As I have blown past my personal deadline for wrapping up house projects for the year (although not past the last possible deadline, yet) I have put my laptop into storage mode to keep it free of the construction dust - which now covers everything not protected in my living room, dinning area, and kitchen. As a result I am pecking this out on my phone, can't really call this typing (and I'm not ready to wrestle with Dragon Diction again, yet.)
Sometimes it's really hard to remember to be thankful for what we have. It's especially hard when what we have is old, needs work, and feels like so much more of a burden than something that may be newer, bigger/smaller, or not used by someone prior.
There are so many things I don't like about my house, well a few less thanks to several months of projects and construction zone living. I know having a roof is a huge blessing, that submitting to my husband when he refused to let us get an adjustable rate mortgage (now more commonly known as sub-prime) on an actual house (significantly bigger than what we live in now, but not huge) was not only the right thing for us to do, but has kept us from all kinds of problems that others fell into. I'm thankful not to have those problems, but I often catch myself wondering if we would have beaten the odds, especially since our second almost foray into house hunting was abruptly ended when my husband lost his job.
As I finally got texture up on half of the living room (the other half will happen sometime in the spring, when I am ready to move the bookcases again), it was decided that this week - Thanksgiving - would be spent cleaning our house. Not just wiping down the dust and rinsing the pans, but cleaning and stretching the carpets, scrubbing the kitchen, clearing and organizing, etc. Sure all this needs to be done to transition us from construction zone to winter retreat, but it also gives us a chance to truly give thanks in a way more than words express. We are showing how thankful we are for our house and the things in it by cleaning and prepping. We are getting ready for winter, not by storing vast amounts of food, but by preparing our living space for the days where it's too dark to be outside after 3:30. If all goes at least mostly to plan, we will have a warm, welcome, happy place to snuggle together as a family playing Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword (first impressions review coming soon - box opening tentatively scheduled for Thanksgiving) and other stuff. I can't think of a more fitting Thanksgiving activity, although the lazy me isn't ready to say it should be a tradition. If we really think about it, by taking extra special care of what we have we are doing so much mire than paying the lip-service of saying thanks, we are showing it. Not to any particular person, but to ourselves and our family that share our space with us. Don't worry we'll still have some lazing (with friends hopefully) and a feast that would normally feed us for a week. But we will wake up after Thanksgiving with so much more than stomach aches and leftovers. We will have a useable clean space to spend the winter. We will have a family pleasure in that space.
The little changes that are a result of so many months of blood, sweat, and time really do make a huge difference! With just three of eight walls (almost half by area) textured and painted butter yellow - including the wall with the new widow treatments, and the associated carpet cleaned, it already feels more welcoming and warm than it ever gas before - to each and every member if the family. I hope that feeling doesn't fade and that we can stay thankful for our little used, sometimes ugly, sometimes dirty, always crowded home.
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