While my husband and I are in Florida, our neighbor, who tends to our house while we're away, is going to paint our living room, dining room and two hallways.
It will be so nice to come home to fresh coats of paint and new colors that we had "loud" discussions over before we made up our minds.
But getting ready beforehand was a chore. It meant taking down every painting; removing everything breakable such as the crystal wine glasses from the breakfront and finding a place for it all.
In the meantime, there was another big chore - packing ahead of time so everything would be ready for the person driving our car. We leave some clothes down there, but there are enough newer things I like to take.
My husband is so organized, that sometimes I think he's the only one who knows how to do anything. Wrong! When the car is packed and ready to go, I say "see I told you I'd be ready." So what if I forgot my toothbrush. I'll buy a new one.
Remember we are both in our Golden Years and we don't move as swiftly as we used to, but we manage. And once we are there we forget what a chore it was getting ready.
I have had so many young people say "you're so lucky to be able to spend the winters in Florida." I know I am, but I always remind them I had to wait until there was plenty of snow around the hairline before we were able to go.
I know I will miss home, but not the cold weather or the other nasty stuff. When I can break away from doing my pool aerobics or dining out with lots of other Saratoga friends who live nearby, I'll send a blog or two about what we're up to in (hopefully) sunny and warm Florida.