Choices - To Retire or not to retire

Four years ago my husband and I were living in the Seattle area, each us of working and not really having any plans to retire because we had a house to pay for.  Then my mother died.  All of a sudden, we had a choice to make.  We could stay where we were and continue working for 20 more years to pay for our house, or... we could retire and move into Mother's house.  Not only would we be leaving the beautiful northwest and moving to the desert, but we would also be downsizing quite a bit.  We were 64 years old.


Choices, that's what we have to deal with all of our lives, but this one would affect us for the balance of our lives. We chose the desert and a house that needed to be totally remodeled and updated.  And the adventure began.  We completely gutted the kitchen, put in all brand new appliances and two new windows, new cabinets and sinks in both bathrooms, redid all the floors with carpet and tiles and repainted every single room and door and all the ceilings.  We also knocked out a wall and moved the whole front of the house out 10 feet increasing our square footage by 520 sq. ft.  We finished in four months.


By that time we were ready for a vacation.... but that's another story.

The Original Kitchen

The kitchen with new cabinets, windows, paint and floor

New appliances, vent and shelves (no upper cabinets)

Knocking out the wall in the Living Room

The old front of the house

The new front of the hosue, and that's a stained glass window my sister made