It’s Not Exactly How I Imagined It

We are going into our seventh year of inn ownership. That’s right, this week concludes the sixth year since we purchased the inn and moved to Vicksburg. A couple of weeks ago I blogged about my obsessive planning and having failsafes for the unexpected things that arise. I’m really at a loss without my lists. Well, even with a plan and lost of lists, things don’t always go according to plan.

When we contemplated buying the inn, we made lists. Lists of ideas. Pros and cons lists. Budgets. What ifs. Who do we need to know lists. We felt as prepared as we could be. The move across country and transitioning into our new life was pretty seamless. We acclimated pretty quickly and learned about inn ownership on the fly. It’s been an interesting six years, filled with lots and lots of memories. We’ve met people from all around the globe and made some lasting friends since we’ve been here.

But, things haven’t always gone according to plan. Sometimes that’s been a blessing. For instance, I had not idea we’d meet so many foreigners. I’m not sure why I didn’t expect that, but nonetheless, I didn’t. It’s been really cool meeting people from everywhere and from all walks of life.

The down-side is that I had no idea it’d be so hard to find reliable help. Also, we found out how little we know about old houses and how to fix them. And, updating a 150-year-old house is more costly than originally thought.

And, of course, there’s been the events that struck from left field, hitting fast and hard, knocking us down. Who knew that just 18 months into our new venture I’d be diagnosed with cancer? Nobody plans for that and nobody has a back-up plan if that happens. But, it happened. For two years we scrambled and clawed to keep things going smoothly. There was no plan. No lists. Just trying to keep focused on healing.

Just about the time I’m getting back up to full-speed-ahead, the world is hit with a highly contagious virus that crippled the entire world. Another 18 months of our life with no plan and no failsafe. Nobody ever has a back-up plan in the event of a pandemic. Again, no plan. No list. No need for a list. Another year and a half of wondering how we were going to stay afloat.

Despite it all, we’re still here. The doors are still open. People are still coming. As we go into our seventh year, I cautiously and optimistically make my list of proposed improvement projects, budgets, and things to try. Old houses are cool but difficult to maintain. The up-side is that they’re built strong and sturdy. Craftsmanship 150 years ago was far superior to what it is today. The problem lies in finding someone who can work with the age, not against it. Time will tell how far down my list I get.

One thing is for certain. I grossly underestimated the amount of laundry I’d have to do. The good news is, that will be a constant for the future. There will always be laundry. I don’t even have to put that on my list.

Word of the Day: Vacuity

Fun fact about me: I love flowers and fresh herbs but I detest gardening.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, July 2021. Images by Google and giphy.com

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