Relative Something

We are well into phase II of our home project. If you are a new reader, my wife and I have hired professionals to freshen up our house in preparation of offering it up for sale.

The completion of phase I was very rewarding and led to a fair amount of cleaning and packing while Cyndie was home last weekend. Now, I am alone again, and phase II work is creating a return of an unfortunate amount of white dust from the sanding of drywall repairs, and the lingering unpleasant smell.

The first time around, that smell was perceived as progress. This time, fatigue has me thinking about it with a little less enthusiasm. I am really looking forward to the conclusion of sanding, painting, and new carpet installation.

Others have suggested the possibility that these improvements will lead to us wanting to keep the house, because it will look so good. We are both open to that possibility. We are fortunate, in that we don’t have to sell right away. We’ll test the waters, but if the interest isn’t there, I have no problem continuing to live in this house by myself.

I’m definitely not being very rough on the place, so any improvements we make now should still look fresh if we hold on to the house for another year or two. It also means we have the luxury of being choosy about the horse property of which we are dreaming!

I have no idea how long Cyndie will be able to endure the struggles of trying to accomplish some success in Boston, so that aspect of our future could end up being decided before we even get around to changing our living accommodations. Either way, the house will be ready, and I will be ready.

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Speaking of ‘second phases,’ the entertaining Stanley Cup playoffs of the NHL will soon be entering the Conference semi-finals. I have lost most of the teams in which I had interest. Out are the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Redwings, Pittsburgh Penguins, and last year’s champion, the Boston Bruins. Tonight, there will be two game-sevens, out of which there is only one team I would care to watch in the next round: the New York Rangers, because former Minnesota Wild center Marian Gaborik now plays for them.

It will be interesting to see if I stay engaged enough to keep watching the games as the playoffs continue, if I no longer feel a connection to any of the teams involved. That would be sad. I might have to get off the couch and actually go out and get my own exercise. Now that I’ve given up my thrice-weekly morning indoor soccer games, my exercise regimen is uncharacteristically thin.

I will need to enter the next phase of my over-50 workout program… more bicycling! That would be smart, since I hope to be appropriately prepared for a week of cycling in June, when the annual Jaunt with Jim ride happens. Yay to sleeping in tents and getting up before the sun for a whole week of vacation! It’s a good thing the people on the ride are so great, it makes it worth any discomfort we may face.