The first thing that comes to mind when I think about entertainment is the form it takes to come to me and makes it readily available when I want it. I like to call this Home Entertainment. Second to that would be the types of entertainment that are worthy of my travel time and expense. I like to call this Away Entertainment. Of course, I am always open to the spontaneous type that can happen anywhere anytime and is usually the most memorable. I like to think that I carry a certain kind of vision with me at all times that is ready to see these special opportunities and hopefully a spark that can ignite the action to enjoy. Most of all, I can enjoy the game with or without others...but it is always more fun to share the joy. The Key is to remain engaged in life itself. Life is a Gift not to be wasted or taken for granted.
Home Entertainment is quite basic now, but adequate. We have a 1985 stereo console TV that was won in a contest with a roof antenna for access to nine channels for free. Cable and satellite service is available in our rural area but right now we do not miss what we never had and have better use for our money. We have had the appropriate video equipment to view movies since they first were developed in the mid-1980's. We have Netflix movie service by mail and a nice video store down the street that has the best pizza and food variety to go. We have land line phone service that also provides 1.5M online service. There is a broadband line available but it currently is at 1M but plans to increase more than I can imagine very soon using government stimulus funds so we may look at that when it happens and let go of our land line service all together since we have cell phones. Still undecided about keeping both land line and cell service. Will decide as retirement begins to keep life simple. If I decrease my phone service, I may increase to cable/satellite service. Wait and see about the broadband service since it could change everything and be dependable and less costly. I am planning to spend some of my intitial retirement money on a new entertainmnet system with Keith's help. We have a nice Toshiba laptop with remote access now. I will get a new personal laptop when I retire and return my state provided electronic equipment.
We love music. Up until 2007, we had a very good, but very old, music center that was built up in the late 1970's. Since then, we have transferred all our music to MP3 players to carry away from home and use portable small speakers to access while at home/work. We continue to download new music online to add to our vast collection. I would like to have a better music system incorporated into a new TV system which will all be serviced by this new broadband should it be all that it is hoped to be. I see a big expense coming to satisfy all these needs within the first few years of retirement.
Many activities around the home can be considered work or entertainment depending on the mindset at the time. We both love to garden and landscape. Creative home projects can be fun including hobbies at home such as painting, sewing, fly-tying, creative cooking, flower arranging, and only limited by our imagination.
I have not been very regular about entertaining people in my home. I would like to increase that activity as I have more time to find friends and acquaintances who also are retired and have the time to nurture relationships.
Away Entertainment has usually been dinner and a movie and I don't believe that will ever change. We also like the yearly Home & Garden Shows and Watercolor Art Shows in Springfield. Nearly every month, we travel to Springfield, Osage Beach, or Branson for entertainment depending on available extra money. There's plenty of things to do and see within 50 miles of home and we are blessed with so many lakes and parks. We live in a lake tourist area which has much seasonal diversity. In the Fall, we travel further to include wineries throughout the state and the quaint little shops nearby. Our biggest time and expense together is our yearly trip for a week in Hot Springs, Arkansas which we began on a regular basis in 2007 after my neck surgery. Other than that, we both take separate trips as our work time allows to visit relatives and enjoy people and places far away. So far, that would be about 1-2 weeks per year in addition to the one week Arkansas trip. I would like to increase my travel time with another week when I retire but will likely use it to visit relatives that can best accommodate me. I will always make time for those that make time to visit me. There are many places we haven't seen yet such as National Parks out west that we will find time in retirement to see together. There likely will be a trip to Eastern Europe combined with geneology reseach. I will find some time most years to spend on the beach as I have always been attracted to water more than anything else. Luckily, I have relatives on the East Coast. I am hoping to see them more.
Most of the time, we don't spend a lot of money on entertainment away from home because we are a bit thrifty now. Things we do away from home that are generally inexpensive include bike riding, motorcycle riding, walking, and many other outdoor activities that will be discussed in more detail in another section of this blog. I like physical vacations appropriate for my age and physical abilities. The yearly Hot Springs trip is a rest and rejuvination vacation for health purposes with its healing waters and spa treatmnets.
I am looking forward to more Entertainment in my retirement years and hope to use vacations to increase time with loved ones and make new friends that have similar interests and available time for relationships.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Personal and Spiritual Growth
Credit belongs to my parents for my basic core values such as integrity, work ethic, thrift, empathy for those less fortunate, and love of freedom all of which they lived and taught in everyday examples. They loved their adopted county and were proud to call themselves Democrats who cherished their right to vote. I have always had an interest in my Bohemian and Eastern European background and hope to discover more inherited characteristics as I uncover some of the mysteries of my parents heritage. I will spend more time in this genealogical research in retirement. I have made a decent start.
I do not give a lot of credit to my parents for my Personal Growth as they had all they could do in physically growing three children and taking care of themselves. There is no blame as I know they did the best they could with what they knew. Any mistakes they may have made had been forgiven by me by the time I was 30. I have been responsible for my own Personal Growth since I left home.
