Butterflies Can’t Swim

Life has been pretty busy, so today you get a quick post about swimming insects and a remodeling update.

Butterflies Can’t Swim

I was working outside a couple of days ago when I heard Younger Daughter (YD) yelling;

THERE’S A BUTTERFLY IN THE POOL!!!!

One of YD’s favorite pastimes is rescuing wayward insects from drowning. Here’s a bee recovering with sugar water after going for a swim:

This time, a butterfly decided to cool off with a dip in the pool. The only problem is that butterflies can’t swim.

YD retrieved him from the pool. After about 15 minutes of wing flapping/drying, the butterfly took to the sky. I watched with trepidation as he flew over the pool. Fortunately, he passed on a second swim.

Butterflies can’t swim, but they can sure can soar.

Remodeling Madness

You know when you’re starving and you go to a restaurant and order too much food? You sit down and order an appetizer along with the big-ass, combo chicken/steak fajita platter? And then halfway through, you realize you made a big mistake?

** BURP!! **

That’s how I am, but with houses and remodeling.

Mindy and I bought our current primary home back in fall of 2019 and got to work almost immediately. I have since finished the basement including adding a bathroom, built a deck/pergola, remodeled the kitchen, remodeled a bathroom, updated the electrical panel, added solar panels, replaced all of the windows and sliding doors, replaced every square inch of flooring, xeriscaped the yard, built a shed, painted the walls, installed a whole house fan, added insulation, and more. COVID set my plans back (home schooling hell!) and here I am, 4 years into it and still not done. And just for fun, we bought/remodeled another home to rent out last year.

• Primary home remodel YouTube Playlist
• Rental home remodel YouTube Playlist

We shouldn’t have bought either house. Our primary house, while almost done now, was a massive project. I like the neighborhood and I still would have bought a home here, but one that needed less work. We shouldn’t have bought the rental because that was a huge project as well that set back our timelines of work on the primary home. Both were great financial decisions, but at this point in life, I need time more than money.

In any case, here’s an update on our primary place:

Life Stages And Colon Commercials

You know you’re getting old when you’re watching TV and an ad for a colon cancer test comes on TV and you pay close attention. Sigh… But here I am.

Colon cancer test kits aside, I have nothing to complain about. As I approach 50, I feel great. Nothing hurts. Everything works. I have good family and friends. Life is good.

I’m ready to dial it back a bit. Really this time.

When this house is mostly done (hopefully November), I’m going to sit back, meditate a little, read a lot, watch Starlink satellites, go for lots of walks in the woods, and maybe rescue some insects from the pool.

More 1500 Days!!!

You can also find me (and the dinosaurs) at:

Mile High FI podcast:

• Listen on Apple, Google, YouTube, and Spotify

Also here:

• Facebook: Facebook group and page
• YouTube: My channel is mostly devoted to home improvement, but I have some other material coming up soon too.
• Instagram: Pretty pictures of dinosaurs, sunsets, and nail guns!
• Twitter: Spontaneous, often insane, ramblings
• Coworking space: On the surface, MMM HQ is a coworking space. Look a little deeper and you’ll see that we’re really building community. The members of MMM HQ are some of the finest people I know.