Mishaps and other haps

A couple of acquaintances in their 60s have passed away unexpectedly recently.

The first was the father of one of my college roommates.  His life was lost in a motorcycle accident, just a few weeks ago.  He left behind three young grandchildren.

The second person to pass (last night) was a former work colleague.  Don just retired about two weeks ago, as a matter of fact.  His wife also worked for our company and they had a retirement party together the week I was on vacation.  The retired couple had just sold their house in town and were settling into their new life at their vacation cabin.

These sudden, unexpected losses reminded me this afternoon that we shouldn’t postpone the things we really want to do.  Are we committed to living our lives now, or are we pushing the enjoyment off until “someday” and forgetting to savor the moments?  Sure, your job is great, or at least it pays the bills, but what if you knew in advance that you would die two weeks after you retire?  Would you focus your energy on enjoying life more right now?

One last day off and then back to the routine of earning money for a living

It has been a truly marvelous vacation, though. I’ve had just enough visiting, eating out, cooking, baking, reading, shopping, and cleaning up/getting things done around the house.

It’s fun to take a memorable trip. We have a trip to Florida planned later this year and our trip to Maine at the end of May was certainly memorable. But it’s also nice to have a longer-than-usual stretch to relax at home, sleep a reasonable number of hours, and take the days at a slower pace.

I love vacation! Thanks to Mom and Dad for making the trip to Wisconsin every year (and twice last year) to spend time with us!

We had a meeting with our real estate agent the other day.  The goal was to make note of things we need to do before trying to sell our house.  We had five years in mind as our time frame when we bought and even though the housing market has undergone some changes, we are pursuing our original plan.  Prices are still down, but not as much in Madison as other parts of the country.  As our agent said, it’s still a buyer’s market, but we’re certainly in a better market for selling than was the case a year ago.

Our biggest advantage is location– we are about 10 minutes from everything in Madison except the far east side (more like 20-30 minutes there, depending on traffic).  We also just replaced our roof about a month ago, so that is going to be a plus.

We have several large-ish projects that need to be done, but since we have decided that we will most likely put the house on the market for Spring 2011 (probably around February), we have plenty of time to complete these projects.  The deck needs to be powerwashed and re-stained, interior walls need a fresh coat of paint, and we should probably replace the carpet in the house (original carpet from when it was built 20+ years ago).  The carpet will be the most expensive project (and probably the last one to handle, from a practical standpoint).

Also, as our agent said, we need to declutter.  At some point I think Michael and I will have to set aside a weekend day or days to clean out and donate or recycle some of our ever-accumulating stuff.  It’s amazing how it starts to pile up when you stay in one place for several years.

Life changes a lot in five years.  We’re married and need a place of our own.  I think this point is pretty critical before bringing kids into the picture.  Our roommate is single, has started a career and wants to buy a condo.  Despite life-altering events that have happened in five years, this time line is actually working out well!