I Am A Renovator - The Process of Renewal

When Jay and I bought our manufactured home almost 3 years ago, we knew that what we were purchasing was the view from our deck of the fantastic Pacific Ocean.  

The house itself was old, worn and tired, but so were we.  We said we could clean it up and make it work and when it didn’t we would go out and sit on the deck!   

Gradually we made small improvements and it was certainly livable…except for the OLD (read cracked, stained, dirty grout) tile floor 

and the embarrassing old, worn guest bathroom.   So we did the math and decided to replace the tile floor, replace the old, worn and tired appliances and redo the small bathroom.

 

It has been 4 weeks of contractors in the house and we are in the home stretch. Now there are shiny new appliances gracing the lovely new tile flooring in my kitchen, a small bathroom that welcomes guests

and when I glance into them, I smile and my heart lifts.

While all this contracted renovation was going on, something else was occurring.  I realized how similar I felt about myself and my life.  I am also older, worn a bit, and crackly. I began to feel a desire to relook at other things in my house, my life and my body.  I began a broader  “renovation campaign.”  In my house, I saw piles of magazines that had been accumulating and sat down to go through and decide what to keep and what to give away.  I saw messy drawers and took 10 minutes to empty the contents, refold and neaten the items.   

And each time, afterwards, I would smile and my heart would lift.  

In my life, I saw things hidden away that I used to enjoy (pictures, music cd’s), and began to take them out, clean them up and put them within easy reach. I recalled activities that I had engaged in but somehow forgot, like a few minutes of morning meditation or being more mindful during the day, and began to make new commitments.  And each time, I would smile and feel my heart lift.

These tasks led me to relook at the noise and clutter in my head…the thoughts that create a messiness in my mind.  The thoughts I hold about my body, my age, my future.  How do I renovate them?  I AM old and worn and my parts CAN'T be replaced.  Yet, somehow this remodel has had a psychological effect on me that is positive.  Rather than thinking of possible future changes, I am content and happy to stay in this present moment and appreciate what is.  My body, though aging, still serves me well.  I am surrounded by people I love and who love me. 

 I have opportunities to share myself with them.   

So what started as a little renovation project, has expanded...mission creep...into many more areas of my life.  The gift is that with these thoughts in my head,  I can say that I feel  “spruced up,” younger, more energetic. 

So, I smile and feel my heart lift.  

  I think I will go sit on the deck!

I Am An Explorer - A Day of Discovery

My husband loves maps!  It can be a globe, an atlas, Google Earth, or an AAA local map…he can pour over it and notice things that never hit my radar.  I look at a map and I search for the name of a city I am hunting for and that is it.  He sees so much more…the change in altitude reflected, blue curvy lines of rivers, the green patches that indicate a grassy area.  That is why, when we travel, I handle the logistics…the airline flights, the hotels, the trip insurance while he handles each day’s itinerary…where we are going and the route we will take.  As a result I have been treated to some of the most interesting sights and undiscovered jewels of locales and we always travel in a loop…so we never retrace our steps.

Yesterday, Jay stopped at AAA and procured recent maps of our locale and last night he was pouring over them with his highlighter and his magnifying glass.  

Today, he invited me to go with him for a ride.  He promised it would not be far and yes, we could stop at the Italian market, A-1 on 8^th street on the way home.

Where did we go?  About one mile down the street from our house to the end of Western Ave.  There he had seen a small patch of green on the map that turned out to be White Point Park.  We are fortunate to live along the coast but most of the coastline here is rocky cliffs and it is only at a few secluded locations that you can actually make your way down to the water.  This was one of them.  We drove down a steep incline to the water’s edge where there were rocky breakers, surfers, fishermen and people sitting…contemplating.  The air was crisp and clear and we spotted rocks covered with seagulls.

We returned up the incline and discovered a lovely little park and then, a Nature Preserve filled with walking trails.   

This part of the Palos Verdes Peninsula is subject to ground movement and this area is restricted for that reason but has been restored to its natural habitat.   Loved this sign..."On this restless ground lies a gem of open space!"

We walked around the preserve, commenting on the plants, the birds, and reading the signs about the Native Americans who originally lived here.  We passed many people walking their dogs, some boys on a dirt bike, everyone just enjoying the natural beauty set in the midst of our urban area.

From there we headed to the Italian Market.   

We have shopped here before and always seen the sign of Mirabella Winery next door but it is always closed.  Today as we walked buy it was open so we ventured in.   

How could we pass up a building with a bulletin board like this to greet you!

 

What a surprise!  Inside this large warehouse were all shapes and sizes of wine casks, grape crushers and other wine making equipment 

and inside the tiny salesroom was Tony Mirabella.   

He told us his story…his family had run this business for over 70 years and were able to provide everything a home winemaker could need to make their own wine.  It used to be a booming business. Now, even though most of the old Italian and Croatian home winemakers have passed away or moved away from San Pedro, he still stays in business, open 2-3 days a week unless it is crushing season,  because it is his heritage.   

Just standing in there looking at the items brought back old memories of homemade wine, the glass bottles under the sink or under the table, ready to be pulled out when a guest arrived at the house.  My brother, Fred, is such a wine-lover…maybe I can introduce him to Tony and he can take up wine-making when he finally decides to retire!  I will know right where to take him!  Salute! 

I Am A Buyer – Purchasing Our New Home

Time flies…. It was almost a year ago when I wrote a blog post facing the question of “Do we stay?” (in the house we have occupied since our marriage but has 15 steps to the front door) or “Do we go?” (and proactively find a single level, street level house that would allow us to more easily “age in place.”)  This has been a major topic of discussion for us for the past 9 months.  We started out by looking at single family homes on the market in our immediate area and every time we came home we said… “We like our current home the best!” So we stopped looking for a while.
 

