.  Which again helps me stress less because my husband will have his degree which will give him a leg up in addition to the many skills he already has.  And all of that allows me to worry less about our potential for economic stability.  Then building this house and living with our new monthly mortgage meant we had more money for prescriptions and copays for Clayton and I was able to again, stress less about finances.  So we divided and conquered the inevitable stresses and eliminated nonessential stresses; that I'll talk about in another post next week.
Ultimately we just focused our energy on eliminating stress and learning to manage our lives in a healthier way.  Having a special needs child makes you worry even more then normal about your health and we knew that we would never be able to sustain any level of decent health under the pressure we were under.  Stress wreaks havoc on the body and we have stress enough for an entire army.  Hands down, what we have done so far are the best things we have ever done and I am so grateful we were able to learn these lessons now and change our life accordingly now rather than later.

Anyhow, that is the thinking and motivation behind the plan for the house we built and the small additions that will come.  So on to the good stuff. 

While I'm sure no one was interested in my closet, I think a number of people have been curious about Clayton's room.  Probably more so since I revealed how small it was yesterday.  So here you go:

The view from the master.

Storage is the big issue in such a small space.  That said, finding storage that worked best for Clayton took some doing.  He makes a mess of everything.  I mean everything.  You cannot keep a room tidy with him.  I'm not just talking about his things, but your things too!  It definitely takes effort and lots of trial and error to figure out what will help him to keep things tidy.  Originally I hoped the basket on his shelf would work and even made cute little labels for him...fail.  So I tried a few other things and I finally found that one huge toy box in the living room was the ticket.  I still sort things into his baskets, but when it comes to getting him to clean up, one centrally located place for everything was the ticket.  As far as storage in general in a small space goes, we make the most of the space in his room and are still improving it as needed.  His bed has a built in dresser on this side and room for open storage behind the drawers.  The efficiency of the bed has been what makes the small space work.

A more recent addition from cleaning out our closet was an unused shoe storage hanger that I used to add vertical storage for his "bay-bees".  The best part is that he loves it too!  Usage of vertical space is really one of the main themes in our home. You can also see our unpainted doors and unfinished trim work in these pics.  Eventually we will replace all the stock trim on door frames.  Probably a ways off though.

His personal Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Storage on the side of bed under his little "bar".

I know the pictures aren't the greatest since they are iPhone pictures, but that's how I roll. So...oh and I took them in natural lighting so you can see his room gets plenty of light in spite of being small.  He loves it.  For whatever reason, small clubhouse like spaces are his jam.

Sources:

Wooden airplane- Thrifted from kids resale
"Bay-Bee" door hanger- Walmart
White book ledges- George built years ago
Book basket- The Rachael Basket from World Market

Labeled baskets- Target
Green shelving unit- Mine from when I was a kid
Rug- Estate sale
Bed- Amazon
Hanging house- Belonged to my mom
Mickey mirror- Belonged to my nephew
Nightlight- Restoration Hardware
Bedding- Tommy Hilfiger, Ikea, Pottery Barn Kids
American Flag art- My mom purchased at a charity auction

Unless we need to add more vertical storage, I don't see us doing anything else to his room.  It is only temporary after all.  More of our house reveal tomorrow and at some point I'll reveal our future plan for the (small) house addition as well.  Keep checking back!

Tiny House Week Part 1

(My house thinks it's tiny so please don't burst its bubble)

I have no medical updates for you until at least next week, so I thought I would make this week about our house.  How we built it, our budget, interior pics, how we've learned to organize in a small house, future plans and why I don't want a bigger house...ever.

Let me start with a little background.  Clayton got cancer, his back got worse and his kidney issues were ongoing.  George and I realized I needed to stay home with Clayton full time.  This meant we were down to one income and the life we had pictured that most of our peers were living just wasn't going to work for us.  So I got inspired and got creative.  I decided we were going to build a house for $50,000 on family property.  Everyone laughed.  But we did.  We did 95% or more of the work ourselves with help from friends and family.  

You can even see my mom in this picture helping us to raise our first wall.

And in the end we built a house we designed specifically for our needs for under $60,000.  We financed $53,000 and got a credit card for a few extra thousand to do a few things we had not initially planned on.  We went over budget for a few reasons: 1) we paid a father son company to hang and finish our drywall 2) we had my plans drawn up by an architect to ensure we were getting foundation right due to sloping property (this step was not required by the county) 3) we bought countertops instead of DIYing them.  Those three things account for every penny that was spent over my original $50,000 budget.  

We have now been in the house for two and a half years. In that time we have completed a few projects on the house but still have lots to go.  When we designed and built the house, we had planned on adding on in a certain area down the road.  Since being here, I have really embraced the idea of living tiny.  As is, our house isn't technically tiny, but it is small...especially by today's standards.  George still wants to go with our original add on addition which would give us a final total of about 1400 sq ft, but I want to keep our footprint as small as possible.  Currently our house is 1000 sq ft...and I LOVE it.  So for now we are still brainstorming a long term solution that meets all of our needs.

