House Modifications & 14th Anniversary

I know, I'm really behind in my blogging. Sorry about that. I hope to do better now that it's the new year. It's a nice relief now that the holidays are over, so much more free time. :-) Also, I'd like to take a moment to say:

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO BRIAN AND ME!! 14 YEARS!!! YAY!!!!

Ok, that was fun. I'm hoping this will be a great year, with a great anniversary. I'm happy that we are starting the next year of our marriage. :-)

Below, I have some pictures to show you of modifications we made on the house over the Thanksgiving break....

This is the new ramp for the back door, to the back patio. It's also a portable, foldable, ramp, so it can be taken to other places when needed to help me get into some one-step houses and such. It's really heavy though, so Brian has to carry it for me. I love that we have this ramp now, because I can go in the backyard. I didn't go in the backyard, other than rare instances where I walked one step to a chair on the patio, at all since last May, so I really missed it! I feel so free being able to go back there!

This is the doorway to the master bathroom. It was 24" wide, but we hired a carpenter who took it out, cut the wall, installed more framing and bracing, and installed a new 32" door! It's great. For the past 6 months, I was transferring at this doorway to a rolling office chair that was in the bathroom. Those extra transfers were really wearing me out. Now I'm free to go in and out of my bathroom with ease! You can see the other doorway in the distance, that's the doorway to our closet. It's 24" wide, the same size that this door used to be. It's a huge difference.

The new door, closed. It's not painted yet (it came primed), so we'll do that someday.


Downstairs, we added a landing and a ramp. This step is 7" tall, so we got a 7' ramp, which is what is needed for that height. The landing is a wood box that was custom made by Brian and the carpenter for that spot. Pedestrians can walk straight off the edge of the box, while wheelers can turn and go down the ramp. I must've been upstairs when this pic was taken, since you can see my downstairs wheelchair, Zoe, on the left there.

The box. We want to get some matching carpet to staple to it, but it's too small for a carpet remnant, no one will sell us a piece this small. They told us to go through their trash bin, which I can't do and Brian hasn't gotten around to yet. So, last week I painted it the same color as the surrounding walls. Temporary (possibly), but at least it doesn't look like we're in construction anymore. :-)

Here's my view, about to go down the living room ramp.