Ode to owning a 40 year-old house

The realities of house hunting in the San Diego market of 2004 were :

1. that all indications were that the market was going to continue to skyrocket (and it did for a time),
   
2. you had little choice but to bid high in the hopes of getting your offer accepted, and
3. we weren't interested in being so house poor that living on 1 income was going to be a major struggle
   

When the smoke cleared, we found a 4 BR ranch built in 1957. No home owners association/fees, no Mello Roos (extortion fees for newer developments intended to fund new infrastructure).

One of the joys of buying an older house has been discovering all of the strange ways people chose to maintain it (or try to modernize it) over the years. Granted that in '57 they couldn't have dreamed of multiple phone lines (or 1 line with multiple extensions), cable TV, cat 5 ethernet, etc., but you'd think they could have at least considered something like insulation in the walls!

Over the last 2 1/2 years Laura and I have done a lot of upgrades, motivated more by making it a nicer place for us to live than any grand delusions of cashing in when we try to sell. Upgrades have included:

1. New carpet in all 4 bedrooms
   
2. New wood fencing
3. Ice plant and irigation system on our 45-degree hill in the back
4. Stucco resurfacing/repair and new color
5. Upgraded electrical service to 100amps
   
6. Knotty pine beadboard in the kitchen
7. Removal of popcorn ceilings
8. Repainted all 4 bedrooms, replacing some hideous baseboards in the process

Possible remaining projects:

1. Repair and repaint wood trim
2. Clean-up phone and cable wiring (all exterior to the house, running under the eaves
   
3. Garage improvements (drywall? seal floor?)
4. Stain concrete patio
5. Stucco cinder-block wall in backyard to match house stucco color