Sounds of Music and House Remodeling

This morning, Mom and I got up early and went to a Valentine's Day Tea (even though it is not yet Valentine's Day and even though a tea should be held in the afternoon) where our flute choir, Flute Cocktail, entertained and charmed the attending ladies (about 100 of them) with jazz music -- and one Celtic piece.

Valentine's Day Tea

Flute Cocktail is sounding better than ever. We are blending better. We have a better feel for jazz than we used to. But we still have some places where we are hesitant, where we don't play when we should for fear of sticking out, making for a couple of rough spots. But, I believe we are gaining in confidence, too. Our guest artist on the program is Maggie, a friend of Boo's. She is very good -- jazz is her thing -- and seems to like playing with us. We learn a lot from her, too.

This afternoon we met for the second time with our Certified Remodeler, Paul, from House Lift. "Nos cae muy bien" and he reminds me and Mom of about three different people we know, possibly four. He presented us with what he calls a budget of our wish list, which is, in order of priority: 1) new kitchen, 2) new bathroom, 3) another room. All on the 1st floor. The project entails an addition to make all this possible.

Now we know how much it will cost to do everything we want up to top-of-the-line standards. And it will cost a lot. So we are already paring down the wish list to a region that is more affordable. There will be, as I see it, a couple of weeks worth, maybe a little more, of conversation with Paul to figure out how we can get the most bang for our buck.

The ol' house needs some investment and, as those of you who have visited it within the last four or five months know, the areas 1) and 2) are especially in need of improvement.

Of course, this is an extremely preliminary plan. I am kind of excited about the process starting, though, so I wanted to show it to you.

Project Images