How I am making time pass....until Carlos can retire....and we can go to Merida!

Added crown molding

Sometimes the days go by so fast and other times the days just crawl, but I have a year or more left to fill until Carlos retires. Now that our Merida house is mostly finished, I only have a little to do. Once we start on the pool and the (still undecided) casita, I will have more to watch and worry about. With excellent property managers (Arturo and his lovely wife Orelia) there is not much to worry about.

The property values here in St Louis are starting to recover and homes that have sat on the market for months are finally moving. This summer Carlos and I have decided that we will try to finish many of the projects here at our home and will cross as many off the list as we can. Some will be DIY, but others will be projects hired out. This past two years we have done a few of the larger and more costly projects. New flooring and french doors in the lower level, a new driveway, and a huge tree removed. A new roof and gutters were installed this past October, our insurance paid the most of it as it needed to be done because of hail damage. Other large projects that have been deferred really need to be done. Projects have mainly been chosen for our future sale of this house.

Huge tree removed!

Flooring and french doors installed

One such project is to have ceramic tile installed in the laundry room as well as some cabinets and a folding counter. We have the materials, but have not made enough effort to find a handy person to install. Most of our large projects in this house have been done by our good Danish friend, Mike, who we flew over from Denmark. (Kitchen and bathrooms done by Mike) He was our exchange student 30 years ago and our only cost for his services was his airfare and expenses! However Mike is caught up in his Danish life and is no longer available. 

So it seems that this summer will be a summer of projects...here in St Louis, though I really wish it could be projects in Merida!