This posting is about vision, and about intimacy and investing in family and DYI projects, but mostly, it’s about vision.

A little while ago, my brother and his wife were preparing to sell their family home after retiring and becoming empty nesters. He commented that while decluttering his home for the sale and impending move, the exercise was bitter-sweet as he looked at the many things that they had accumulated over their life together. For example, he would come across a hunting item and consider “I kept this for when I would hunt with my son” or he would come across a broken antique table and remember “I kept this to refinish for the den”. There were many positive but also sad memories as he came across items that he and his family treasured like a traditional Christmas decoration that came out every year when he and his family prepared for the festive season.

Some of the things my brother commented on brought me to consider this posting in which I want to focus on the benefit of vision that we use to keep our goals clear in our mind while we find the time to work to achieve them. In this case, I want to talk about my vision of a whirlpool bath for our on-suite. 

The story begins long ago when we were moving from Sault Ste. Marie to the Toronto area for a new job. We picked the Maple/Vaughan area of the GTA since my wife Loreen’s brother Lorne and his family lived in Maple and we thought it would be great to be near family for a change. At that time, it was becoming popular to build homes with a whirlpool bath in the on-suite. However, the neighborhood we were looking in was a little older and we didn’t find anything with an on-suite bath the way we envisioned it. We did find a place with “potential” (like the potential, or absolute requirement, to replace all the main floor tile because it was cracking and the grout was falling out, oh, ya, and because it was pink ;-).  Eventually, the potential won out, over Loreen’s hesitation of investing in yet another "fixer-upper", and we bought the place. In my mind, we would have a double-sized whirlpool bath installed by the next year so that I could start enjoying some quality bath-time.

Here's a shot of Loreen and I in our kitchen, filled with potential, preparing for our first Christmas in the house. Check out that beautiful Florida ceiling!

Well things came up and we didn’t embark on any major renos in the first year BUT it was clear from Loreen’s urging that the tile floor would be the first project before we would even think of doing the on-suite. Around the second fall season in our house, I read a book by Stephen Covey called “First Things First” which promoted that you really can have anything that you want as long as you prioritize and plan for them. It also had a sub-plot that suggests that you should focus on prioritizing the REALLY IMPORTANT things first. So around that time, with our kids growing older and now aged 7, 12 and 15, we decided to prioritize creating some memories with and for our kids more than improving the cosmetics of our home. So, that winter, we booked our first big vacation with the kids and took in an all-inclusive to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.  It was a great trip and we decided that vacationing with the kids was a definite priority since the time with kids is precious and before you know it, they’ll be off doing something else and not interested in spending time with their parents. (BTW, the kids are now 19-27 and they’re still vacationing with us but I’m sure they’ll be moving on soon ;-)

So the renovation projects went on hold for a few more years while we took in Disney World, and several trips to Myrtle Beach, which we thoroughly enjoyed as it has a great mix of white sand beaches, shopping, entertainment and dining in one location. As an aside, we highly recommend the Sea Watch Resort as a waterfront property in North Myrtle Beach; you won’t be disappointed. Here are the kids with us in Myrtle Beach in 2009.

Still, all the while, my vision of bath time with my best friend could not be shaken. On the home-front, we decided to tackle the basement first and created pretty fair rec room, even if I do say so myself, which we enjoy both as a family and as a convenient place for the kids to entertain their friends.  As for the whirlpool bath, that continued to take a back seat to the tile floor and by this time it was clear, the kitchen was seriously outdated and the hardwood floors on the main floor would also have to go as well.

So, 12 years after we moved in, we decided to bite the bullet and tackle the main floor. That was definitely a major project but well worth the effort, money and the wait. Through my neighbor, I found Tony, the tile guy, who did a great job at a great price. As for the kitchen, Loreen’s sister Erin and her husband Mike had just had their kitchen done and they found a great cabinet maker, Matt, at Vision Woodworks, who did excellent work, also at excellent value. I did the rough work and Matt did a beautiful job on the cabinets. Here's the same kitchen after our eventual main floor reno project. In the shot, you can see my Mom, Lark, Adam in the background, Zack and of course Allan on his Blackberry. Note that sadly, the Florida ceiling had to go ;-(   Still no whirlpool bath, but the vision of me and my partner spending luxurious candle-lit hours in the tub still held strong.

Unfortunately, other home renovations still took priority; now the natural finished oak staircase didn’t match new dark hardwood plank floors that I installed in the dining, living and family rooms. Last year, you may have read about that project which occupied most of my summer weekends.

So now we’re finally getting there. This past spring, 16 years after moving into our home in Maple, I started planning the on-suite upgrade including a 2-seater corner whirlpool bath. Like my stairs last summer, the project took much longer than I thought it would and it too occupied way too much of my summer. I decide to do a full floor to ceiling tile experience after seeing this look in some of the hotels we visited. Unfortunately for Tony, he was a little too forthcoming with the tiling tips and I decided that I was confident enough to do the tile work on my own. 

I did decide to invite Matt back to do our new vanity which shown above; its maple finished in a cherry stain and it turned out beautifully.

So finally, after all those years of keeping the vision of my whirlpool bath alive and strong in my mind, I am able to enjoy the luxurious baths with my friend. Steven Covey would be proud I’m sure that I did prioritize family first, but that I also made sure that my personal goals were kept as long-term priorities by a clear vision that I would not let fade from view. Finally, here’s a G-rated shot of me and my partner enjoying some well-deserved quality bath time together.

Remember to prioritize “first things first” but also to keep your more selfish guilty pleasure goals in mind for when you get the time to work on them.