Happy New Year!
I've never been so glad to see a year end as this one. The fire that burned down our garage and destroyed our house was right at the end of 2021 (see this post), and the aftermath of that has taken up this entire year. It'll probably take up most of this coming year, too, but at least the house plans have finally been approved and the rebuild can start this month.
Hopefully, we will not still be in this rental house NEXT Christmas. This one was nicer than I expected, thanks to our daughter's decorations and having both kids at home for several days. But this entire year has been spent in Limbo (after 20 previous months of that, due to COVID). I'm so tired of "pending" my life. And in some ways, this felt like a continuation of last Christmas, because THAT just got yanked away from us before it finished. We don't even have our Christmas presents from last year-they're being stored in "lockup," along with all the other household possessions that will eventually be cleaned and returned to us after we move back into our old house.
I have weird feelings about the coming rebuild. I miss the "feel" of our old house and the life we had there. I miss our kitty, and all of our family memorabilia and such. But the new house will never be what the old house was, and I'm a little afraid of what's in store there. What if I hate it? What if it only serves as a sad reminder of what we've lost? The best I can say is that I'm looking forward to having places where things belong again, rather than always putting them into a random cupboard or drawer that approximates a "pretty good" location. E.g., our rental house hallway closet holds cleaning supplies, coats, backup toiletries and medicines, bath and bedroom linens, gift-wrapping stuff, luggage, and crafts supplies. Those things would have been in seven different cupboards/closets in our old house, but this is as organized as I can get them here. Some things still haven't been put away, because there's no specific place they belong (and limited storage). For better or worse, it causes me stress!
So, New Year's hopes: less chaos, less sadness, better health for HalfshellHusband, and (ideally) a reconstructed house. And more bike path access-several areas have been closed for levee improvements (since June), and there were flood warnings for our recent storm, although I walked there today and the river is high but probably won't reach the pavement. \o?
I hope you and yours have a wonderful New Year ahead!
Hopefully, we will not still be in this rental house NEXT Christmas. This one was nicer than I expected, thanks to our daughter's decorations and having both kids at home for several days. But this entire year has been spent in Limbo (after 20 previous months of that, due to COVID). I'm so tired of "pending" my life. And in some ways, this felt like a continuation of last Christmas, because THAT just got yanked away from us before it finished. We don't even have our Christmas presents from last year-they're being stored in "lockup," along with all the other household possessions that will eventually be cleaned and returned to us after we move back into our old house.
I have weird feelings about the coming rebuild. I miss the "feel" of our old house and the life we had there. I miss our kitty, and all of our family memorabilia and such. But the new house will never be what the old house was, and I'm a little afraid of what's in store there. What if I hate it? What if it only serves as a sad reminder of what we've lost? The best I can say is that I'm looking forward to having places where things belong again, rather than always putting them into a random cupboard or drawer that approximates a "pretty good" location. E.g., our rental house hallway closet holds cleaning supplies, coats, backup toiletries and medicines, bath and bedroom linens, gift-wrapping stuff, luggage, and crafts supplies. Those things would have been in seven different cupboards/closets in our old house, but this is as organized as I can get them here. Some things still haven't been put away, because there's no specific place they belong (and limited storage). For better or worse, it causes me stress!
So, New Year's hopes: less chaos, less sadness, better health for HalfshellHusband, and (ideally) a reconstructed house. And more bike path access-several areas have been closed for levee improvements (since June), and there were flood warnings for our recent storm, although I walked there today and the river is high but probably won't reach the pavement. \o?
I hope you and yours have a wonderful New Year ahead!