I left home at age 17, married Keith at age 20, had two children at 27 and 29. During the early years, I learned by experience and grew to be a whole person who was capable of having respectful work with better than average wages and maintain a household that included growing/canning food, sewing clothes for my family, cooking healthy meals, and being in balance with the natural world around me. Keith and I both grew with the challenges that came with being parents and experienced so much joy words cannot descibe as our children made us so proud. I found true happiness as a wife and mother. My best memories are now left in so many photo albums I lovingly kept organized for 35 years. My challenge in retirement is to scan these photos and write down memories for an electronic record. It will be fun to relive the past and play with design but I also hope and plan to continue Personal Growth as part of the lives of my adult children and living the Golden Years with my husband.
At age 30, I began my career with the State Tax Commission of Missouri as a Real Estate Appraiser monitoring the Assessor's offices in SW Missouri. The education to be capable of doing such a large task was state-provided as needed as well as all expenses. The skills for this job were developed on the job and adapting to changes was typical. My attraction to this work began with a desire to work from my home so I could better balance my rolls as wife and mother and homemaker. I have been highly successful and blessed.
One of the major changes that I adapted to was when my children left the nest in 1999-2000. Immediately, I was assigned a work territory that challenged my skills and began to increase my time away from home. I also expanded my experience and knowledge in the level of my appraisals which started by working along the Mississippi River in SE Missouri...way out of my comfort zone. My assignments began to include larger cities and diverse markets. By 2002, I realized that my education needs surpassed what was being provided by the state so I found a path through the private sector and became a General Certified Appraiser by 2005.
I thought this was my biggest challenge because it was achieved during stressful years that began with tough economic issues with talk of furlough from my state job lasting many months. My husband's 14-month unemployment from the garment industry resulted in a great challenge for him to get his college degree and a new career as a Financial Manager. My son's decision to leave college to enlist in the Army August 2001 was followed by deployment to Iraq twice. My daughter was living farther away and on her own. I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2003. The world was changing very fast. There was no other choice for me but to keep moving forward.
As I was struggling to attain my certification, I also began taking steps to have my own appraisal business as a back-up should the state cut-backs affect me. I set up a Limited Liability Company. I was ready to go with the final expenditures when I received my General Certification in August 2005. Before the month was out and after two weeks of discussions with my husband and daughter, I applied for the Manager position of my department with the State Tax Commission of Missouri. I was interviewed twice and put on hold for six months while I continued to build my business and do my state work assignments. Then the call came that said I was the new Manager of the Ratio Study Section.
I made no secret of the fact that my interest as manager was to lead the staff through a transition period to help bring the department up to a level similar to the private sector. I clearly stated what I could do and that I likely would have it done in about three years then I would be eligible for retirement. I hinted that maybe I would stay on another two years with a substantial pay raise. I was prepared to live in Jefferson City for up to five years commuting back home on weekends. All went well until the end of the first year.
I injured my neck when I was shoveling 17" snow from my driveway at my duplex in Jefferson City. Within a couple months I was in pain management. I would have been able to tolerate this challenge if it weren't for the disrespect I was also developing for several of my co-workers, the other managers and the commissioners. As my strength diminished physically, so did my tolerance for bad behavior. Good leadership role models were not present. It seemed the more I held onto my integrity, the less respect and acceptance I received from the other three managers and the three commissioners. Sixteen months into my manager position, I knew I had accomplished all that I had set out to do and asked that my position as field appraiser be restored giving two months notice. I was beginning to see that I would continue to have moral conflicts should I remain in this political environment. Much more was expected of me as manager and no one saw my resignation coming. I had all the changes in place and what was remaining was the follow-thru and the fine-tuning of the new policies and procedures I had set in place. I realized I would rather show staff how it is done rather than tell staff how to do it. I'm not much of an enforcer so it was better for everyone that I left. I used my intuition in so many ways in this position and believe it served me well. It was my greatest challenge to keep my intuition alive and well in this political environment where unconventional non-conformity is needed for change but is not tolerated for very long. Time to move on...
I was somewhat pleased with my returning salary realizing it was at the higher end of the pay scale; I asked for the highest and didn't get it. It was good enough as a basis for my retirement formula. I would never have reached this level if I had not accepted the manager position no matter how many years I continued to work as an appraiser or with the amount of work I wanted to do in my own business. So financially, it was a great move to accept the manager position and return as an appraiser at a much higher pay. I also have the satisfaction of knowing that I did the best I could to bring the State Tax Commission Ratio Section into a comparable level with the private sector where the legal challenges were increasing. The STC still remains as the 'final word' in value as always, but now we can justify that responsibility with uniform standards applied to everyone. I believe there is a qualified 'enforcer' as my manger replacement. I believe I knew he was going to replace me as manager before he even considered it. I knew in the first six months he would be a good candidate to replace me and set several things in motion to move in that direction. My intuition proved to be right. He was more adaptable to the political environment as he left an elected position before his term was up to take the manager position. I wish him well. The career part of my Personal Growth is coming to an end soon. I am in a good position to fade out of one picture and begin the rest of my life.
