Sock Wars update

I'm still alive! In Sock Wars, that is. Apparently there are people keeping excellent track of all this, and according to their spread sheet, I have survived to the last 13%! I am trying to get my next pair of SIPs (socks in progress) but have not heard back from the current target of the gal I killed over a week ago. I want to finish off another pair of socks. Those were so fast and easy, compared to the pair I'm working on now!

Meanwhile I have two projects on the needles (OTN).
1. Socks (on 2 circular needles) of KnitPicks Memories superwash merino. Colorway is Prairie something-or-other. These have nothing to do with sockwars, but I did begin them during the end of "Socktoberfest". Who knew there are so many events and things to keep up on in the world of knitting?




















2. Bell Cloche Hat from Monday,April 25, 2005 knitting calendar in Manos. I haven't got a clue of the colorway, if it even has a name. Notice that it is posing on our house plans from the civil engineer, which Tim brought home today. That happens to be the first level, about half of which is crawl space.

























I have finally finished the everlasting pomotomous socks. I'll have to take a picture and post. I also have several UFOs (un-finished projects) that I plan to wrap up in the near future. I'll keep ya'll updated.

Chicken Moment: By the way, the driveway heating is done, Tim has assured me. However, it doesn't work yet, because the electrical is not hooked up yet. Does that seem done to you? Tim seems to be getting used to "Tahoe Time" and much more relaxed about things taking longer than they should. Or maybe all his running around hecticly, paid off by getting things done before the snow comes. By the way, I looked it up and hecticly is a word.

The headache returned today, but I was really careful to head home ASAP (when my autoclave run was over) and take care of myself. I'm gonna beat this thing! Hmmm... well, not literally, that's my head were talking about! Anyway, it is feeling better now.

Better

Yippee! I actually feel well. It started on Sunday, and continues. What a relief. I had a few false starts, days where I felt well, and then I overdid something, or drove down a bumpy road, and the head pain and fever would return. I may have truly turned the corner this time, but I'll be very careful, so that I don't undo this! I lasted all day at lab today, and I only have a very slight headache. I've been sick for a while, and it is really great to put it behind me. I'm fortunate that I'm not used to having headaches, and it has really been wearing me down. It has also made it hard to get things done, like science.

The Light Bulb and "The Plan"

You may have noticed that I have not mentioned anything on the PhD front lately. That is because I was too stressed out about the whole thing to think or write about. This PhD has been very hard on me and the closer I get to finishing, the worse it gets. My advisor and I are not working very well together. He adds a huge amount to my stress level. My husband's desire for me to get finished also adds to the weight on my shoulders. The more stress I feel the less I seem to get done. It is not that I don't try, only that I am less effective. My mind seems to work more slowly, my concentration is crummy and I just seem to lose efficiency. Which makes me more stressed. I had an idea before the Mexico trip, but was advised to think on it. I knew, as soon as the light bulb went on, that it was the way to go, and the only way to preserve whatever sanity I may actually have. My advisor has been pressuring me to finish up by the end of the quarter (December 13) while adding additional things for me to do first. I was getting more and more overwhelmed with the idea of fitting all that work in to such a short time and knowing that I couldn't do it. But my advisor has a reason: the lab is full and he has another lab member joining the lab in January, He can't afford to keep paying me and needs the space. "Why doesn't he stop adding stuff for me to do," you might ask (I often do!). He seems to be incapable. Meanwhile, Tim is we are working on a remodel of a beautiful house for the future, and I am not even there to be included. I have only seen our wonderful house a few times! I saw it for a few hours on the day I flew down there to look at it and make an offer, and then for the 4 days I was in town with the architects in August. I feel so left out, but I am so overwhelmed with everything, that I can't let myself get distracted by it. I am in a terrible position! It was taking it's toll on me in from late September through October and I knew that I had reached my limit. I was in a really bad place and had to do something to get out. I was so stressed out that I didn't even want to go to Mexico! I couldn't even identify with any joy at the thought of going and that disturbed me. Intellectually, I knew that was not good or normal. Emotionally, the numbness felt like relief. I knew I was in a bad place mentally, but felt trapped there, separated from part of myself -from my joy and happiness.

