Christmas has come and gone and the decorations are all put away. Christmas itself was a quiet one for hubby and I this year. It was just the two of us on Christmas morning, but we were joined by another couple later in the day for turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Then, two days later, the house was full with two of our grown children, their spouses, and six of our eight grandchildren here for the weekend! Every bed was taken as well as a couple of air mattresses and we managed to squeeze all twelve of us around the table at mealtime. Board games and trips to the tobogganing hill were enjoyed and it was a delight to see the cousins having so much fun together. But…
As grandchildren often do, one or two of them came with coughs and runny noses and Gram managed to catch one heck of a cold! Thankfully, the symptoms didn’t appear until after everyone left, but I was under the weather for several days. I’m finally on the mend, no longer depending on decongestants to breathe and although the cough still lingers, I don’t feel like I’m hacking up a lung. I’d normally say that I don’t feel my age, but this cold drained me of energy and definitely left me feeling old. Hopefully that’s just temporary!
Speaking of age, we’re celebrating this guy today.
It’s hubby’s 75th birthday today, definitely a milestone! It will be another quiet celebration though. At one point, I had thought about inviting friends in to celebrate with us, but between sickness and a house that’s gradually being stripped bare in preparation for upcoming renovations, that’s not happening.
We’re in the process of emptying closets, clearing off shelves and countertops, and moving everything except our large pieces of furniture into the basement. Walls will be painted, ancient carpets replaced with wood flooring, baseboards and trim replaced, interior doors repainted, and the front door replaced. While the work is being done, we plan to be out of the way, but more about that later.
I will be blogging from time to time over the next few weeks, but I’m not sure if there will be any fashion posts. I do have a couple of ideas rattling around in my brain, but right now my clothes are all over the place and I’m not sure what I’ll be able to pull together. Do stay tuned though!
Following Augustine 
Hope you get feeling better soon. Renovations and decluttering are difficult enough without going in to it coming out of a nasty cold. A lot of work but will look beautiful when they are finished. We have started the “ decluttering” process and finding that we have kept way to many papers from all our moves. Now we are wearing out shredders getting rid of them . lol
I always enjoy reading your blog although haven’t felt well enough this past year to always comment. On the mend finally and hoping 2025 will bring us all good health.
I am looking out at snow and a new set of row homes being built behind us. We were fortunate enough to have a beautiful treed lot behind us for 18 yrs but the trees have all been taken down to make room for 2 sets of row homes. Everywhere I have lived and we have been posted to has had fabulous trees to enjoy. I really miss them. I enjoy all the pictures you post of your excursions and fashion. Thanks for all your hard work.
Take care and enjoy your newly renovated home. Carolyn
Thank you, Carolyn! We used to have a row of evergreens between us and the property behind. Those were taken out a few years ago and I still miss them!
So glad you’re feeling better. We avoided getting sick somehow after my nephew, his wife and baby arrived with colds when they stayed with us for two days after Christmas.
Good luck with your renovations. We just went through a whole-house repainting, ceilings to floors, the worst of which was emptying and clearing out the closets (two SUV loads of clothes, picture frames, and other small household items went to Goodwill after they finished). The best decision before the process began was asking the painters to start and finish our bedroom suite first on Day 1, so that the main closets and bed could be put back together before any other room. That allowed us some semblance of order, and my husband, who depends upon oxygen, and our old cat, could “retire” there with his portable O2 equipment and avoid the associated scaffolding, mess and smells still happening in the rest of the house over the next week or so. It also gave us somewhere to eat lunch every day, away from the painting crew.
Take time to enjoy the process. it was fun for me to pop out of a room not being done at the time, and snap a photo of walls in the process of changing colors. A great before-and-after memory. I didn’t bring up the subject over the holidays, but our grandkids and nephew’s wife all asked to see the “action” shots of how much the paint colors changed the rooms.
Despite the short-term angst of preparing and going through the renovation process, have fun with it. The final results will be more than worth it.
Thanks for sharing your experience! It’s been a long time since we’ve done much with the interior of our house, so this is going to be a big change.
I’m with you and sickness Elaine, mine too stayed away till after Christmas but hit with a vengeance. Spent one whole day and night in my bed not lifting my head. I guess I needed the sleep. Otherwise Christmas with the whole family but one person was a blessing. Now back to the real world. Good luck with the reno’s
This cold has definitely been a doozy!
I hope your renovations go as planned and without too much fuss or aggravation. Not sure that’s possible, but hope springs eternal. You’ll be so happy when it’s all done. I hope you’ll favor us with a few photos of the changes when all is complete. Happy New Year and Onward! – Jeannine
Thanks, Jeannine! I did take a few “before” pictures before we started getting ready and I’ll have to take some “after” ones later. I’m going to take my time deciding what to hang on the walls again and where, what to put back in the closets and what to donate, etc so it will probably be a work in progress for awhile.