The Surprise Inside

The news I am about to share makes our family sad. Henry's Dad, Papa to Oscar, Michael to me, has been diagnosed with ALS. 

{ALS, often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.}

That is the grim definition I plucked right of the world wide web. ALS affects everyone differently and Michael could live with the disease for one year or 20 years. Fingers crossed for the latter! In the mean time, we are making a crazy amount of memories and visiting the heck out of Oscar's Papa.

The Head Start Program that Michael poured his energy into, honored him with naming the facility he helped build (not hammer and nail build, but coordinating, fundraising and legal stuff build) after him. We were not able to be there for the official surprise but we visited with camera in hand.

We were also fortunate enough to get in on a little piece of the surprise by sending this pic of Papa's recent visit to The Lovely's. Maybe next year we will print this pic and do a pic inside a pic inside a pic!

Okay, back to me:) Just when it seems like there is nothing we can do to help the situation, I see a Facebook Message from a friend who is collecting auction items for an ALS Gala! Holla! After some discussion I volunteered to refinish a piece of furniture to be auctioned off. 

I scrounged Craigslist, garage sales and a local auction site and found this dresser for 27.00.

So perfectly modern. I have big plans for the exterior but wanted to go the extra mile for a special surprise when you open up the drawers to fetch your pantyhose.

The Apple Green paint was just not enough. The little man was sleeping and Henry and I were trying desperately to measure my pattern. Losing the beers probably would have been helpful.

 I am not exactly sure where we were in the process below. Measure, tape, curse...repeat repeat.

 Measuring, taping and painting done.

 My favorite part, removing the tape!

Herringbone Drawers! Come on! Totally worth the hassle.

In all seriousness, who is going to want to stack their undies on top of this cute design? I can't wait to share the rest of the dresser design soon! 

Are you amazed at how I can turn any situation into a crafting opportunity? Imagine if my crafts help cure ALS! Here's to trying!