Somehow I realized what I needed to do (I thank God for that, you can see it however you wish). Here is my plan: I am going to take a leave of absence from graduate school. I will take next quarter off, maybe two quarters. I will move to Tahoe with Tim, Jack, and Denver. I will write my paper and my dissertation down there. This quarter ends on Dec 13, so whatever science still needs to be done on the paper, my advisor will have to do, or have the technician do it. To be fair, she (tech) is doing stuff now, to help. I will commute up here to Seattle regularly to work with my advisor and committee, but I will get some peace and quite, too. I will be in the mountains I love, skiing frequently, being involved in our house remodel, writing and living with my husband. I'm not sure if I've ever explained it, but Tim works in the Tahoe area. He works for one week, then gets a week off. He has been commuting for about 3 years for this job. He has also had a couple of jobs that were 2 weeks on/2 weeks off. We have only lived together full time for about 11 months of our marriage (6+ years). Yes, of course, that adds to my stress level. So now I'll be the one commuting. This may sound a little wimpy, like I'm running away from a tough situation, but I see it differently. I like to see this change as simply taking care of myself. I have had support from lab members, who agree that I am not treated well. One labmate suggested that I should do what ever I can to get myself out of there, for my sake. Part of the problem is that I actually try to stand up to my advisor, where as it seems that most others just let him bully them. So, he picks on me, trying to break me down. There is the concern (admit it, you're thinking this) that I may never come back and finish. Those who know me, know that I am stubborn. So try to see it this way: I am too stubborn not to get credit for this huge amount of really great research I have done! My committee felt that I had more than enough data to earn a PhD by the summer of 2005. I deserve this; I earned it. I want it!

I will be moving myself and the dogs down to Tahoe in early January! That has helped me immensely, to know that there really is an end in sight.

In the middle of a remodel? Fat chance!

Happy Birthday, Denver

Denver is my beautiful little black dog. While Jack is a star, with his exuberance and all the troubles and mishaps he gets in to, Denver is my sweet old lady. I adopted her from the Denver Dumb Friends League over 12 years ago. At the time, they said she was about 10 months old, so I estimated her birthday to be at the end of October. That makes Denver 13 years old. She has a lot of gray on her muzzle and paws, her eyes are a little cloudy and she has some arthritis. With a little medication to minimize her pain, this dog is happy, alert and willing to play hard with 4 1/2 year old dorky Jack. She is in wonderful condition and should be around for years more. I love this little dog. She has been my best friend, always by my side, always there for me.

Mystery Photo

I downloaded the pictures from Tim's camera to get all the driveway images, and I found a few mystery photos. This one's my favorite.

I'm not sure where in the house this is, but I am sure of the orientation of the shot, which I spent some time sorting out. Wherever it is, it doesn't look good for the structural integrity to me! I welcome suggestions on what might be going on or what may collapse soon -extra credit for creativity!

I have been getting better very slowly, and Saturday was the first day that I felt normal. I had fairly normal energy, and no headache or fever all day (drug free). Until about 7pm. Tim and I went up to home depot. We had an appointment with a design consultant (kitchen cabinetry) from 4:30-5:30pm. When we finally escaped finished up with him, it was almost 7pm and we were starving. Tim took a creative, adventurous route to get us to Qdobo that included a long bumpy alley. Did I mention that my headache is very sensitive to bumps in the road? The irritation to my meninges was clear, the headache returned and my neck stiffened before we left the restaurant. I took a bunch of advil and an oxycodone when I got home, and then we went to Eric and Janet's going away party. Eric was a classmate of mine (he was one of the first to defend, I'll be the last). His new title is "Maritime Explorer". Eric's PhD advisor, when explaining what his former students are doing now, for a grant application or something gave the title to him. Basically Eric and his wife, Janet, have bought a sailboat in Mexico and plan to sail around and explore for at least six months. OK, I've totally digressed, but "Hey look, a chicken!" Back on task, I may have pushed my poor sorry sore little brain a bit much yesterday. The headache is back, but not too bad. If anyone out there has ever been through this (viral meningitis), will you tell me how long it takes to get over?

Heating the Driveway

While we were in Mexico, the slotted drains were supposed to be done and the electrician was supposed to be well on his way with installation of the driveway heating, if not done. The slotted drains are to catch the water (melted snow) so that it doesn't create an ice rink in the street. Two of those were put in... eventually. Basically, no work happened that week. Last week, when Tim was back down there, he worked really hard helping those guys and getting them going. The drains are in, and the electrician is well on his way. I wouldn’t be surprised if the electrician doesn’t get much done this week, while Tim’s up here. Just got word that he's made great progress and is almost done.