Why do I love a small house?

-Less outside maintenance

-Less inside maintenance

-Forces you to clean out and prioritize

-Forces you to organize in order to make the most of every space

-More affordable to build

-Manageable to DIY

-Low utilities costs (bad electric bill for us is $133)

-I want for my family and myself to explore the world around us and not be bogged down by a large mortgage and large house full of responsibility.  A small house allows for this.

So for us what was designed out of necessity became a huge blessing.  During the planning process, there were larger plans and two story plans and lots of others; for cost reasons though we had to narrow our plan down to a point at which we agreed there was little doubt that we could do it within our budget.  Of course, we could have gotten a traditional bank loan and built something more substantial, but bank loan or not, my goal was never to have a substantial house.  My goal was always to build a house we will have paid off in a short amount of time, to build a house that allowed us to live more comfortably on one income and to build a house that allowed us to have more income for Clayton's expenses since we knew it was unrealistic to rely on fundraisers forever.  That said, a small/tiny house was never in my plan either and not something I would have chosen had it not been necessary.  BUT now, I love living small and will NEVER live any other way.

Inspiration Pictures

After two and a half years I can say I feel like we accomplished our goal.  We have no real complaints about our house or its design.  It has been perfect for our needs with Clayton specifically.  We have been able to pay off the credit card debt accumulated from building.  We will have our house paid off in seven years maximum.  We have been able to continue working on home improvement/completion projects on a pay-as-you go basis. And most importantly life on one income while accumulating Clayton's medical bills got a little less financially stressful.  So here is to life goals and striving for a debt free life!

Toddler Rachel giving her best woot woot!

I thought I would start with the room everyone is most excited about...our closet!  Please note my sarcasm.  Really, I'm starting with it because it finally got some love yesterday after nearly two and a half years.  We literally have not had a clothes rod all that time.  We had two rolling clothes hangers a friend passed on after their renovation to their own home.  Having a proper hanging rod is SUCH a breath of fresh air.  I just want to go sit in my nice clean organized closet and admire it.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Our modest master bedroom has a bathroom off of it and two "closets".  The original long-term plan was that we would have two very large his and her closets that would be the storage for the whole house beyond just clothes (think hobby supplies, golf clubs, etc.).  The short-term plan was that we would share a closet for now and the closet with a window would be Clayton's temporary room.  Note that these "closets" are 7x9. I felt this would be sufficient for Clayton for now since his old room was just slightly larger at 10x10.  And this set up was best for all of us. With Clayton's little room right off of ours, he can see us when he goes to sleep and we can easily hear him through the night (listening for respiratory issues).  This has been ideal for all three of us.  And as George just said last night, in spite of Clayton's room being small it is set up in a way that makes it feel larger...or at least like it isn't lacking anything.  While our current set up is still a short-term plan, it has been exactly what we needed now.  And it has also been great in allowing us to modify our long-term plan; which as of now, keeps the one closet a closet forever and Clayton's current room will be modified into the space of the eventual small addition we will do.  Very small addition still couple years out.

Back to the forever closet...

When we moved in it was quick.  Like we got the certificate of occupancy and bam, we were in.  There was still LOTS left to do.  Including the closet.  You'll see in the pictures that the closet is about half primed and a quarter painted because that's as far as I got before we moved in.  So for the longest time it looked like this...

These two pictures are after I started cleaning it out Sunday.

Along with the laundry room, it was the catch all space for everything.  Between that, Clayton liking to take toys in there to play and George's hunting stuff everywhere, I rarely ventured in.  I mostly used a chair in the bedroom to throw my clothes over or stack them on.  No joke.

Why am I showing pictures of my messy closet?  Because this is real life and we are real folks.  We have real messes and real unfinished projects and we are really uninterested in pretending our lives are more than the work in progress they are. No mom (or dad) should ever feel shamed into having to feel like her house needs to be perfect or she's failing if it's not.  This is not Better Homes and Gardens, lights-camera-action, this is real life.

And here is the real life mess cleaning out the closet made.

Thanks to a long day Sunday I now have a closet that brings me peace.  I know some of you will think that statement is crazy while others will completely get it.  Now I just have to keep George organized.  And keep Clayton out of there...which is already proving to be a challenge...

We can now check clothes rod and baseboards off the closet list.  We still have the following to work on:

-Add shelves around top.

-Paint walls

-Paint big dresser

-Permanent ladder leading to what will eventually be a climate controlled storage loft. 

And then the closet will be done!  So here are the progress pictures where things stand today:

I know...nothing special or impressive and sparkly.  But it's a progress picture...and a closet.  I'll post pictures of the final product when we get there; those might have a little more wow.  And to answer the question some might be wondering...is that the only rod we will have?  Is it enough?  Yes. If that one rod is ever not enough then we need to get rid of clothes.  So thats all for today.  That gives the back story and gets the most boring room out of the way.  Tomorrow I'll start showing you the good stuff.