The House That Love Built.....

Lately I've had writer's cramp. Have ya' noticed? Used to be my blog posts would begin forming in my head no matter where was or what I was doing. Reminds me of my late brother-in-law...he wrote a column for a local newspaper and often times in the midst of an activity he'd start staring off in the distance and one of hi s kids would say..."I sense a future column in the works!"

The past few months though, for me, have been somewhat dry in the idea process. I guess with the new job and the house in its final stages - my mind has been (shall we say...) pre-occupied. We've been working on the house for so long now (we broke ground in April of 2007!) that some of the walls already need re-painting! I often walk through the rooms (none of which are completely finished yet) and try to imagine us living there. I can't tell you how many times I've stepped into the new shower - closed my eyes - and pretended it was all done and I was really in there for a shower. Is that weird? (C'mon I know you guys must do weird things like that too...right?)

I keep bringing over little things to make it home-like (as much as it can be in the midst of sawhorses and ladders and buckets of tools...) like this little red lamp that I put on an old table in the master bedroom. Or the lace curtains I hung up in the bathroom that has the aforementioned shower - but no toilet or sinks yet. There is a single wine goblet in one of the cupboards in the kitchen (still no counter tops mind you) and an old chair that we found on the side of the road last fall that I knew would be perfect in the guest room. I sit on that chair sometimes too (eyes closed of course) and pretend that the room is finished.

Sometimes, when I start feeling impatient and get a little grumpy because the house is taking so l-o-n-g - I have to remind myself how lucky I am to be able to be able to be "starting over" at this phase in my life with everything all new and different. I never really had a lot of new stuff. We always made do with other people's cast offs and were thankful that they were at least "new" to us. To be able to actually pick out things the way I want them - that reflect me and who I am and what I love has been a real treat. So if it's taking longer than I expected (and those of you who have been following me for some time know exactly how long that has been!)then I can wait a little more.

Underneath the drywall in the kitchen - written between the existing studs on the old backer wall is a note I scrawled in marker to inspire hubby & I as we worked.

It reads: Don't focus on the destination so much....that you forget to enjoy the journey.

Someday...many, many years from now - some young couple may be tearing apart the walls in a remodeling project and find the note. Perhaps they will wonder about us....and the house that love built...