The reason to heat the driveway is to melt the snow off. Homewood Ski Area -our little town doesn't have a stoplight, but we've got a ski area- reports an average snowfall of 37 1/2 feet (450") per year. Our house surely gets less snow than that, but the point is, we get a lot of the stuff! Most people get their driveways plowed or use a snow blower. Of course, nowadays you are not allowed to build a driveway such as ours. It's too long (over our allotted coverage) and too steep. We can't convince a snowplow/blower driver to take on the job of our driveway. After a site topographical study and engineer consultation, it was concluded that redesigning/grading the driveway won't help because we are totally screwed there are no good options. So that leaves us with heating the driveway electrically. "Why," you wonder, "do they want to use electricity in the state of California ($$$$), when they could use hydronic heating?" Just basic dumb Because the driveway is too steep to install it. The equipment they use won't work. Nice idea, though.

Basically, they cut grooves in which to lay to heating wires and trenches for the conduit.


Here's one of the big, huge, eyesores
transformers. There are two. I think we'd better check with the homeowners association's architechtural review board. They like to have a say in things that effect the look of the house on the outside.

Not tonight, I have a headache...

I'm really sorry for how long it has been since I posted. I STILL have my headache! If I lie down, it feels good. It just gets bad when I spend too much time upright. And I still frequently have a low grade fever. It appears to be viral meningitis, but to know for sure would require a lumber puncture, and I'm not THAT sick! Now don't get all freaked our about the m word... all it means is that the lining around the brain is inflamed. It is NOT bacterial meningitis, which is very serious. The viral kind can be quite mild. There are definite signs that I am on the mend. The process is just excruciatingly slow.

Sock Wars:
I finished the pair of Sock(s) of Doom for my victim's victim's target last Friday, but I haven't mailed them yet. I've been going in to lab this week, and my brain is so mushy and slow that I keep forgetting to go down to shipping and fedex them. And then yesterday, when I was thinking clearly, I found that they were no longer in my backpack! sheesh! Today I'm staying home and working on the 'puter so that I can avoid that whole upright thing... maybe I'll get them mailed Friday? I guess I'm not feeling very competitive in Sock Wars right now. I must be on my death bed pretty sick!

House Remodel:
We have a General Contractor(GC)! That's great news. AND, the driveway heating is in process. It was supposed to get done while we were in Mexico, but...

misc ramblings...

Jack has his own blog now. Note the link over on the right. He'll blog on all of his mischief.

I'm back from Cabo, with a raging headache and very sore neck. It isn't that bad when I lie on the couch and keep my head still, so that is what the doc advised. It isn't so bad when I take some of the oxycodon left over from my shoulder surgery either. I wouldn't even go to the doc for this, except it has been going on for 6 days! It started at Sammy Hagar's show, actually. Anyway, not a migraine, probably viral.

Updates: When I got home from Cabo, there was only one package of socks waiting for me. The pair for me to finish! I have not received a finished pair...yet, so I'm still in the sockwars game. My current couch assignment leaves me with time to finish the lovely olive green pair that came all the way from Scotland.


I also have some work to do on the everlasting pomatomous project in Socks That Rock. I knit a bunch on the flights down to Cabo, and for the first few days, but then I realized something was amiss on the top of the foot. I kept trying to figure it out, and I finally decided to just rip out 7 rows from that needle and knit it correctly.


and finally, I'll leave you some pics from beautiful Cabo San Lucas...

Get to know Jack

While Daisy is at the doctor for her headache, I thought I'd take the opportunity to do a little blogging of my own. First of all, I'm a handsome fella, don't you think?

Most of my day is spent lying in the sun, but sometimes I like to have a little fun, especially if there is any chance at all that I might get to consume something, edible or not.

A couple of weeks ago (before the pack leaders went to Cabo), Daisy gathered a bunch of plants from the garden. She had each kind in gallon size ziplock bags, all organized. I had my eye on them from the start, waiting for her to leave them within my reach. One day she left them in the bath tub. I hate that slippery cauldron of misery, and usually refuse to enter it. But...the opportunity to eat her stuff was just too good to pass up!

I braved that evil slippery white tub and look at my prize!!!! I enjoyed some ivy right there in the eviltubroom and some dahlias and ferns in the hallway.