Eventually we made a list of what features we would want this house to have should we decide to GO: 

• an ocean view (we were tired of looking at the airport); 
• a large kitchen (I get such pleasure spending time in my kitchen preparing special meals); 
• an office (large room where we can continue to have our desks face each other!); 
• single level (no major steps); 
• an area where I can garden; 
• a location with easy access to family; 
• a location with educational and enrichment opportunities;
• a safe environment. 

 

We remembered that friends of ours in Omnilore lived in a gated Senior Community called Palos Verdes Shores in San Pedro, CA.  We had visited Luke and Lucia at their home a few times and were very impressed with their community.  We began to consider this locale and when we returned from our recent trip, we would begin an active search realizing that it might take us a year or two to find the “right” place.  We were in no hurry to move, we could wait until the best choice came along.  Famous last words!

We met with a realtor at PV Shores on Wednesday and looked at two of the manufactured homes that were for sale.  The first had only 2 bedrooms, but the second one seemed to have all we were looking for.  We took out our list and went down it… check, check, check, check, check.  We looked out of the living room windows onto the beautiful Pacific Ocean with a faint outline of Catalina Island, we looked at each other and said… “I could see us living here!”

Our new home from the street, #154

We returned for a second look on Friday morning, wrote out an offer with the realtor that afternoon, and received a call with an acceptance of the offer that evening.  Saturday we listed our current home with a local realtor and began the process of putting it on the market.

So now we are making lists of lists and preparing for another chapter in our lives.  What have we done!  Change is Scary.  There is no crystal ball to show us it will all be OK. On the other hand, Change is Invigorating!  We have energy and excitement.  We feel fully alive and “wide awake!”   So to answer the question: Do we stay or Do we go?  We are going!!!

On the back deck looking the Pacific Ocean.

I Am Chicken Little - "Do We Stay or Do We Go?"

I have been accused of being Chicken Little.  I have been told I always think of the worst that could happen.  It has been suggested that I might feel better if I wore both a belt and suspenders.  I guess these may be true.  I do tend to hope for the best but plan for the worst.  This is what I do when I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep...I ruminate over all the terrible things that could happen and try to think of what I can do to avert these outcomes!

Lately I have been thinking about our house.  We love our house.  Jay purchased this house 27 years ago. It represented his California dream house because it had a pool.  When we married 13 years ago, we had planned to buy a new house together, but after months of searching, we decided we really liked the location of his house in Playa del Rey and we would remodel it to meet our current needs and stay put.  We did the remodel and declared..."We will leave this house when they carry us out!"

However, what looms over me now are the 15 steps it takes to climb from the street level to our front door.

Once at the door, the house is a single level but what if we lose the capability to bound up those stairs?  So we are considering looking for a street level house.  Each Sunday we drive the local area and go to Open Houses.  We wander through other people's homes and try to imagine living there and always come home and say..."We LOVE our house!"  Copying a post idea from my friend, Erin, at Knitting in Beantown, here are 6 of the many things we love about our home:

1. Our Front Porch

Many evenings are spent on the porch, sitting together as we sip a "liquid refreshment," talk about the day, plan tomorrow, wave to neighbors, watch Spencer shoot baskets across the street and admire the hummingbirds dipping their beaks into our red flowers.  We watch the world go by and feel that we are so fortunate to live where we do.

2. Our Greatroom

Our house is Goldilocks size...not too big and not too small, but just right for the two of us.  When we remodeled we opened up the kitchen and dining area so we have a "greatroom" that we love.  I enjoy cooking in my open kitchen, Jay enjoys sitting at the table reading the newspaper during the day, friends and family enjoy gathering around the island, sampling appetizers or singing happy birthday. The walls hold all the sounds of happy times, laughter and love. The Greatroom makes our little 1200 square foot house feel expansive.

3. Our Sunroom

This is a special room that holds our treasured books.  At certain times of the day, the sun comes in just right and it has the most delicious feel.  It is easily converted to a quest bedroom for a single guest by opening up the love seat.  Here I can read, begin a new knitting project or sit and meditate...ohhhmmmmmm.

4. Our Raised Garden area

All our garden areas are raised and easily accessible.  We have raised beds in the backyard for vegetables and terraced areas in the front that reminds me of the garden terraces of Ferla, in Sicily and I can easily weed and cultivate our edible landscape.

5. Our Neighborhood

We have a wonderful neighborhood for walking.  Just enough hills to make it interesting.  The beach is only a few blocks west and we can watch the sailboats enter and leave the Marina.  We know our neighbors and catch up on their lives and happenings.

6. Our Office

Our office is the room where we spend most of our time.  We enjoy having our desks facing each other so we can easily communicate as we each work on our separate projects.  Jay researches and creates his lectures and PowerPoint presentations for his energy class.  I write my blog, send email, update Facebook, prepare Omnilore presentations.  And we talk!  This room has the most "lived-in" feel and it is also the room that has the closed door when company comes!  

Soooo, if we don't move, then we have to think of other options of getting from the street level to the deck if the need arises.  We will investigate various technologies and keep the quotes in our hip pocket.  As a last resort, I remember that my cousin, Enza, who lives on a third level of an apartment house in Gela, Sicily. She  had a basket she used to let down when the produce vendor would come by.

She would lower the basket with her list of items needed, he would fill the basket and she would crank it up to her level.  Maybe...if we lost some weight...