Progress.

The basement is dry walled and is being primed as we speak.  Paint fumes have been swirling through the air for hours so if I seem loopy in this post, you'll know why.

I have decided on the color scheme for the basement.  The carpet man came today and I picked a berber carpet for the basement (see below).  The paint chip at the top is the color that the trim will be, the one to the left is the color of the walls (the middle color) and the bottom color (darkest) will be the color of what used to be ugly, dated wood paneling. 

You can get a glimpse of the old wood paneling below.  Our handyman, Bill, ripped the old fixture off the fireplace and pulled up the broken marble at the base.  We are hoping to have it tiled next week.  My husband has to clean it out first though...

Here's Eddy doing some more dry walling.  You can see the new door to the utility area at the back and more wood paneling.

Another view of the dry walled basement. 

My brother and his girlfriend came to visit for New Year's so we had our "Christmas" then.  Here's a look at our mantle and fireplace.  Look at my new sunburst mirror that my husband gave me!!  It is a Suzanne Kassler one from Ballard Designs and I am in love.  I am waiting for the room to be painted before I hang it.

Plow and Hearth has these color cones that I gave my husband for Christmas.  They are so cool - they make the fire turn all kinds of blues and greens.  They're a great gift if you know anyone who loves fires.

One night we made a cajun chicken pasta dish from the Pioneer Woman.  It was delish.  Recipe here.

I made it with penne instead of fettucini.  I wish we had "cajuned" it up a little more...note for next time.

My knitting protege, my little cousin Jillian, knitted Jack a fishing hat.  It was quite possibly the cutest thing I have EVER seen.  Jack loved it too.

We got a standing rib roast from our butcher for New Year's.  Jack cooked it on the grill...it was ah-mazing.

My boss sent us a whole ham for Christmas.  We used the ham bone to fix our black eyed peas.

My mom always loved doing the crackers at Christmas time.  Since we had to do our Christmas a little later, I pulled them out for New Year's. 

I am so happy to put 2011 behind me.  I am looking forward to a much happier 2012.  Happy New Year to you all!