Today I turn over the keyboard to Barb, who last wrote a blog as acting General Contractor when we were building “The Big,” back in 2016. Time flies.

“Last week, Les introduced you to Cooper, the gorgeous Labradoodle that has moved in with us. And I am here to tell you — he is still around, and cuter than ever. After almost two weeks, I can give you a checklist of what is going right, and what is going not quite right.

The Good

1. We have never had a dog so lovable and loving. He cuddles in my lap, gazes at me with those puppy eyes, and my heart just melts away. Of course, he only weighs about 7 pounds now, the lap cuddling is going to have to end as he grows towards his adult weight — somewhere between 35 and 50 pounds of fur and muscle.
2. Cooper is the smartest little creature we have ever had (sorry, kids.) I taught him to sit, stay, and come in about 10 minutes. He will do anything for a treat. The Coop doesn’t follow commands quite as well for Les, or maybe Les just isn’t as patient with him as I am. And Les sometimes forgets the all-important treats. As long as he remembered my birthday.
3. The boy loves to play. Whether it is with a squeaky clown, the cat’s paw-at-the-ball in the track toy (ignored by the cat,) or playing fetch with us, he is always up for a romp.
4. We were warned we would be woken every hour of the night by a little pup that needed to “use the facilities.” Les has sort of let me know this was my dog–my responsibility. I have my robe, my shoes, and a leash ready at our bedside.  Much to all our relief, Cooper has done a great job of sleeping through the night.
5. I get to say his name and dream of Bradley Cooper. ‘Nough said.

The Bad

1. Cooper is a nipper. The skin on my hands is paper-thin and offers no resistance to those sharp-as-daggers puppy teeth. My hands are now covered from the tip of my thumb to the base of my palm with bandages. I highly recommend the Nexcare Waterproofs from 3M. Those babies stick!
2. Our lad is not yet much of an outside walker. But he is still very young and small, and we are yet to find a harness that fits him well. We do have some very upscale sweaters for him though!
3. Not his fault, but Coop had me worried last night after a round of vaccinations at the vet. He was listless, in pain, and glassy-eyed. Les reassured me that he didn’t look any worse than I did after my second dose of the shingles vaccine, and sure enough, by this morning Coopie was fine. Quite an anxious night for me though. (Les had no problem sleeping.)

The Ugly

The little puddles of pee we find everywhere. Yes, Cooper is an equal opportunity pisher–inside, outside, wood floor, or throw rug, it is all the same to him. But he will learn–hopefully before we go through our remaining 27 rolls of pandemic-stockpiled Bounty paperer towels.”

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I’m planning on selling my house in about 15 months or so. I have a really good sense of how it stacks up against the likely competition – the pluses and minuses. And I also know which of the minuses can be fixed in order to help me get a better price for the home. That’s why I’ve been working on various home improvement projects for the past 4 years. As I’ve previously posted, I decided that it made more sense to make these improvements sooner rather than later so that we could enjoy them. One example was adding a few nice closet organizers.

Our most expensive project to date, other than the rehab work we did before moving in, was a bit of a renovation on our main level that we recently completed. I know how important it is to make the right first impression with home buyers and they walk straight into the main level so…

I had heard about Renovation Sells, a company that specializes in pre-sale renovations, and decided to bring them in for a consultation. We went through the house and agreed that the biggest initial opportunity was on the main level. Even though the paint was still in good condition we thought the living room and kitchen could use a lighter and more neutral color, the two fireplaces had a funky tile that needed to be replaced, and we needed to update the kitchen. As is usually the case, updating the kitchen meant painting the cabinets and updating their hardware, replacing light and plumbing fixtures, new backsplash, and new countertops.

The nice thing about working with these guys is that we didn’t really have to spend a lot of time making design decisions. They made their recommendations, we tweaked them, and they started the project. That’s actually a key part of their business model. As their name suggests, they focus on renovations focused on getting a home ready to sell. They actually don’t want to work with people renovating their home for themselves. That way the homeowners don’t have a lot invested in the design decisions and it’s easier for them to get their job done. And from á home seller’s perspective you’re not making taste specific decisions which is a big no-no when you are getting ready to sell your home.

Having worked with many different contractors over the years I can tell you that Renovation Sells was the most professional I’ve dealt with. The different components of the project were very well coordinated, with several pieces progressing in parallel where possible. I think the whole project only took 3 weeks and it actually could have been condensed into 2 weeks if the cabinet guy had greater availability. The cabinets appeared to be the most labor intensive part of the project.