Then I brought 3 ziplock bags to the living room and
shared the contents with my CareFlight bear.



















I had a blast that day, but Daisy didn't seem very pleased. She kept muttering something about dying naturally. Do you think she was referring to me? Maybe it was NOT dying naturally?

Greetings from Baja California Sur

Greetings from Los Cabos! When we got here, we managed to upgrade our rooms (each couple had one) to a suite with a connecting living room and an amazing view! These pictures are from our balcony. I took the picture of my feet that first night. We have an amazing view of Land's End.

Last night we went to CaboWabo to hear Sammy Hagar and the Waboritas for Sammy's annual birthday bash. It was a great show, which included Mike Anthony, also of Van Halen.


This morning, when I woke up I realized that the view from our bed is also incredible, so I lay there, reading, enjoying the view and appreciating the air-conditioning. It is REALLY hot and muggy out there today.

I'm not dead yet!

That is, I have not received my "socks of doom" yet. What on earth am I talking about? I entered Sock Wars 2006. Last week, I quickly knit up some lovely socks...almost. I was at the toe decreases for the second sock (mere days after the wars had begun), when I realized that I had forgotten to decrease at the beginning of the gusset and had to rip the sock out back to the end of the heel flap. Note the green yarn I put in to un ravel to. From there I carefully went backward to the very beginning of the gusset and re-knit the entire foot.

My frustration with myself impacted my motivation a bit, but I did eventually finish the socks and sent them off to my target in Scotland. She has been great to correspond with, so I feel a little bit bad for killing her. Hopefully the Jeager superfine merino will make up for it. She has already "socked" her target, and has forwarded her target's unfinished socks on to me. I hope to finish them off and send them to their intended target, before I receive a pair of socks to knock me out of the game. I really liked the socks I knit, so I am looking forward to my demise in the form of pair of socks (of doom).

Catch Up Time

Sorry, Dear Readers, that I have posted so infrequently, and not at all recently. The house remodel has provided so much rich material for blogging, that I am overwhelmed! Both by trying to decide what to write about first, and by dealing with everything that is coming up. Basically, I'm not sure what the House inspection was for, because it sure didn't find the problems with this house! And there are some MAJOR ones! They come up so quickly and then snowball out of control and, well, I guess I just need to take a really deep breath... of nitrous oxide.

Basically we are spending a lot of money to heat our driveway, to get rid of the snow, because no one is willing to plow it due to the very steep slope. We knew of this problem going in, thinking that we could handle one issue to solve.

The "Chimney" project has caused us to replace an entire 6"x12" beam that had dry rot all the way through AND our entire fireplace has to be torn out and rebuilt. Then they can build a new chimney and finally seal off the roof. Goodbye, beautiful wall of granite:-( We just can't afford to rebuild you.

Have I mentioned that the foundation of the house is sinking? Basically the concrete that holds the major support posts (Tim says they are called "piers") are shaped like bullets. That is perfect, if you want to auger deeper into the ground. But we DON'T WANT TO!!!!! So now we have to fix the foundation.

These are just some examples of the fun I am having.

And then there is sock wars. I would have had my socks all done and mailed off to Edinburgh to kill my target. Except for my big dumb mistake. Oh well, I'm not out of it yet. I'll post on all of this in detail eventually. After I get my hands on some valium.

Dyeing with the Fiberphiles

Last week the fiberphiles got together at Emily's place to dye some wool.



During the downtime, Kristin and Shibani went to check out Emily's Stash...


Now there has been some disscussion on whose stash is bigger, mine or Emily's. The word has been that Emily wins the stash contest. With her (somewhat) recently organized stash, I was able to get a better look. My stash is bigger than that! Well, not much bigger and it turns out She's got more in boxes. Hers is still bigger.

Back to dyeing: some of our results:

A Sweater for Jack

Tim's Parents are in town visiting us, and they brought a couple of sweaters. The sweaters had been a gift for Tim's Aunt and Uncle. They are really big and thick (the sweaters, not the relatives) so they (the relatives, not the sweaters) said they would not wear them and pawned the sweaters off on us. Well, we had the same issue with the sweaters. While I was off at lab, Tim had a light bulb moment and enlisted his mother for his secret plan. Upon my return, I asked where the guys were, and apparently was not given the entire answer. Then I found the forearm of one of those sweaters on the back of a chair, all by itself. I proceeded to question my Mother-in-Law more carefully and uncovered their plot. Here's what they were up to:




Why they were being sneaky about it, I have no idea. Tim was actually out getting some tape to for his mother to bind the rough cut edges of the sweater.