My Spiritual Growth began with a Catholic upbringing from two parents with Old World Catholic backgrounds. There was Church on Sundays and Grace at family dinners. A few times a priest came to our home to counsel my parents. But generally, praying was done behind closed doors and was a personal time. I spent eight years attending a parochial school in Virginia. In my teenage years, catholic became more of a universal term and my father said I was more of a "free spirit" than a Catholics' catholic. I liked the way that sounded and also liked the freedom of not being contained in one limited box of beliefs and doctrines. Of course, the simple and basic beliefs taught in my developing years never left my core. I have never known a time when I did not have a relationship with God and even in the worst of times, He was always there. I try to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and am successful when I keep it simple and part of my everyday life. The Holy Spirit is a part of me and I have never known a time when I did not have the Holy Spirit within reach; I just get quiet, centered and ask that I be open to hear. I have come to think of my intuition as the Voice and the simpler my life is, the louder and more often I hear. I was in my 40's before I truly trusted my intuition and it came to me more often and became stronger. I was always aware that evil can disguise itself and I have looked it in the eye and said I want no part and evil must leave or I will call on St. Micheal and my Guardian Angel. Simple, but always effective. I do not have any fear. When fear tries to creep into my life, my faith is strong enough to weaken it, my hope is clear enough to move forward even when fear tries to drag me down. My biggest challenge is charity. I think I am a kind person and generally am polite and respectful of others. I usually smile first at people I encounter but as I get older, I trust people less. My experience has been that the more I gave; more was expected. I don't mind this when the gratitude is genuine for something I could do that really helped but I have a problem when what I do may have contributed more to people not doing for themselves when they should or could. My lifestyle is seclusive at times because I fear people want to take advantage of me. It is easier to be charitable to worthy organizations with money contributions. I plan to expand my charitable work directly with people when I retire by volunteering my time. I want to work on increasing my trust of others and will continue to search for the good in people hopeful that I will find that there are people who wish to give as much as they receive. I'm beginning to see that assertive people are better equipped to say what they want and what they have to give. Time is too short to play games.
The path to inner peace included regular visits to different churches during my 30's and 40's and exposing my children to the beliefs and routines that are part of our community among friends and neighbors by attending their churches. I hope I taught them by my example to respect all religious traditions and that people create tradition to help them keep their faith in one God who they can get to know through His Son, Jesus Christ. Also, that there are many paths to God and each person must have their own journey whether they choose to follow with a church or not. There is no right or wrong way as long as a person is true to themselves and not following fear. Again, intuition is the Voice that guides in the right direction.
My husband didn't support the Catholic Church and I went infrequently alone or with relatives. He did give it a try for a few months but lost interest and stopped going with me. The children went sometimes with me but without their father and children their own age, they didn't seem any more interested than I did. I did my best to give them the same core values I had and their father had similar Christian values and together we raised a couple good kids. Together as a family, we spent three wonderful years as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints; we were Mormons.
The missionaries that came to our door began a relationship with love and opened our hearts and minds with their social network united in the teachings of Jesus Christ through a modern prophet. Seemed harmless enough and interesting. Most of all we were attracted to the family-oriented system of support.Within a year, we reached the highest level by being married in the Celestrial Room of the Mormon Temple in Utah and sealed our family together for all eternity in a nice ceremony. So much of the rituals were pleasant as they were similar to rituals in the Catholic Church. It all started to crumble shortly after the first year when odd beliefs and rituals began to be introduced. The list of things that made me uncomfortable grew and I began to identify some things that I missed from the Catholic Church and could never deny. Throughout the three years as a member of the Morman Church, I always felt the love of its members and grew as a teacher in many of the 'callings' I was given. I believe the end came when Keith was overwhelmed with so many 'callings' and stopped attending six months before I finally gave it up. My 'callings' were more demanding and resistant to any limitations I chose to put on them. When the long-distance activities took more time than we wanted to give, it was easier to cut complete ties. We miss most of the people but don't miss the few odd and uncomfortable rituals and beliefs or the excessive demands on our time and talents. Sad that no middle ground was found. By then, each of us in our family went our own way spiritually, but remain Christians. I am responsible for my own faith.
My Spiritual Growth will continue as a member of the Catholic Church and I will likely become more active in retirement. I know I do not belong anywhere else. I know God wants me to be the best I can be and that is so I can appreciate all His gifts and be thankful and full so I can give to others in need. I know God accepts me as I am and is my only Judge.
I do not give a lot of credit to my parents for my Personal Growth as they had all they could do in physically growing three children and taking care of themselves. There is no blame as I know they did the best they could with what they knew. Any mistakes they may have made had been forgiven by me by the time I was 30. I have been responsible for my own Personal Growth since I left home.
I left home at age 17, married Keith at age 20, had two children at 27 and 29. During the early years, I learned by experience and grew to be a whole person who was capable of having respectful work with better than average wages and maintain a household that included growing/canning food, sewing clothes for my family, cooking healthy meals, and being in balance with the natural world around me. Keith and I both grew with the challenges that came with being parents and experienced so much joy words cannot descibe as our children made us so proud. I found true happiness as a wife and mother. My best memories are now left in so many photo albums I lovingly kept organized for 35 years. My challenge in retirement is to scan these photos and write down memories for an electronic record. It will be fun to relive the past and play with design but I also hope and plan to continue Personal Growth as part of the lives of my adult children and living the Golden Years with my husband.
