Appreciation

In the next few weeks we are planning to move back into our house, although we will keep it on the market. Since we have been living in a rental (most thoughtfully provided by a relative), I have had a newfound appreciation for my own home. Not that there is anything wrong with the place we live, it is merely the little things I miss, like my dishwasher and air conditioner (I have neither here). We have made so many improvements to our house over the years I have gotten accustomed to things like a sizable shower, plants on automatic drip, my large gas stove, my fridge with water and ice in the door, my smoothly running washer and dryer…the list goes on. At the very top of the list is “1300 square feet, plus guesthouse.” We have tried to get rid of at least 50% of our possessions, and still we are crammed into the little rental like sardines. It is very difficult to go to a small house from a large house, and it is hard to go from being owners to renters. I knew how messy my kids were, but spaghetti on the walls of a rental is a whole new kind of stress.

We’ve fixed so many things on our house I feel like we’re going to a whole new place, one where everything works correctly, and this is practically the case. We have a few more things to do (I will post, again, before and after photos) but we have fixed plumbing, added a swamp cooler to the guesthouse, painted the kitchen cabinets, done some light remodeling on the layout of the house and on the hall bath. Add to this the painting, the new doors/window/siding on the guesthouse, the landscaping in the front and a heck of a lot of cleaning, and wow — our house is looking pretty sweet right now. It’s also extremely clean, which is something it hasn’t really been for, um, five years or so…

We will leave it on the market and keep our fingers crossed. It seems like the past few months have been full of changes for us, some good and some bad. I have “cleaned house” in a variety of ways, from talking freely about old hurts to letting go of a job I’ve clung to for three years. I’m sorry to say I’ve lost some friends in the process, but I’ve also gained new ones and a new perspective. I’ve learned some things about myself and that is never an easy process, but I hope that, in time, the boat that I have rocked so hard will slowly settle, and I can have a time of peace again.

P.S. I really took this photo. We passed by this little creek on a hike into Sabino Canyon before it was destroyed by floods last summer.