I introduce Jack, our 95lb great dane yellow lab mix. He should have been named Marmaduke. He is a big, strong whimp. Jack gets really cold in the harsh Seattle (indoor) winters. We often find him worshiping lying on the heating vents in our floors. I knit him a sweater last winter, but the measurements need some adjustment in future versions. Now, Jack has a new sweater, and Tim has a new career. First Tim is going to learn to sew. Then he will recycle people sweaters for dogs. He says he'll take the sewing machine to work and sew while waiting for flights. He plans to sell his sweaters online. Apparently "we" will also offer custom hand knit sweaters for dogs. In the summer, he will offer recycled T-shirts. Stay tuned as our online empire grows!

Art

When we met with our architect friends, back in August, we were given an assignment: buy art. We learned which walls ought to have a significant piece of art, and requirements for those pieces. This may appear bossy, or us docile, but neither of those is true! We also had an earlier assignment, before we met with them. In the earlier assignment, we were asked to get magazines with home architecture and style. We were to clip images of things we like, to help them get a good feel for our taste/style. During that process, Tim found a few pieces of art that he liked and clipped. Encouraged, because we all said, "Hey, that's cool," Tim hunted down and acquired one of those pieces.



Yes, that is a moose, made of thin pieces of wood all fitted together. Of course, it will look a lot better in a rustic house in the Mountains than it does in a quaint little 1929 house. And a darker paint color would help! Just in case you are wondering, the moose does not meet the description of any of the assigned pieces of art. It's a bonus piece!

Template fumbling

I am experimenting with my template, so please excuse the rough edges in the next few days.

Ta da...The Grand Stairwell!

Remember the great room? We need to update it. It was a bit dated.

And the dark stairwell?


Here is the architect sketch for what we plan to do to the stairwell. We are going to open up the stairwell and great room by removing part of the wall between them and a small bit of wall at the top of the stairs as well.


Tim has been very industrious in his demolition. He sent me these photos today to show me what he has done. I was delighted when I saw that he had opened up that wall! He has also removed the dark paneling. I think it is glorious! Now I'm looking forward to seeing the railing on the stairs opened up.




I am delighted by it! We are Tim is just interviewing General Contractors and requesting bids. The project hasn't really even started yet, and the house is already transformed! I am amazed by how much work he has done. He's been working nights, so he has a lot of time during the day, but this is above and beyond. Thanks Tim, for all your hard work, and for the pictures that let me see our house.

Giving in to the Urge

I've had enough of staying up until 2-3am analyzing my data. I don't know why I do it, because it is never enough for my advisor anyway. So, I'm going to try to enjoy life and take time for myself again. This afternoon I took a trip to the LYS (local yarn store, not Lysine) with the girls. I have been working very hard for many months to resist the urge to purchase some dyes, so I can dye my own yarn, fleece, roving etc. Ever since Emily had the Fiberphiles over to dye some yarn, I knew I was hooked. "You don't have time for this," I told myself. "You should spend the time in lab, finishing the PhD." I kept telling myself. Well, I gave in today. I could no longer resist. I bought 9 jars of Jacquard acid dyes and some squirt bottles for application. I can't wait to play with them this weekend.

I still plan on a post with house stuff. We got the plans from our friends (architects) on Wednesday. They are so great!

4500 qPCR reactions

All those reactions I was doing went well. Now I'm busy analyzing >4500 reactions, so I probably won't have another post until this weekend. I have pix from Tim's demolition, so there will be a good post as soon as I have the time for it.

My Penance

I was so dissapointed in myself for having lost that USB flash drive, that I gave myself penance. I went and got a new USB drive that is attached to a lanyard to be worn around the neck. I also attached my security card, so the whole thing would be too big drop without noticing. The security card came with a lanyard, but I always thought it was kind of dorky to walk around with it around my neck. I usually slip it in my back pocket. But now I must wear the whole dorky set up as my penance.