At age 30, I began my career with the State Tax Commission of Missouri as a Real Estate Appraiser monitoring the Assessor's offices in SW Missouri. The education to be capable of doing such a large task was state-provided as needed as well as all expenses. The skills for this job were developed on the job and adapting to changes was typical. My attraction to this work began with a desire to work from my home so I could better balance my rolls as wife and mother and homemaker. I have been highly successful and blessed.
One of the major changes that I adapted to was when my children left the nest in 1999-2000. Immediately, I was assigned a work territory that challenged my skills and began to increase my time away from home. I also expanded my experience and knowledge in the level of my appraisals which started by working along the Mississippi River in SE Missouri...way out of my comfort zone. My assignments began to include larger cities and diverse markets. By 2002, I realized that my education needs surpassed what was being provided by the state so I found a path through the private sector and became a General Certified Appraiser by 2005.
I thought this was my biggest challenge because it was achieved during stressful years that began with tough economic issues with talk of furlough from my state job lasting many months. My husband's 14-month unemployment from the garment industry resulted in a great challenge for him to get his college degree and a new career as a Financial Manager. My son's decision to leave college to enlist in the Army August 2001 was followed by deployment to Iraq twice. My daughter was living farther away and on her own. I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2003. The world was changing very fast. There was no other choice for me but to keep moving forward.
As I was struggling to attain my certification, I also began taking steps to have my own appraisal business as a back-up should the state cut-backs affect me. I set up a Limited Liability Company. I was ready to go with the final expenditures when I received my General Certification in August 2005. Before the month was out and after two weeks of discussions with my husband and daughter, I applied for the Manager position of my department with the State Tax Commission of Missouri. I was interviewed twice and put on hold for six months while I continued to build my business and do my state work assignments. Then the call came that said I was the new Manager of the Ratio Study Section.
I made no secret of the fact that my interest as manager was to lead the staff through a transition period to help bring the department up to a level similar to the private sector. I clearly stated what I could do and that I likely would have it done in about three years then I would be eligible for retirement. I hinted that maybe I would stay on another two years with a substantial pay raise. I was prepared to live in Jefferson City for up to five years commuting back home on weekends. All went well until the end of the first year.
I injured my neck when I was shoveling 17" snow from my driveway at my duplex in Jefferson City. Within a couple months I was in pain management. I would have been able to tolerate this challenge if it weren't for the disrespect I was also developing for several of my co-workers, the other managers and the commissioners. As my strength diminished physically, so did my tolerance for bad behavior. Good leadership role models were not present. It seemed the more I held onto my integrity, the less respect and acceptance I received from the other three managers and the three commissioners. Sixteen months into my manager position, I knew I had accomplished all that I had set out to do and asked that my position as field appraiser be restored giving two months notice. I was beginning to see that I would continue to have moral conflicts should I remain in this political environment. Much more was expected of me as manager and no one saw my resignation coming. I had all the changes in place and what was remaining was the follow-thru and the fine-tuning of the new policies and procedures I had set in place. I realized I would rather show staff how it is done rather than tell staff how to do it. I'm not much of an enforcer so it was better for everyone that I left. I used my intuition in so many ways in this position and believe it served me well. It was my greatest challenge to keep my intuition alive and well in this political environment where unconventional non-conformity is needed for change but is not tolerated for very long. Time to move on...
I was somewhat pleased with my returning salary realizing it was at the higher end of the pay scale; I asked for the highest and didn't get it. It was good enough as a basis for my retirement formula. I would never have reached this level if I had not accepted the manager position no matter how many years I continued to work as an appraiser or with the amount of work I wanted to do in my own business. So financially, it was a great move to accept the manager position and return as an appraiser at a much higher pay. I also have the satisfaction of knowing that I did the best I could to bring the State Tax Commission Ratio Section into a comparable level with the private sector where the legal challenges were increasing. The STC still remains as the 'final word' in value as always, but now we can justify that responsibility with uniform standards applied to everyone. I believe there is a qualified 'enforcer' as my manger replacement. I believe I knew he was going to replace me as manager before he even considered it. I knew in the first six months he would be a good candidate to replace me and set several things in motion to move in that direction. My intuition proved to be right. He was more adaptable to the political environment as he left an elected position before his term was up to take the manager position. I wish him well. The career part of my Personal Growth is coming to an end soon. I am in a good position to fade out of one picture and begin the rest of my life.
