Last September we decided to get a new heating and air system installed. That was just the beginning of this story! I found out rolling with the punches was a lot easier when I was younger.

While we contracted to have the heating and air put in September, it was November before the company had an opening to do the work. Meanwhile, my best friend who lives with me broke her leg and then had to have surgery. Since all the bedrooms are upstairs I had to get a bed for the living room because Linda was unable to walk or climb the stairs. Then the wheelchair arrived and a potty chair. The whole living room looked like a rehab facility!

Well, you guessed it. Then the heating people decided they had time to put in the new heater. Since I had been working and caring for Linda with multiple doctor appointments, you might say the place was not in the best shape but it was tolerable.

Then the workers told me I’d have to get everything out of the pantry since the old heater was located behind all my shelves. So, everything in my pantry was pulled into the middle of the kitchen. Every meal I made started with a hunt for ingredients. What a mess!

My office is upstairs and that’s where I do all my work. It was the only room pretty much unaffected by the work until the company had to get into the attic. The attic access is in my office closet. So everything in the closet had to come out into the middle of my office.

A crew of five people, four guys and one young lady arrived with all their equipment and pretty soon they were coming through every door in the place. Let’s say we got a lot colder before we got warmer!

They had to check every vent and furniture was pulled away from each one. If these five people had not been so very nice and Linda had not been in a lot of pain, I would have headed to the hills!

Oh, and then there’s the toilet upstairs. I was trying to make a pot of soup in my very messy kitchen when water started dripping from the ceiling. I ran upstairs and grabbed as many towels as I could on the way up. The water met me as I opened the door to my upstairs bathroom. One of the workers had used the toilet and got it stopped up.

The good news is both Linda and I survived and we now are nice and warm in the middle of January.

It took both Linda in her wheelchair and me to get things half way straightened out before Christmas. I still can’t put back my pantry shelves until the inspectors come over. I still haven’t had time to put my office closet back together. It will be another three weeks until Linda can walk so the bed is still in the living room. Life at home is still messy but we survived.

So why am I telling you this?

If I can live through this kind chaos, so can you. It does help to have a good sense of humor and a vision to see a light through the tunnel.

This was a big lesson to me. I learned I can live with messes as long as they don’t last too long. I learned that people come first even before the messes. Linda needed me more than I needed to clean the house. Eventually it will all be taken care of. I also learned I do have enough fortitude to deal with multiple problems but it was much easier when I was younger.

Growing old is definitely not for sissies! Hang on to your hat. We all get old if we live long enough!