I haven’t been writing here because we’ve been totally consumed with finding and purchasing our new home…and hopefully our last home until retirement,when I hope to retreat to warmer climes.
Now we are less than 4 weeks from closing and we are both a bit obsessed with everything we want to do for the new place. The current owners have…ummm… different- yeah different is the nicest way to put it- tastes than we do. They also have different ideas of what constitutes a proper project on the house. So we have loads to do like flooring, painting, changing out light fixtures, repairing poorly installed ceilings on additions, and the like. However, for the first time in my life and fulfilling a lifelong dream: I WILL HAVE A POOL! I mean, an honest to goodness, in-ground, has a diving board, and will expeditiously be transferred to saltwater filtration pool.
It’s hard to slow down and remind myself that this isn’t temporary, so we have time. I want to rush into all the upgrades and get it done in 6 months but honestly, there’s no possible way. So, as with so many in things in life, I must learn to breathe and let things be.
I’m meditating again, so that helps. I’m trying to run again. That also helps.
So, now it is a countdown: to getting into the house, to getting it altered enough so we can move in (a fresh coat of paint, flooring for our room, a new roof for our patio, and some other minor things), to getting moved again, to getting unpacked, and to acclimating to a new part of town and the joys of homeownership. But instead of facing each day as an impediment to all that great life work, I am seeing each day as an opportunity to enjoy our last days of living downtown. I have found that I am not made for the high-paced environment of living in the middle of the city but I’ve also enjoyed the walkability and learning more about myself through it all.
It’s been a big year. Leaving all the people we love in Nashville and all that we’d grown comfortable with there. Starting over in, not just a new city, but a new region- this is certainly not The South!- is and has been tremendously difficult and rewarding. I want to grow more with it. I want to let the wildness of the West to push me further. I want to find people here of like mind and who have similar goals to live sustainably and with less. I want to find my place, much like I found in Nashville with East Nasty.
First things first though: this weekend is both the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras, so I have a crawfish boil on Saturday with local Saints fans and then I’m making my family recipe of andouille gumbo and making king cake. Hoping for a Broncos win and trying to decide what to give up for Lent. It was recommended that I commit to write through Lent, instead of denying myself something, and I think that’s a great idea.