My Spiritual Growth began with a Catholic upbringing from two parents with Old World Catholic backgrounds. There was Church on Sundays and Grace at family dinners. A few times a priest came to our home to counsel my parents. But generally, praying was done behind closed doors and was a personal time. I spent eight years attending a parochial school in Virginia. In my teenage years, catholic became more of a universal term and my father said I was more of a "free spirit" than a Catholics' catholic. I liked the way that sounded and also liked the freedom of not being contained in one limited box of beliefs and doctrines. Of course, the simple and basic beliefs taught in my developing years never left my core. I have never known a time when I did not have a relationship with God and even in the worst of times, He was always there. I try to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and am successful when I keep it simple and part of my everyday life. The Holy Spirit is a part of me and I have never known a time when I did not have the Holy Spirit within reach; I just get quiet, centered and ask that I be open to hear. I have come to think of my intuition as the Voice and the simpler my life is, the louder and more often I hear. I was in my 40's before I truly trusted my intuition and it came to me more often and became stronger. I was always aware that evil can disguise itself and I have looked it in the eye and said I want no part and evil must leave or I will call on St. Micheal and my Guardian Angel. Simple, but always effective. I do not have any fear. When fear tries to creep into my life, my faith is strong enough to weaken it, my hope is clear enough to move forward even when fear tries to drag me down. My biggest challenge is charity. I think I am a kind person and generally am polite and respectful of others. I usually smile first at people I encounter but as I get older, I trust people less. My experience has been that the more I gave; more was expected. I don't mind this when the gratitude is genuine for something I could do that really helped but I have a problem when what I do may have contributed more to people not doing for themselves when they should or could. My lifestyle is seclusive at times because I fear people want to take advantage of me. It is easier to be charitable to worthy organizations with money contributions. I plan to expand my charitable work directly with people when I retire by volunteering my time. I want to work on increasing my trust of others and will continue to search for the good in people hopeful that I will find that there are people who wish to give as much as they receive. I'm beginning to see that assertive people are better equipped to say what they want and what they have to give. Time is too short to play games.
The path to inner peace included regular visits to different churches during my 30's and 40's and exposing my children to the beliefs and routines that are part of our community among friends and neighbors by attending their churches. I hope I taught them by my example to respect all religious traditions and that people create tradition to help them keep their faith in one God who they can get to know through His Son, Jesus Christ. Also, that there are many paths to God and each person must have their own journey whether they choose to follow with a church or not. There is no right or wrong way as long as a person is true to themselves and not following fear. Again, intuition is the Voice that guides in the right direction.
My husband didn't support the Catholic Church and I went infrequently alone or with relatives. He did give it a try for a few months but lost interest and stopped going with me. The children went sometimes with me but without their father and children their own age, they didn't seem any more interested than I did. I did my best to give them the same core values I had and their father had similar Christian values and together we raised a couple good kids. Together as a family, we spent three wonderful years as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints; we were Mormons.
The missionaries that came to our door began a relationship with love and opened our hearts and minds with their social network united in the teachings of Jesus Christ through a modern prophet. Seemed harmless enough and interesting. Most of all we were attracted to the family-oriented system of support.Within a year, we reached the highest level by being married in the Celestrial Room of the Mormon Temple in Utah and sealed our family together for all eternity in a nice ceremony. So much of the rituals were pleasant as they were similar to rituals in the Catholic Church. It all started to crumble shortly after the first year when odd beliefs and rituals began to be introduced. The list of things that made me uncomfortable grew and I began to identify some things that I missed from the Catholic Church and could never deny. Throughout the three years as a member of the Morman Church, I always felt the love of its members and grew as a teacher in many of the 'callings' I was given. I believe the end came when Keith was overwhelmed with so many 'callings' and stopped attending six months before I finally gave it up. My 'callings' were more demanding and resistant to any limitations I chose to put on them. When the long-distance activities took more time than we wanted to give, it was easier to cut complete ties. We miss most of the people but don't miss the few odd and uncomfortable rituals and beliefs or the excessive demands on our time and talents. Sad that no middle ground was found. By then, each of us in our family went our own way spiritually, but remain Christians. I am responsible for my own faith.
My Spiritual Growth will continue as a member of the Catholic Church and I will likely become more active in retirement. I know I do not belong anywhere else. I know God wants me to be the best I can be and that is so I can appreciate all His gifts and be thankful and full so I can give to others in need. I know God accepts me as I am and is my only Judge.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Home and Landscape
I have lived in the same house since 1986. It was built in 1978. Together with my husband, we made this house a home and raised our two children who both left the nest about 2000. The nest has been slowly changing into one that will serve us well in retirement. Repair, maintenance, and organization have been the plan of action as our time and money allow. We are fast approaching the time that major remodeling is in order.
The changes we made in the first few years include finishing half the basement; the other half was insulated and sheet rocked leaving the floors and ceiling unfinished. We added a third full bathroom downstairs. Before beginning this downstairs project, we corrected a house-settling problem we observed. This involved adding new support beams in two places to hold up the main floor while we repositioned the old beams in their proper place. The builder had placed the beams on minimally reenforced cross boards. This had caused one metal beam to slightly bow out. From that beam, a minor crack in the concrete floor traveled across half the basement floor northward. We repaired that crack. There were also some electrical errors that were corrected before the suspended ceiling was in place. The plumbing could have been better for one upstairs bathroom, but we put up with the slow flushing all these years and may change when that bathroom gets remodeled. Other than those two problems, the house was built good and has served us well.
Since 2000, we have added 30-year shingles to the roof and added a ridge vent, painted the exterior and most of the interior. We have replaced both upstairs and downstairs sliding glass doors. It is now time to plan the remodeling for this 30+ year old house.
