Renovate or Die

I've been putting off certain home maintenance projects for a while because I knew they'd become headaches. Well, I say a while, when what I really mean is more like a decade!

So last year we replaced the kitchen counters, finished replacing the windows, and had the last of the ugly wallpaper removed in the family room.

But as we thought about enhancing our yard by enclosing the pool, we wondered if we'd be better off to sell our current house, and find a new one that already had a screened pool. It wasn't like we had fun neighbors, since all our friends on the next street had moved out years before. The only thing was my husband's attachment to the backyard, which he'd made into an urban oasis.

 I assured him we'd find something he could turn into a new paradise. But after wading through the local real estate market, we realized that with all the improvements we'd already made, we'd be foolish to get into another home and have to redo so much of it. Plus, we met a great couple who'd recently moved in directly behind us. The wife is an artist—another creative soul. We became fast friends with them, and in weeks we were seeing them at least every other day, either going to the gym together, or to a social event, or just hanging out over drinks. In short, they tipped the scale the rest of the way toward staying put.

So - 2017 is the year of the backyard. In the next two months we'll have a crew here for a couple weeks to screen in the pool, replace the roof over the lanai with one that will eliminate the open-air oven we now use as a screened patio, and extend the deck.

Somehow, I will have to squeeze in writing my next Nocturne Falls Universe book, and a 4-day long writers conference at Disney World. Wish me luck.

What big plans do you have this summer? Whatever they are, I hope you keep cool.