2025 will mark the first full year in our new home, McFalakis, our own “Private Idaho”
January
We have a lot to fix on our fixer upper, and the sequence of repairs has not turned out the way we imagined. For instance, I knew the kitchen needed to be redone, but I was willing to wait a year or more before addressing it. Master bedroom was the first thing on my list. The kitchen has a semi-working oven, stove top and sink, and a non-functional exhaust fan and refrigerator. We took measurements and went to Electronet in search of a fridge. Found exactly what I wanted and thought the measurements matched the opening in the kitchen, but no…… Then we looked at the exhaust fan and realized how tiny it was which matched the tiny stove top, then realized the countertops were actually some sort of canvas staple on formica thing. Our cabinet maker recommendation came over to assess the kitchen and found that he couldn’t just do some tiny fixes. We knew then that the kitchen needed a complete rebuild. So the master bedroom moved down the list.
So far, the list of things we have accomplished on our list since we moved in on Oct 11, 2024 are: New water line, electricity, replaced toilet on mancave level, new solar water heater, replaced toilet tanks upper two levels, new remote control front gate, all new kitchen appliances for upcoming kitchen rebuild, new water pressure tank in mechanical room, temp repair of petrol radiator system, and landscape cleanup.
Still on our list and timeline to accomplish:
Winter: Upgrade heating system to heat pumps, Install UV filtration system for the entire house, add a garage door
Spring: Address landscaping (plant citrus, herbs & veggies), rebuild outdoor stairs, rebuild outdoor kitchen, new paint indoors
Summer: Re-skin the house and add insulation, Roof repairs, address water intrusion (mancave level), Pool (if we’re lucky)
Fall: Master bedroom, paint outdoor fences & walls, outdoor lighting, repave motor court
Now, whether all these things get accomplished in the above mentioned timeline is yet to be seen. So far, nothing has gone to plan so perhaps this is all a senseless exercise but at least those are the major items.
So, now it’s January and it’s a bit cold. Our ancient radiator system is powered by diesel fuel, specifically, a 2,000 liter diesel fuel tank. Obviously when this house was built in 1995, diesel fuel was cheap. Not these days. We’re thinking of switching to a whole house heat pump, but budgeting for this is a little daunting. In the meantime, we’ll research split unit heat pumps and keep grandpa diesel fuel until next fall.
Meanwhile, the horse showed up again. This time I had an apple ready for him.
January 10, 2025
We were moving along with our projects when I got an update on our newborn granddaughter, Kassiani. As I mentioned in a previous post, Kassiani was born on December 3, 2024. Delivery was quick and easy. What we didn’t know was that Kassiani had a heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. As the days progressed, we noticed her oxygen levels (pulseox) vary widely from an occasional 90-91 to mostly mid 80s with dips down to the 50s. Very alarming, but her skin tone remained somewhat normal and she didn’t appear to be in distress. She was seen by a pediatric cardiologist in Clear Lake who recommended she go to Texas Children’s Hospital in the Med Center for further evaluation. That came a couple days ago when she was seen by the head of the pediatric cardiology department – Dr. Daniel Penny. They admitted her that very day and surgery will be scheduled after her case is discussed at a conference on Monday.
In the meantime, Kassiani has not been churched or baptized, which in the Greek Orthodox religion, they are churched at 40 days, and baptized usually at 1 year or less. Thank you Fr. Stelios for coming out to bless our dear Kassiani.
I wasn’t planning on returning to the states any time soon, but have now booked a ticket back to Houston next week, leaving poor David to handle the several projects we currently have going on. No normal husband would be able to work full time while coordinating several projects in a foreign country, alone, without the language skills, and do it with a smile and grace, but David can. I thank the Lord everyday for putting him in my life.
For once, my timing has worked out perfectly. My friend Cali picked me up at Houston Hobby airport on Wednesday, Jan 15. That very evening I picked up Stassi from her cousins house and brought her back to the Airbnb that Ty and Andrea were renting. It was mutual – she was happy to see me and I was overjoyed to see her.
The next couple days, I concentrated on feeding this little one and making sure she was loved while her parents focused on Kassiani. I was going to bring Stassi to the hospital but unfortunately, two days after I arrived, Stassi came down with a bug. A couple days later the snow arrived so we had to check it out! I made sure to take a lot of photos for her parents as this was Stassi’s first encounter with snow. Even though she was still recovering, she had so much fun! Unfortunately, Stassi still had a runny nose and cough on the day of Kassiani’s open heart surgery on Thursday, January 23rd. In fact, it would be another week before we could make it to the hospital.
We finally made it to the hospital. I had seen the photos and videos Andrea sent me of the ICU room they were in, but I wasn’t fully prepared for what I saw. In this video, Andrea describes all the wires that were attached to Kassiani and what they did. I couldn’t help but notice how calm she was in her explanation. I would not have been. Anyway I thought it fascinating and informative.
A day after this, I finally succumbed to Stassi’s cold. It hit me hard and I freaked out because I had just been with Kassiani. Andrea assured me though that since she was still on the ventilator, she was taking in 100% clean oxygen so nothing airborne from me could pass to her. Glory to God! It would be another week or so before Stassi and I would return to the hospital. Here are some scenes from Kassiani’s final days at the hospital before coming home.
February
This was such a cute thing – Heart Month at the pediatric cardiology unit at Texas Children’s. This was why Stassi was dressed up as a super hero. A way to lift the spirits of siblings and parents.
