Snort. We’re well into 2023 by now, but here we go anyway. I’ve got a smattering of updated house stuff from Sept-Nov 2022. We always take December off since we moved into the house in 2019 and it’s a wonderful way to get a much needed break during the busiest time of year. I also find that I’m ready for projects after that month off.

Here’s what we got done at the tail end of the year:

• Poly’d and installed the drawers and doors for Jim’s desk, a project we added to the list in Feb 2021
• Painted, caulked and installed the columns on the balcony- it really finished the space off
• Created flower beds in the front yard by installing edgers and laying down mulch
• We installed a new dishwasher after our old one died after 12 yrs of loyal, daily (or more!) service
• Had a new tree installed by the city after our maple had to be taken down earlier in the year
• Fixed our water heater that broke on my birthday! ($20 and less than one hour had it fixed- be brave folks, we’d never done that before and the internet was a great resource)
• A few maintenance items like removing rust and spray painting our grill, cleaning out gutters, mulching the garden with fall leaves, etc

Plans for 2023: we have a few medium projects and one large project that we deferred from 2022. We really want this to be the year that we finish the front porch. The house was always designed with a front porch and it will amp up our curb appeal, but funds and time got away from us last year. I think we’re dedicated to it even more now that we put it off. I still have big dreams for landscaping and other yard/garden improvements, but we’ll see what we can fit in around the porch project. Currently, we’re wrapping up some final trim (closets mostly) install and drywall touch ups (and resulting paint touch ups). That should keep us busy until it’s warm enough to get back outside.

Our pace on the house is slower than before (2023 may even be slower than 2022) but we’re using our time to travel and enjoy our family in this home we created for that purpose. And I am 100% okay with that.