Check out the before and after photos below.

Redoing our master bathroom is next on our list. We opted to hold off until the spring on that project since taking our kitchen offline for 3 weeks was disruptive enough to our life without have to lose our bathroom simultaneously.

#HomeSelling

Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.

Each evening at the end of a long, busy day I have a good laugh on myself, “Howard,” I say, “I know you don’t want to die before you die, so let me remind you not to work yourself to death.”

I’m busy! In addition to writing another book and planning a not-for-profit foundation as soon as this damn pandemic ends, I’m partnering in a start-up digital media network to include a half dozen internet publications. Indeed, I’m taking the theme of my “Cheating Death” posts to heart, continuing to be engaged, keeping the vital parts active and staying relevant in this high speed, ever-evolving world we live in.

But here’s the rub: I’m energized and thoroughly enjoying the creative aspect of the projects, but the technical and administrative, the so-called “business” side of the projects, irk and frustrate me. I’m impatient. I want results. I know that it is rare to reach an ambitious destination without setbacks and failures along the way; I know that plan A gives way to plan B and plan C and half the alphabet along the way. But the faltering progress of two steps forward, one step back, is exasperating.

And that’s the challenge for me. I am bothered by my inability to simply enjoy the process rather than get caught up in the results. It’s an emotionally costly flaw.

I have to be conscious of a tendency to take to the bunker whenever an opinion varies from mine, and to recognize when I’m about to go too far hammering across my point. I must remember the words of advice from a long ago therapist, “Howard, stop walking like an elephant when a rabbit’s step would do nicely.”

That said, I’m light years past thinking that my identity is dependent on my ability, or lack of ability, to control the result. The reality is things seldom go exactly to plan; we are not top of the mark at everything we attempt. The trick is to let go of outcome.

It’s not as if I don’t set goals. They are necessary to help keep me focused on doing what it takes to achieve what I start out to do. The danger for me comes when I confuse goals with expectations. There’s a big difference: not reaching a goal leaves me disappointed, but typically I rebound from the failure and learn from it. Unfulfilled expectations on the other hand, can lead me to doubt and defeatism and pulling the covers over my head until a beard grows in.

Letting go of outcomes and being fully absorbed by the process – the journey – is far more satisfying.

For starters, you give yourself room to pivot when the blockade looms whereas when we’re attached to an outcome, we tend to fixate on, or only accept one solution — excluding any new information, ideas, or opportunities.

More important for me when I let go of my attachment to the outcome, it keeps me in the moment, engaged in congenial relationships with co-workers and engrossed in what I am doing rather than vanished into the future (where a Maserati is parked in the driveway after the IPO puts a billion bucks in my wallet).

And finally, not to be overlooked, I’m learning stuff! This octogenarian has become the editor of a daily digital publication, a learning process that started with my ten year old granddaughter teaching me how to upload an image into a text block!

Check it out. Go to www.seniornewsdaily.com and see today’s news for seniors all in one place. I’ll look forward to your feedback… and the journey ahead.

On the twelfth day of Covid, my true love gave to me, twelve teachers teaching… Dear Lord, our teachers are AMAZING. I am blown away by their commitment to educate our children in the strangest of circumstances.

Eleven days sans piping… You know what complicates life at a time when you’re asked to stay in your home? Not being able to poop in your home. Good times.

Ten lawyers leaping… but to no avail. Democracy FTW!

Nine ladies dancing… into the White House! Woot woot!

Eight bars of Milka… Me, every time I went to the store: This pandemic is hard on me the kids. I should probably bring a new treat home every time, so I they have something to look forward to. 

Seven-months-no-swimming… First world problems alert: The swimming pools being closed this summer was very sad. My middle kid whimpered every time we drove by and saw the barren bottom of the pool. 🙁

Six guys a lying… ay, ay, ay, the misinformation this year was astounding.

FIVE TWITTER ZINGS Read some good ones here. For now, here’s one: “Breaking News: Man with bad credit and multiple baby mamas about to be ejected from public housing.” — @Freeyourmindkid

Four nesting birds… We truly did stop, smell the roses, and watch the birds. Our boys witnessed baby robin hatchlings, a mama woodpecker carving out her home, and the life cycle of butterflies.

Three French breads… I used to be good about not eating too much pasta or too many carbs. Then 2020 happened.

Two latex gloves… Remember, in the spring, when it was weird to see gloves and masks?

And a Costco amount of TP… There are those who hoarded…and those who lied about hoarding.

HERE’S TO 2021, EVERYONE!!!