It is February 6th and today is our last day at the hospital – a photographer came in to take our picture. You can see the fatigue is all our faces, more so of course from Andrea & Ty. Despite the fatigue, we were all excited to finally bring Kassiani home!
And so, after a few more days of all of us together under one roof, my time in Houston comes to an end. This is one of the very rare instances in my life where I can honestly say I made a difference. I really don’t know how they would have done it without another adult helping 24/7. This was taken the morning of my flight back to Crete. Going to miss these two!!
February 13, 2025
It’s February 13, 2025 and I’m back on Greek soil! So good to be back with David and my surroundings. Not much happened in my absence. David did remote work the entire time and battled with the old radiator system. The weather here is full on winter, albeit mild in general. Daytime temps in the low 50’s and night upper 40’s. David tells me when the sun is out it is quite nice, but on overcast rainy days, totally miserable, especially when grandpa radiator is acting up. Many days he did not have heat and since the house is not insulated, indoor temps were around 58-62 degrees. He bought a couple of portable heaters which barely got it done.
While I was gone, the kitchen cabinets arrived! David created this video to show me while I was in Houston. I was hoping Stavros (GC), Antonis (electrician) and Manos (plumber) would come to do their part in prepping the kitchen for demo, but sadly, they did not. David made an attempt to communicate with them, but for some reason, they all decided to wait for my return.
My first day back was filled with texting these guys. Antonis the electrician is coming tomorrow and so is Stavros to take down the bar and prepare the wall in the kitchen – yay! I so wanted progress to be made to the kitchen while I was gone because the arrival of our household goods is looming. I am told they will appear in Heraklion around the 20th of February, so we’re really cutting it close.
I love Stavros! While he was here, he decided to go ahead and take down the porte cochere, which was on our to do list. Here are before and after shots. He did it in a couple of hours and the timing was perfect because a big moving truck would not be able to pass through.
Our shipping container arrived Heraklion on Friday, Feb 14 while kitchen prep was still being done. Luckily, it took a few days for our container to clear customs, and even more luckier, my paperwork from the Consulate in Houston was all they needed so I wouldn’t have to pay import taxes (Glory to God!). Here they are opening the container on a cold blustery day. A couple days later our
Four happy guys dispersed a shipping container full of stuff in 3 1/2 hours. Very grateful to be re-united with our household items after 3 years. Now, where to put all of it…..
It is not a pretty sight. We are living in a sea of boxes, with the new kitchen cabinets nestled amongst the chaos.
March
Today is Clean Monday, March 3rd – the beginning of Lent in the Orthodox Church. The full lenten fast begins today, to which we refrain from eating meat, fish, dairy, olive oil & wine (on certain days), and eggs. Unfortunately, I have not done a full fast since before we started this journey, nor have I felt very spiritual these last few years. I am hoping to rectify this now that we are sort of settled again. Fasting has always been the most difficult for me but I will do my best to ease into it, starting with no meat. The point of Lent is not to deprive oneself, but to go through a spiritual renewal, like hitting the restart button, something of which I sorely need. Reading the daily scriptures through the prayer team daily email from Fr. Stavros at St. John the Baptist GOC in Tampa, FL has been a big help. Having three churches here within walking distance is another.
In the meantime, the neighborhood stray (horse) turned up again. He has been making regular visits to our house. In fact, the other day, we had a landscaper come by and he mentioned he didn’t know we had a horse….. Turns out our neighborhood friend was grazing on the lower level. Next thing I know, he’s doing a rollover in the back yard. I added zucchini to his diet of apples and carrots, lol.
Saturday, March 8 – Demo Day!!
George the cabinet maker came today to demo the kitchen. I’m so happy! He is taking all the cabinets out and leaving them for Stavros, who will use them in a cabin he has up in the mountains for hikers to take refuge in. Once the cabinets are out, David and I will remove the backsplash, and then on Monday, Manos will prep the plumbing with Antonis following up with electrical. Manos is putting in new valves and making ready for a future R/O water system. Antonis is adding extra wall plug outlets and making ready for undermount and overmount lighting. Once they are finished, George will come back to install the new kitchen cabinets. Once the cabinets are in, Mano and Antonis will return to hook up appliances, lighting and sink, and then I can start opening all these boxes in the living room – yippee!
Monday, March 10: David took this video showing our current situation. The makeshift “kitchen” is now by the fireplace. It’s pretty chaotic, but we’re hoping this doesn’t last long.
Well, a week has gone by with no George, but at least the view is magnificent. It’s a little hazy today, but you can still see snow covered mountains in the distance.
It’s now March 21st. Antonis the electrician has called twice thinking he is behind the ball in returning to complete the kitchen work. He is not. The cabinets are still sitting in the living room. So, note to self……. in the future, don’t start a time sensitive project in the months leading up to tourist season. All the trades around here are frantically working to get the area hotels and rental properties upgraded and ready for tourists, who start coming to the island around April. Apparently George is one of those trades. So, we try to make do and be chill. Not good for someone (me) who is a neat freak. Actually, I’m a mental wreck. It’s really hard to get motivated to do anything when there’s so much chaos around.
So I went for some mental spirituality – The Heretismi Service (Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos) at the church down the hill, Agia Fotini. It was a lovely service with a beautiful byzantine choir and the Priest had an impressive tenor voice.