Sometime during this summer my wife Joyce and I very mutually decided that it was time to spruce up our 13 year old Aspen Ridge Condo and get it all done before winter hits.
The present carpet was tired and worn, the Lino was faded, and the tattered old pull-out couch in the spare bedroom had suffered far too many years of grand-children sleep-over’s, afternoon naps, and surprise visits from family and relatives.
Together we lovingly pledged to make this retirement renovation as some sort of a ‘great honey-do senior adventure,’ which would include no tough and hectic schedules, with lots of relax breaks for coffee, snacks, and naps, with the big decision to hire someone that would do most of the work, lifting, and moving. After spending a couple of weeks checking out the flooring experts we finally made a choice, and were given a week or so grace to give away or move out the furniture and relics that we wanted to replace. There was of course a few ‘sad and hissy-fit’ moments during this process as yours truly had to throw away some of the ‘age-old’ artifacts and a long paper-trail that I had hoarded over the years, but I finally compromised in exchange for the promise of a new computer desk and my own set of drawers and a cupboard in which I agreed that I would neatly keep all my new treasures in forever.
Along the way it was really quite fun to methodically move around a whole bunch of stuff out of the big cupboards, closets, and all throughout the condo in order to make it easier for the workers to perform their magic. In the end we had the bathtub, the shower, the deck, and the downstairs storage locker jammed with bags and boxes full of our most precious belongings. The night before the big day we unplugged all of our electrical gizmos but not before taking photos of how they were hooked up so that we could put them back together again later without too much fuss or stress.
When the ‘carpet guys’ arrived early the next morning they gave us the run-down of their plans, took photos of where all the furniture was, and then very politely told us to ‘get lost’ and enjoy ourselves for a few days, leaving our cell-phone number just in case. I guess we didn’t really mind staying in a nice hotel, but thank goodness for Wi-Fi because we had a tough time finding our favourite T.V. shows and sports channels and dining out is okay, but never as good as ‘home-cooking’ and sneaking into the snack cupboard.
When the job was all completed we were so pleased to see the great changes when we came back home and couldn’t wait to start getting everything back together again and to receive our new furniture a few days later. As it will always be a woman’s prerogative to make a few ‘little changes’ here and there we have also added a few new knick-knacks to our cozy condo, including ‘an island’ in our kitchen, a new mattress, and likely a few more to come later?
Whatever the case, we managed to survive our Reno-adventure and can now hopefully relax in our ‘home sweet home’ and prepare for the onslaught of winter, while watching all the new fall/winter shows and sports on television, heading out for a few brisk walks, enjoying quality time with family and friends, and paying off the credit card. By the way, I wish you all good luck and success with all your next Reno’s and projects.
Now let’s have a little fun
• For those of us who were around in the 1950s the things that we never dared to have on our dinner table were elbows, hats, and cell-phones. In those days water always came out of the tap or the old pump in the back yard, and if someone had suggested bottling it and charging for it they would have been laughed out of town.
• At a recent National Poetry contest the many contestants were given two minutes to write a poem from a single word. A Yale student was given the word ‘Timbuktu’ and within the allotted time limit he presented this winning poem:
Slowly across the desert sand trekked a lonely caravan,
Men on camels, two by two, destination Timbuktu.
Hopefully everyone has become caught up in the red hot ‘election fever’ in and around the community, have checked out all the candidates’ plans and promises, will attend the forums, and then will get out and cast your ballot to choose your Mayor and Town Council on Monday-October 16th. In the meantime stay in the ‘fall fling mode’ and have a great week, all of you.