We are currently working on the lower floor. The old carpet used in the finished half is worn and needs to be removed. I am in the process of organizing, labeling, and packing everything into large plastic containers that will be moved into a storage unit until the work is done. The larger furniture will be moved to the unfinished area. Keith will rent a machine that will grind the concrete to removed any remaining carpet glue and sealant. It will then be refinished. I will repaint the walls and the electrical will be repaired, ceilings panels replaced where needed and storage shelves added to one wall in the unfinished area.
The plan is to change the use of the 800 sf finished area from its previous use as my home office, family computer center, kids play area, multi-purpose activities such as raising puppies to fly-tying to storage. The purpose is three-fold: create a new bedroom area for when our children come home to visit and other guests, a living area, and storage space. There are no plans to build walled partitions as bookcases, furniture, movable screens will be the flexible dividers. The bedroom will also serve as a 'safe place' during tornado warnings. The living area will also be an activity area for fly-tying, art projects, TV & media center, sewing area and any other projects. The storage area will begin at the bottom of the stairs with the freezer and food storage close at hand using the storage shelves back-to-back with bookcases to separate the bedroom. The goal is to have this project done by winter 2012. The other half of the basement will do good to have storage shelves along the wood framed wall side to keep all the plastic labeled storage containers. Future plans include removing the chimney and wood stove which will open the area on both floors. Cleaning and organizing this 600 sf area will be necessary to redefine its use and/or potential uses.
The next remodeling project involves expanding our current master bedroom into a suite. With the guest bedroom now downstairs, the bedroom on the northeast side can now be combined with our bedroom on the northwest side. This will be done by removing the back wall to our closest and possibly moving our bedroom door so that it opens in direct line with the other bedroom door. This would create a natural air flow. The closest in the former guest room will now be used as a genealogy storage center with shelves built and a computer center on a work table alongside. A new closest could be built from the space created by moving our bedroom door over and building a wall along the whole side that shares with the master bathroom. Have not decided yet if access to this potential new closest should be from the bathroom or the bedroom (or both). Later, when the chimney is removed, more bathroom space will be available for a walk-in shower to replace the tub/shower combo. I want a shower large enough to not need doors or curtains. The bathroom remodel will include more efficient storage and new counter top/sink and tile floors. This project will begin early in 2012 and may continue into my first year of retirement in 3/2013. We can sleep downstairs if it gets too messy with that project done first.
When the master bathroom is being remodeled, plans will be made to remodel the other upstairs bathroom. These plans will include removing the old tub and replacing with a larger jetted tub, smaller sink and more efficient storage as well as a tile floor. Maybe we can once and for all correct the odd plumbing for that toilet once the chimney has been removed so access would be better. The odd plumbing may have had something to do with getting around the chimney during original construction.
The kitchen has all new appliances in recent years except for a stove which is expected to be in place by the end of this year. Since Keith has taken up cooking and spends as much, if not more, time in the kitchen than me, he has some ideas for making more efficient use out of the space here and there. For sure, the sink area needs replaced. Any other changes would be minor as it is a lovely kitchen with beautiful cabinets. Increasing storage downstairs will free up space in the kitchen.
As time and money for remodeling increase at my retirement, additional projects are planned. I have always wanted a sun room. I plan to have one built to replace the back deck. It will be 2-story with access from both upstairs and downstairs sliding glass doors. Decking will be expanded to reach across one end of the carport. This room will have 'green' features and wood heat in addition to its own wall unit for heating and cooling. I am excited about this new feature and am looking forward to making my retirement dream come true. Keith has some ideas about building a roof beneath the main floor windows in this back of the house area from the sun room across to the north side. Since this walk-out basement area is across the full back of the house, the siding gets too much sun exposure and needs to be addressed to keep our house cooler. This will also be the time we consider new siding instead of paint which is starting to deteriorate again. With this new roof area in place, the lower area can become a screened porch off the lower sun room on the north side.
The rest of the rooms in the house are fine except for flooring. That will be a large project that will extend to every room upstairs. We want to replace the wall-to-wall carpet with wood or a natural product and tile in all bathrooms and the kitchen. That project will include some reinforcement nailing in 'squeeky' floor areas.
We will have to address the heating and cooling issues sooner than later as our HVAC system is original with the construction of the house and not so efficient as modern systems. It has served us well and had sufficient maintenance to get the most out of it. Because we use wood heat, we have been able to extend the life of this system. It has reached beyond all expectations by now and can go at any time. Of course, we have not made any specific plans to replace until it is dead. It is a stressful situation I hope is resolved in the near future. We are discussing options now. Heat pumps are popular around here. I am more interested in keeping this house cool than I am about heat as we will always have wood heat. We are in the process of deciding for sure to remove that chimney in the unfinished part of the basement which has served us well. We are discussing to replace that wood heat source with an efficient, but aesthetic hearth stove in the living room upstairs. That would involve giving up 3' of carport space but would be a clean way to deal with wood transport. Also there will be a small wood stove in the new sun room as well as a larger wood stove in the lower floor of the sun room that will help to heat the lower floor.
