Reflections on a Year of Challenges and Intentions

I love when the podcasters I follow do a year in review and so I thought I’d try my hand at it this year. This year was the year of renovations, like I have mentioned a few times. But when I look back collectively on all that was done in addition to the renovations, I realize how blessed I am. I had been warned the second year of the PhD was going to be hard and it was. And just for funzies, we threw in some travel and medical events too!

New Bathrooms…

We were all wide awake by the time Joey called, told us about a fizzy sound behind his toilet, but not to worry. He was going to go back to bed and would call us when he got back up. Oh no ya don’t! Joey is on the third floor and we don’t need a trickle down effect, pun intended. I had always had the dream to set our kids up with their first places, not knowing how but just that I’d like to. It was my dream. After considering rent, it was still the better financial decision to get Joey a condo at the height of the market. We were fortunate enough to get him one of the biggest units with a garage for his precious car. We knew there may be some renovations down the line, but they happened this year because as it turns out, there was sprinkler plumbing instead of the good stuff. It needed to be replaced.  

New Living Spaces

It wasn’t too long there after that I got to noticing that Grayson, while he technically fit in his converted-from-the-crib toddler bed, he didn’t fit. And Grayson is of the large variety. He was 4 weeks early being delivered and came in at 8lbs. This is a large child. But do I just put in a twin sized bed? I mean, it could fit in the cubby we’d had him in. No, I decided in the long run we needed to get him a twin XL to continue to suit him for many years. But that bed wouldn’t fit and at the end of the day he needed his own room. Well this scenario turned into the Money Pit; you know the movie? 

One thing led to another which in the end was a bedroom big enough for two twin beds, a new kitchen, gas fireplace and gas line removed, new fridge, washer, dryer, and dishwasher. More appliances meant that if we were going to already be making a mess, we might as well make the biggest mess by adding more power to our electrical box! And now it is so nice and safe for them down there with more smoke detectors and a carbon monoxide detector. Abby said “You may not like this, but this is so nice I may never leave.” That was the point. I figured after 12 months we’d be revenue neutral versus moving her to a place of her own. Money well invested. 

But once Abby’s kitchen was done, Greg and I really wanted a nice beautiful fridge like Abby had bought herself. So we refaced the cabinets in the kitchen and got our new fridge, only to find this one couldn’t open just like our old one. So why not start another small renovation to adjust the wall to accommodate our new fridge? 

And Life, Oh My!

But if your grandchild isn’t moving for a while, you get them a playset for the backyard. Which of course meant a new fence! Got to keep the coyotes out and Grayson in. We managed to squeeze in a trip to England and a few other travel adventures. And then little baby Grayson had a few allergic reactions. That meant a few hospital visits and red allergy stickers all over the house to avoid more trips to the hospital.

But that’s all. LOL We had a full and busy year, can’t wait to see how we will thrive in 2025!

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