That Christmas When

Christmas 2017 was one for the books, and I basically blame it on my little sister. Because apparently, on the way to my parents' place, she said to her husband, "Everyone else seems to have a 'That Christmas When...' story. I don't have one of those."

So, by way of jinx, we now have one. We have That Christmas When Everyone Got Violently Ill.

(All except two of us. I was not one of the lucky two.)

But, I mean, if you're going to catch a stomach bug like the one we caught (which I would actually be more likely to refer to as a stomach piranha, or a stomach crocodile, or a stomach something else that lives in the Amazon and conjures up images of knife-like teeth tearing into one's abdomen, not by way of hyperbole but, rather, accuracy), and you have other people to look after but you can't even look after yourself, what better place to do that than your parents' house? 

I guess it was lovely in its own way.

Plus, we finally got to spend our first night in the Foursquare.

In case you're new here, a quick recap: A couple of years ago, my grandma accidentally purchased an old farmhouse at an auction sale for $500 (full story in this post here). She wasn't in need of an old farmhouse, particularly one that needed so much TLC, so she gave it to my mom and dad as an anniversary present. My parents, who are obsessed with antiques and old houses and hardwood flooring and all that, were delighted, and immediately sold their farm (where they've lived since before I was born). They bought a $500 lot in Frontier, moved the house there, and got to work restoring it—and you can find pictures of that process here.

There is still a lot of work to be done, but they were able to move into the house in September. There are two functional bathrooms, and they just recently got all of the hardwood on the main floor refinished. The living room and dining room are so close to being completed (they just need to install the picture rail around the tops of the rooms), and it's exciting to be able to see their vision for the house more clearly. Next up, they're installing cabinetry in the kitchen. My mom's stoked about that.

Want to see just a couple of before and currentlys? Yes, I know you do.

This is the dining room, looking into the front sitting room.
BEFORE:

CURRENTLY: (Again, it's almost finished but there will be a picture rail across the top of the room there where the two different colours of paint meet.)

This is the hallway between the kitchen and dining room, leading to the front entrance.
BEFORE:

CURRENTLY: (Not quite an AFTER yet, but it's getting there!)

And another shot of this ridiculously beautiful staircase, for good measure:

I think the next time we go home, I'll be able to snap some pictures of the kitchen (no pressure, mom).

Anyway. As of Thursday, everyone is back to full health. We're back home and being very lounge-y and lazy in the name of Keeping This Bug To Ourselves. How was your Christmas? Very boring and unmemorable, I hope.