Floored

Now that Wifey and I are about to be true empty nesters, we've started talking about our future. First up, we plan to take a "Great job, Brownie!" celebratory trip. We're talking about either a week in Paris, or a Canadian Maritimes cruise.

I have a strange desire to see the Maritimes. It dates back to the 3rd grade, at East Broadway Elementary School. We used to watch film strips, which were slide shows accompanied by a scratchy record sound track. There was one about the Bay of Fundy, with its world's greatest tidal changes. That stuck with me, and I retain a strong desire to go there.

The other issue is whether to move to a smaller house, or a different part of town. We moved to where we live because of the great public schools, and now that is no longer a concern, places like Coconut Grove or Coral Gables beckon.

Nah! We've proclaimed we're staying put, since we love living here so much. Then again, at least in my case, the proclamations aren't worth the paper they're not written on...

So we're doing a few home improvements. First, we had the downstairs area painted, including the kitchen cabinets. Done!

Next, we needed to replace the warn carpets on the second floor, which are 10 years old and looking like something out of a busy government office.

As I'm cheap when it comes to myself, I thought we'd just re carpet, but then Wifey and I went to Norman and Deb's house, and saw their new dark wood, wide plank floors. I decided that we'd go that way.

It took Wifey some time to do her comparison shopping, and research, but she finally hired a company to do the work. The salesman visited, and told Wifey he had sold the previous owner of our house the carpet. He remembered they wanted the cheapest one they could get, as they knew the house was going to be sold, and just wanted a new looking upstairs. Well, it lasted 10 years!

The workmen started yesterday, and they're doing a great job. All of the bedroom furniture was moved, and they left our mattress on the floor last night for Wifey and I to sleep.

We laughed as we went to bed, sleeping on a mattress on the floor, like we did when we first moved in together, back in 1985. Things DO come full circle.

So, as Paul Simon sang, one man's ceiling is another man's floor. That has no relevance here, but I always loved the line.

Here's to years to come with Wifey --wherever we find ourselves.