With several house projects in place and in the planning, we know that we will progress as the time and money are available. In the meantime, we have spent a great deal of time and a fair amount of money all these years on our landscape. It has been and continues to be a highly enjoyable way to spend our time together.
Our landscaping began shortly after we moved into the house. The pie-shaped lot is located on a hill and had very little topsoil. We sold 50 acres nearby where we had lived the previous seven years and used some of that money to haul in 25+ truck loads of good river-bottom dirt. We built four terraced gardens and several native rock retaining walls. I obtained a load of 100-year-old common brick from Mt. Vernon in Lawrence County for a patio across the house front. I had the driveway concreted. Keith built some decorative fence accents. But most of all, we planted and planted and are still planting...
There was no established layout or a master plan to the final outcome. The landscape grew intuitively with us as we lovingly worked together and walked together and enjoy regularly. The key thread throughout the loose plan was to create a place we could access for the rest of our lives so the paths were made in both steps and ramps. Every part of our house and yard can be accessed without steps. There are many steps since we live on a hill, but also alternative routes around them. Biggest advantage to living on a hill is there is no flooding and almost always a breeze which means no mosquitoes. The view is awesome! The sound of water rushing down the hills into the river below is calming after a rain. The deer and turkey are welcomed (except when they eat more of our garden than we do). The songbirds are a daily joy.
I have included my favorite recent photos of our landscape:
Early in 2010, Keith removed 5 trees in our yard renting all the necessary equipment over several weeks. Recent ice storms in SW Missouri showed us what kind of damage trees can do to a home if not located far enough away. All but one of our trees were threatening.
Backyard view of steps and gardens
View from Street
Mailbox View
Front Brick Patio
Front Yard 1
Front Yard 2
Front Yard 3
Side Yard with Redbuds and Hostas
Gardens Viewed from Deck
Circle of Life Gardens
Exotic Lily Garden
Walkway to connect house to gardens as of June 2011 - to be completed when weather cools in Fall. There are many more photos of the flowers and little "outdoor rooms" taken but these photos give a good overview and are taken recently. Maintenence is not difficult because the lawn to mow is small and rectangular. Weed-whipping is needed less often than mowing because all the edges are planted and we deal with weeds early on before they are a problem. There are a few areas that need additional planning and work, but these projects are getting smaller every year. Even when all is "done," I believe Keith and I will continue to make changes just because we both love working in our yard. Does it show?
The changes we made in the first few years include finishing half the basement; the other half was insulated and sheet rocked leaving the floors and ceiling unfinished. We added a third full bathroom downstairs. Before beginning this downstairs project, we corrected a house-settling problem we observed. This involved adding new support beams in two places to hold up the main floor while we repositioned the old beams in their proper place. The builder had placed the beams on minimally reenforced cross boards. This had caused one metal beam to slightly bow out. From that beam, a minor crack in the concrete floor traveled across half the basement floor northward. We repaired that crack. There were also some electrical errors that were corrected before the suspended ceiling was in place. The plumbing could have been better for one upstairs bathroom, but we put up with the slow flushing all these years and may change when that bathroom gets remodeled. Other than those two problems, the house was built good and has served us well.
Since 2000, we have added 30-year shingles to the roof and added a ridge vent, painted the exterior and most of the interior. We have replaced both upstairs and downstairs sliding glass doors. It is now time to plan the remodeling for this 30+ year old house.
We are currently working on the lower floor. The old carpet used in the finished half is worn and needs to be removed. I am in the process of organizing, labeling, and packing everything into large plastic containers that will be moved into a storage unit until the work is done. The larger furniture will be moved to the unfinished area. Keith will rent a machine that will grind the concrete to removed any remaining carpet glue and sealant. It will then be refinished. I will repaint the walls and the electrical will be repaired, ceilings panels replaced where needed and storage shelves added to one wall in the unfinished area.
The plan is to change the use of the 800 sf finished area from its previous use as my home office, family computer center, kids play area, multi-purpose activities such as raising puppies to fly-tying to storage. The purpose is three-fold: create a new bedroom area for when our children come home to visit and other guests, a living area, and storage space. There are no plans to build walled partitions as bookcases, furniture, movable screens will be the flexible dividers. The bedroom will also serve as a 'safe place' during tornado warnings. The living area will also be an activity area for fly-tying, art projects, TV & media center, sewing area and any other projects. The storage area will begin at the bottom of the stairs with the freezer and food storage close at hand using the storage shelves back-to-back with bookcases to separate the bedroom. The goal is to have this project done by winter 2012. The other half of the basement will do good to have storage shelves along the wood framed wall side to keep all the plastic labeled storage containers. Future plans include removing the chimney and wood stove which will open the area on both floors. Cleaning and organizing this 600 sf area will be necessary to redefine its use and/or potential uses.