I was able to successfuly set up and run that plate (of the lost data) Sunday. I also made DNA preps from a bunch of samples (yeast cells). I know I said this blog wouldn't be about science, but I thought I'd post a picture of my DNA drying, so those of you who don't play with things like DNA regularly could check it out. Basically it looks like schmutz at the bottom of the tube and often on one side as well. In this picture, you can see the white pellets at the bottom of the tubes (they're upside down). Those are the ones that had the most cells in them.

PhD progress

So how is the science going and when will I finish? Not fast enough and not soon enough! I was hoping to have the benchwork (that's the actual science/research) finished by August 1st, but I wasn't done then. Now I'm hoping to finish in just a few more weeks. After that is finished, my committee thinks I'll need 3 months for writing. That's to write my paper and my thesis. At least the end is in sight.

I had a little setback on the benchwork this week. I had a long day on Wednesday, setting up and running over 1000 reactions. These were in 3 plates of 384 rxns each. When I came in Thursday morning, I copied the data from the machine onto my USB flash drive to take back to lab to analyze. I stopped on my way up to read a joural article in the library reading room and then went back up to lab. After 15 minutes of chatting, I went to look at my data, and I couldn't find my USB drive! I looked every where, retraced my steps multiple times, contacted the library, and the security folks (they are in charge of lost and found) to no avail. I was able to recover 2 out of three plates from the machine, but not the 3rd (long story why, but my dumb mistake). So I went in to lab today to re-do the lost plate. I screwed that up, so I gave up and went home. Maybe I'll get it right tomorrow! This isn't the way to finish quickly!

At least I am making progress on the blog! This makes 2 posts in less than 7 days!

The Great House Remodel project has begun!

Here's what our new (future) house looks like from the driveway.


...and from the deck. I love this picture, because our fabulous view of Lake Tahoe is reflected in the windows, along with my darling husband.

I flew to Tahoe for several days to meet with my husband and our architects. We have some friends, who are great architects, and we flew them up from Dallas for 3 days of planning. We worked non-stop and came up with all of the plans for our huge remodel (both phases). They had some great ideas and our house is going to be even better than I could have imagined. We made a lot of decisions, with their guidance, and are almost ready to start getting bids from GCs. I just got home today, and I am really excited about it!

Our house was built in 1965 and we purchased it from the original owners. It has not been updated at all. It has dark paneling, bright blue tiles, funky light fixtures and even shag carpet. We have to update everything.

The outside will not really change until Phase 2, which includes the first level of the house. Phase 1 will include the great room and kitchen, the stairwell, and the upper floor which includes the master bedroom and bath, my "green room", the dog room, 2nd bath and the 2nd bedroom. All of the paneling will be removed, dry-walled and painted. Here are some "before" pictures
We will be opening the stairwell up, with light colored walls, and an open railing and hardwood flooring. We will have some cool lights hanging down that will be like a piece of art.

In the great room we will have light colored paint and hardwood floors. The big change will be to open up the wall to the left of the granite fireplace. The stairwell will be opened up even more this way as well as the great room.

The kitchen will be totally re-done. We are going to get natural gas to the house which will allow us to put in a gas stove (not to mention central heating). The island will be a real island (no wimpy bridge/ counter strip) with a prep sink and bar area. The eating-at kind, not drink-mixing. We have picked out granite for the counters and slate for the floors. And stainless appliances, though we have to pick the exact ones.


The 2nd bathroom obviously needs some help. The weird hallway thing will be integrated into the bathroom, so that the shower will not be adjacent to the back door. The blue tile and fixtures are history along with the blue door!

All I can say is ICK! The Master bath will be stripped, opened up and beautiful! There are a bunch of storage cabinets that will be removed and there is really a lot of space to work with. We'll have two sinks, a large tub, and a shower for two. We have picked out tiles for the floor, walls of wet area, and accent. We know what kind of toilet, sinks etc, but don't have exact models yet.

We'll be living downstairs in the "rumpus" room for quite a while, I think.




When I get some of the architect's sketches, I'll post them to give a better idea of what we are doing.

We had a great tutorial on lighting this weekend. I knew lighting was important for tasks, and that the right fixture can make a room, decor-wise. What I learned is how a space can be transformed with the right kind of lighting. Suzanne did an amazing job showing us what we need in terms of lighting. She also showed us where we should have art and what kinds of pieces in each space. We have been wanting to invest in some art, but didn't really know what we wanted or where to begin. Now we know what will be best in our new house and we are eager to begin our search!