I met Michael On June 6th, spring had just begun, he slept here the night we met...God my mother reads this blog I can’t believe I am writing this, not to mention my daughter is a follower. ACK! This night we spent together was one of the last I ever slept here, up on the mountain in my cozy little home. Mind you it wasn’t so cozy back then, I hated it to be perfectly honest. Felt like living in a bad suburban nightmare, and not a nice suburb either. The structure itself is sound, the lay out is decent, the location phenomenal, but the outside and inside were terrible. My mother, renovator extraordinaire, came up here in the spring to renovate the bedrooms, and ended up moving walls around, putting in more windows, revamping the kitchen and redoing two bathrooms. The inside of the house is completely transformed.
Tonight is my first night back, with my newly configured family. Chris, Bernice, Michael, Ayla, Lily and Rosy. Kelly lives with her other partner in town, but has a drawer in the bathroom and a spot in the closet. I suspect she will be here quite often, that it will be her home too. Tomorrow we will host a Thanksgiving dinner for 16 people. (For my lovely American readers, Canadian Thanksgiving is on the second Monday of October). There are still plenty of boxes lying round the house, and plenty more down at my moms, but it is nicely arranged and ready for a feast.
“What are you thankful for?“ is the question in 12 days journal #182
I am thankful for my mom. I am thankful for her love. I am thankful that she shares with my family the incredible talents she has. She has amazing vision, can take a sow’s ear and transform it into an exquisite silk purse. She did so with our budget in mind creating a whole new home with very little. She is resourceful and can create simple solutions. And in case you get the idea that she is an interior decorator who makes the plans, while others do all the work, I will have you know my mom is willing to get down and dirty. She can use a skill saw with precision and will make sure she is the first to use any new tool when it arrives on site. You don’t want to get between her and any renovation fun! I am thankful for a home which inspires me, one I am drawn to ”go home“ to, one like I have now. Thank you mama...from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
(my new kitchen)
I am also thankful for my family. I know ”my family“ normally just makes the Thanksgiving Dinner list along with “this food”, but this year is different for me. This year, as I sit and devour turkey dinner with my crew, I have a new appreciation for how fragile, adaptable and courageous a thing family can be. The last few months have not been filled with ease. They have been filled with love, joy, laughter, passion, excitement and adventure, but not ease. There have been other things too; anger, fear, distrust, misunderstanding, sadness, a lot of sadness. If I were to tell you that things have been easy you would know I was lying anyway, that or I know you have NOT been reading regularly! What I can say with complete conviction is life has been real, very very real. Learning to live with 2 other adults, while parenting, and living under my mom (did I mention the two dogs and eleven fish?) has taught me to live out loud, to face myself in ways I have never had to before, to chose my choice, even when it seems too hard, too scary. I have no idea what this winter brings with its gobs of snow and icy fun, but I am ever so thankful for the last 3 seasons. I have had a Spring to meet a new life partner, a Summer to discover one another and a fall to test our resistance to storm. On December 22nd of this year Michael will have been with us for 4 seasons. A friend once told me her mother would often say “Give it four season”. I plan to make it many many more than that. Thank you family, I love each and everyone of you and am blessed to share my life with you.
Your new kitchen is gorgeous! LOVE the window above the sink in particular! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
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