Life and Renovations

 Today, I want to write about my life outside of renovations. And the reason I want to talk about this is because my house, as much as I love it, is a slog. Every time we go to fix something, we find something else wrong. Simply replacing a light fixture is an exercise in "Why are we not dead yet? Why hasn't our house burnt down already?" When our electrician said it would cost $20,000 to rewire our house I didn't believe him. Now I think it's going to be probably more. But this post is not about the house renovations. I am not really part of the house renovations anymore. I come home for a week at a time. This time I have stayed home for almost 3 weeks. I get renovation updates from my husband and pictures. My kitchen is looking great though we are struggling to figure out what our backsplash is going to look like and my husband has moved into the dining room to repair that and it is looking very nice. By the time I come home again probably all the new light fixtures in the living room, dining room and hall will be installed. The dining room will need the ceiling repaired still but the walls will look amazing. And if I have time, I will post a picture of how my house is gradually becoming our home.

I have stepped back from the renovations because my mother had a heart attack on January 7, 2025. She was wearing a heart monitor when it occurred so they actually know what happened when she had her episode. So since that time I have been supporting my youngest sister who is my mother's primary caregiver. She provides round the clock nursing care to my mum. Because of my sister's care my mother has gone from doctor's saying, "she will be dead in two weeks" to the Occupational Therapist saying, "we need to order her a proper wheelchair." I'm not there every day of course because I do have to come home but I've tried to be there as much as possible. My husband has been so supportive through this period of time. It looks like my mother's cognitive decline is actually tied to the fact that her heart is stopping for a few seconds and then restarts. They want to put in a pacemaker but the surgery will probably kill her. One day her heart won't restart and that will kill her. But it is sad seeing bits and pieces of her disappearing. Once she looked at me and said, "I woke up one morning and all my 'a' words had disappeared." Luckily for us her sense of humor and her love of her children is still there.

Sometimes renovations just have to wait. Hug your parents and enjoy them for as long as you can. 

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