Sculptor7

In a few weeks my wife and I will be celebrating 50 years of married life. Last year when we decided to celebrate it with family instead of going on a cruise it seemed like a good idea. A relatively short party at a nice ocean-side venue and sit back and accept the congratulations. However.......as my wife has informed me one does not invite relatives and friends from across the country only to turn them away the same day. Therefore......we have to have a party at our home the following day.

Now as the owner of a 105 year old home with multiple interests: cycling, boating, model airplanes, archery, etc., etc. and a limited budget it is easy to see why I might lapse on home and garden upkeep. That's the problem. So far this spring and summer has consisted of rain, rain, rain, cold and on the few bright days infinite labor on maintenance. The combination is cutting into my year's goal of 5000 miles and a century or two quite severely. None of which concerns you but if you have read this far at least I can think that I have shared my rant with someone other than my wife of 50 years.

gcottay

Rant received. Best wishes for good weather and a fine celebration.

Blues Frog

I have a fortieth coming up. I understand about the maintenance issues. They don't end. I just look the other way sometimes. Congratulations on your fiftieth. I hope the wife allows ME to live that long! Blues Frog

DnvrFox

Congrats on 50 years, no matter how the garden looks. You have been married longer than some of the folks on the (almost) 50+ forum have been alive.

Wife and I will celebrate 47 years this Sunday.

Retro Grouch 

First the good news: All of that house upkeep "stuff" is things that you'd eventually have to do anyway. The party and visiting relatives just provide a time limit after which you shouldn't have to do much for a period of time. Also, the wife must have some pretty attractive qualities to have kept you interested for so many years. I'd be for doing whatever it takes to keep her hanging around for a little longer.

Here's the bad news:
1. Whatever it is that you're trying to accomplish around the house, you won't be able to tackle it until you do something else first.
2. I suspect that houses are like bicycles. You can almost never replace just one part without having to change something else to make it work.

Good luck!

NOS88

Wow. 50 years. Way to go. Just take a deep breath, relax and enjoy something that will never happen again. I do, however, understand the rant.

kccomet

50 plus party on

miss kenton

Here are my two cents. After 50 years, you probably could do just about anything without having to be concerned about getting kicked to the curb. Get on your bike and ride to the following places: a lawn and landscaping service, a handyman's house, a maid service and a caterer. You might need to sell off a couple of those model airplanes to hire all those services, but just think how much time and aggravation you will save your wife and yourself. You may be able to use the time saved to romance your wife. Think what a lovely anniversary gift that would be.

steve0257

You need the attitude displayed in a poster my mom has in her kitchen. "If you came to see me you won't mind the mess. If you came to see the mess I wouldn't want to disappoint you."

cranky old dude

Congratulations on fifty years of marriage.

The marriage is important, the celebration means a lot, the rest is just an old house and yard. Any imperfections on my 85 year old house I just pass off as "Character" and leave it at that.

Beverly

Congratulations on 50 years!

Don't worry if the house and garden aren't perfect when your guests arrive.

t4mv

Raid the garden shed > when the guests arrive, arm them with said tools and tell them they know what to do. Sit back with a tall cool one. Top off as necessary. Enjoy.

The aftermath should see you with either 1) a tidy home/yard, 2) a haphazard mess and/or 3) friends and family who will never want to visit you again, allowing you to 4) ride and/or do whatever you please with your valuable time.

stringbreaker

I got tired of mowing and edging so I found a guy to do it very reasonably. Now all I have to do is take care of the plantings and trimming the shrubs a and the veggie garden. All things I like to do but mowing BLAH

John_V 

Congratulations on 50. The wife and I will be celebrating 42 this year. My way of thinking is that when they come and they don't like what they see when they get here, there are three motels down the road they can stay in and leave me alone. The house is not a mess, but I don't run out of my way to sterilize it before company comes.

cccorlew

Congrats!
Wow. I'll be ... really old when I've been married 50 years. But my wife assures me it'll happen.
We spent our 12th anniversary this year riding our bikes 106 miles on Saturday and 70 on Sunday. It was really fun.

bikegeek57

this gets my vote. Super congratulations on the big 50!

pokey1

Congrats on the 50 years

wpt

sikabk

Congrats! Hope my can stand me for another 26!

willb1046

Congratulations on your 50th! I can't imagine being married that long.
You are allowed to rant. This is one reason we are here.
Your guests are family and friends, I'm sure they will understand if some things
are not up to spec.

Simply enjoy each other's company.

Wogster

I think Miss K has the right idea, just get a landscaper to come in and take care of the outside, and a maid service to do the inside, book those for the day before the event, that means all you need to do is fix stuff, divide those jobs into 2 groups, one that are visible and ones that are not visible, do the visible ones, shelve the invisible ones until after. On second thought, you don't need it to be at your house, book it at your favourite eatery, let someone else worry about the details.

ModeratedUser150120149

Congratulations on 50!! My wfe and I celebrated number 49 a month ago.

drmweaver2

First, congratulations.

Now for the important comment - I can't believe no one has suggested having a"theme" anniversary party/get together. Seriously, send out the invivtations with a theme of "Help us celebrate 50 years with 50 miles! We're going to ride, ride ride til we drop - or 50 miles, whichever comes first." I'll wager that those who do come will either 1) bring their bikes or 2) bring lots of sedatives. Either way, you'll be going for a ride.

Congrats again.

steve0257

My brother did this at his lake cabin on family get togethers. We kept coming back for more.

qcpmsame 

Congratulations on the 50 year anniversary. Forget what others may think, you have earned the right to do as you please to celebrate your time together. Today is 35 years for Monica and I and I am not even going to mow the lawn for the party we are having Monday evening (combination 4th of July and our anniversary.) They can enjoy the ribs I am grilling and the good company or not.

"Get off of my Grass" to paraphrase Clint Eastwood.

Bill

PatW

Better ranting at us than her. I guess you have learned something in 50 years of happily wedded bliss.