
Home Renovation Update – Almost finished!

More progress, more decisions, more changes, rinse, repeat. It does seem that the little house in Pasadena has made some significant progress, but with that progress came a couple of setbacks.
Every time we are cruising along at a healthy pace, something happens that slows it all down just a bit. The tile that I had originally picked for the front of the fireplace arrived and I was taken aback at what I had chosen. There was nothing about it that I liked. The architect urged me to choose something more traditional, more “old Pasadena” and we made the choice together. I now see that the colors were wrong, it seemed old fashioned, but I made this decision in the middle of the last few (horrific) months of my dad’s life. I made a mistake.
Oh boy, there is a lot to talk about. I started reviewing older posts from as far back as September. My video makes it fun to see the old house and I was so optimistic that we would be completed in seven months but the reality is more like nine months. What is a couple of months when we have a lifetime of enjoyment ahead of us!
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I know many of your heads are nodding and you are silently saying “I told you so”, but we do have a slight delay of our home renovation. We cannot blame it on El Niño, we cannot blame it on the contractor, we cannot even blame it on me.
The life of a grownup isn’t easy. We have come to an age where we have to deal with adult situations that are challenging and heart breaking too. I am sad, so sad. Sometimes my heart doesn’t know where to go to relieve the pain. My dad is so sick and fighting an amazing …
You do not have to look too deep in to the world of social media to see that everyone is publishing topics like the Top 5 Most Popular Posts ,The Nine Best Instagram Photos, The Best of This, The Best of That and even The Top Ten Dishes of 2015 (I did that). There is a very good reason for this. Reflection. As responsible bloggers, we need to reflect upon the work from the prior year in order to plan for and evaluate the next year’s editorial calendar.
However, my favorite part of the “Best of Post” is revisiting a topic that made people happy! My goal was to bring together a community of empty nesters to share their adventures. I am indeed the largest contributor, but there have been many Guest Adventurers who have written amazing articles and were willing to allow me to publish them! Thank you for that!
Christmas with our adult kids is different now. Not bad different, just different. Change is inevitable and as our children get older, they take on new interests and their Christmas wish lists have gotten much smaller. Visits to local, intriguing distilleries, trying new cocktail bars and great restaurants and going to the movies is now the order of the day. They prefer money over gifts. They check their emails and texts. They watch football and play in football fantasy leagues, have a boyfriend, a girlfriend and are quite competent in the kitchen. Times are different, but I like it.
No more assembling toys, taking bites of Christmas cookies and preparing for Santa’s arrival. I made the mistake of listening to a couple of Christmas albums that I used to listen to when they were young. These songs sung by Celine Dion and Harry Connick Jr. caused me to cry remembering those holidays from their childhood. Longing for those times from years ago, yet understanding that they are gone forever.
I just wanted to give you an update to the downsize and Empty Nest Renovation adventure! We so appreciate all of your support and good vibes sent our way! We are just about halfway through…if you stick with the 6 months estimate for the renovation. We moved to Seattle, still travel a great deal, …
Aren’t we all looking for hope? Hope for a great life for our families, for ourselves and for our friends. On social media I see where “likes” of happy things way outnumber the negative. I actually just scroll past the negative. You and I both know that negativity is floating about, I just don’t need to focus on it, but that’s just me.