The new drain tile is functioning well. With historic flooding most everywhere, our basement remained dry for the first time since we moved in some 40+ years ago. As Linda pointed out, our style is usually to react after the problem and it was nice to prevent the problem for a change. We were lucky.

Shortly after I started the demo required to make room for the drain tile to be installed it was clear we needed to remove some of the stuff that filled the basement. This is me publicly admitting Linda was right and I was wrong. It took time and hard work, There is still lots of stuff piled floor to ceiling in the center of the basement.

The demo was next. For the record, the 66-year-old me gets tired and grouchy from physical labor. In the end, we were ready for the drain tile install a couple of days prior to the actual install. The actual install was hard work for the crew that did it.

Well, one thing leads to another which leads to another. The basement was very cold with the walls removed. So we got some additional heating and air conditioning duct work done. I used bleach diluted with water to kill the mold on the basement walls. I am almost done applying a mold/mildew resistant primer to the walls as a preventive measure. About a week ago, the floor drain all but stopped functioning. Called a sewer guy to clean it out. The line was full of sludge probably because of the golf ball lodged in the drain that partially blocked the flow of water which allowed stuff to settle in the pipe instead of being washed away. As I write this I am waiting for a new hot water heater to be installed after the plumber who was installing the proper tee in the hot water supply line for the new dishwasher discovered the inlet to and top of the 12-year-old hot water heater was very corroded and would likely fail soon.

The plan for the basement is to wait until at least next winter before deciding what the future basement will include.

In the meantime, many changes were made on the main floor.

The painter did a great job painting the kitchen cabinets the same cream color as most of the trim in the house. The old cream colored appliances looked old and faded. We replaced the range, microwave and dishwasher with stainless steel with better functionality. The old refrigerator does not look too bad and our options for a new refrigerator were very limited by the cabinet height above. Decided not to cut off freshly painted cupboard at this time.

Maria’s old bedroom was renamed “The nook”. The new lazy-boy chair is very comfortable and the new reading lamp works well. By mutual agreement, the nook shall remain a TV-free room. It is a quiet place to read, knit, contemplate or do nothing.

Gone is the heavy golden oak furniture in the living room and dining room. It now has a reclaimed look and lighter more open feel. Our kids are adults and our grandchildren are old enough that our furniture no longer has to be kid proof. The old was donated to Bridging and Habitat for Humanity.

Deciding what to change and how to change it takes time. Finding the right thing takes time. Implementing change takes time. Discussions, late nights, research, more discussions, trips to showrooms, discussions with salespeople. Delivery schedules. What to do with the old stuff. It all takes time, effort and involves tradeoffs. Mistakes are made. Surprises, both positive and negative happen. Through it all the idea is the same, move forward.

Several people including our adult children asked: Why are we making all of these changes? I wish there was a simple answer. Although, at the heart of all of these changes was a simple idea. Once we retired, how we use and interact with our house changed. The idea is to make adjustments to both the house and to our own behavior to better meet our new needs.

For example, Linda and I are now both home at the same time but are doing separate, unrelated, activities. We both wanted a place to read/knit while we listen to good, but separate, music. We now spend far more time at home than we used to. We want our house to better serve our needs and what we need is evolving.

Also, over the past several years, we experienced helping several different people move. In every case, the volume of stuff they had accumulated was a major issue. Long story short, we are doing our best to live a less cluttered life and limit the volume of stuff our kids will need to deal with someday.

Our journey to get our home set up has been long and hard. Options were considered and decisions were made. It is not true but it feels like there was a complication or twist for every individual piece we added. Yes, the journey seemed long and sometimes hard. However, honestly, the real journey is just beginning, what we just did was for the purpose of being better prepared for the journey ahead.

 

What we perceive often depends on how close we look.

Scaleandperception.com