The next remodeling project involves expanding our current master bedroom into a suite. With the guest bedroom now downstairs, the bedroom on the northeast side can now be combined with our bedroom on the northwest side. This will be done by removing the back wall to our closest and possibly moving our bedroom door so that it opens in direct line with the other bedroom door. This would create a natural air flow. The closest in the former guest room will now be used as a genealogy storage center with shelves built and a computer center on a work table alongside. A new closest could be built from the space created by moving our bedroom door over and building a wall along the whole side that shares with the master bathroom. Have not decided yet if access to this potential new closest should be from the bathroom or the bedroom (or both). Later, when the chimney is removed, more bathroom space will be available for a walk-in shower to replace the tub/shower combo. I want a shower large enough to not need doors or curtains. The bathroom remodel will include more efficient storage and new counter top/sink and tile floors. This project will begin early in 2012 and may continue into my first year of retirement in 3/2013. We can sleep downstairs if it gets too messy with that project done first.
When the master bathroom is being remodeled, plans will be made to remodel the other upstairs bathroom. These plans will include removing the old tub and replacing with a larger jetted tub, smaller sink and more efficient storage as well as a tile floor. Maybe we can once and for all correct the odd plumbing for that toilet once the chimney has been removed so access would be better. The odd plumbing may have had something to do with getting around the chimney during original construction.
The kitchen has all new appliances in recent years except for a stove which is expected to be in place by the end of this year. Since Keith has taken up cooking and spends as much, if not more, time in the kitchen than me, he has some ideas for making more efficient use out of the space here and there. For sure, the sink area needs replaced. Any other changes would be minor as it is a lovely kitchen with beautiful cabinets. Increasing storage downstairs will free up space in the kitchen.
As time and money for remodeling increase at my retirement, additional projects are planned. I have always wanted a sun room. I plan to have one built to replace the back deck. It will be 2-story with access from both upstairs and downstairs sliding glass doors. Decking will be expanded to reach across one end of the carport. This room will have 'green' features and wood heat in addition to its own wall unit for heating and cooling. I am excited about this new feature and am looking forward to making my retirement dream come true. Keith has some ideas about building a roof beneath the main floor windows in this back of the house area from the sun room across to the north side. Since this walk-out basement area is across the full back of the house, the siding gets too much sun exposure and needs to be addressed to keep our house cooler. This will also be the time we consider new siding instead of paint which is starting to deteriorate again. With this new roof area in place, the lower area can become a screened porch off the lower sun room on the north side.
The rest of the rooms in the house are fine except for flooring. That will be a large project that will extend to every room upstairs. We want to replace the wall-to-wall carpet with wood or a natural product and tile in all bathrooms and the kitchen. That project will include some reinforcement nailing in 'squeeky' floor areas.
We will have to address the heating and cooling issues sooner than later as our HVAC system is original with the construction of the house and not so efficient as modern systems. It has served us well and had sufficient maintenance to get the most out of it. Because we use wood heat, we have been able to extend the life of this system. It has reached beyond all expectations by now and can go at any time. Of course, we have not made any specific plans to replace until it is dead. It is a stressful situation I hope is resolved in the near future. We are discussing options now. Heat pumps are popular around here. I am more interested in keeping this house cool than I am about heat as we will always have wood heat. We are in the process of deciding for sure to remove that chimney in the unfinished part of the basement which has served us well. We are discussing to replace that wood heat source with an efficient, but aesthetic hearth stove in the living room upstairs. That would involve giving up 3' of carport space but would be a clean way to deal with wood transport. Also there will be a small wood stove in the new sun room as well as a larger wood stove in the lower floor of the sun room that will help to heat the lower floor.
With several house projects in place and in the planning, we know that we will progress as the time and money are available. In the meantime, we have spent a great deal of time and a fair amount of money all these years on our landscape. It has been and continues to be a highly enjoyable way to spend our time together.
Our landscaping began shortly after we moved into the house. The pie-shaped lot is located on a hill and had very little topsoil. We sold 50 acres nearby where we had lived the previous seven years and used some of that money to haul in 25+ truck loads of good river-bottom dirt. We built four terraced gardens and several native rock retaining walls. I obtained a load of 100-year-old common brick from Mt. Vernon in Lawrence County for a patio across the house front. I had the driveway concreted. Keith built some decorative fence accents. But most of all, we planted and planted and are still planting...
There was no established layout or a master plan to the final outcome. The landscape grew intuitively with us as we lovingly worked together and walked together and enjoy regularly. The key thread throughout the loose plan was to create a place we could access for the rest of our lives so the paths were made in both steps and ramps. Every part of our house and yard can be accessed without steps. There are many steps since we live on a hill, but also alternative routes around them. Biggest advantage to living on a hill is there is no flooding and almost always a breeze which means no mosquitoes. The view is awesome! The sound of water rushing down the hills into the river below is calming after a rain. The deer and turkey are welcomed (except when they eat more of our garden than we do). The songbirds are a daily joy.
I have included my favorite recent photos of our landscape:
Keith put me in the bucket to take some photos from a bird's eye view.
View from Lower Driveway - behind the red honeysuckle is my garden swing.
Terraced Gardens - in the bottom left corner is a composting area that is easy access with a large oregano patch next to it. The upper left area at the bottom of the gardens is our burn area nicely hidden behind Russian Olive bushes.
Arbor is under construction - searching for additional Osage (Hedge) Apple Wood because it lasts longer than other wood and is natural to the area; Fall project now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)