(no subject)
Sarah is just shy of a week from turning 12. She has been a consistent joy in my life even when she's been going through rough patches. It hasn't been the most ideal of living situations she has grown up in, but through it all, she's been loved and supported.
I'm thinking back, trying to recall other things that have happened...sometimes I have to be reminded simply by looking at FB memory photos. Two years ago, just a day or two before Christmas, we had a major leak in the upstairs bathroom. Ended up having new flooring upstairs, ceiling downstairs. The insurance wasn't paying enough to do the job, so we ended up saying we'd do some of the finish work. James promised me....and I extended a wary belief that he would do as he said. It's kind of a running joke about baseboards not getting put in since preSarah....that on my tombstone I'd have a message written "Don't worry about the baseboards now, babe" In the meantime, we had to use some of mom's money as well as our own to help replace some siding, rebuild the porch pillars that were rotted, get a new roof, gutters, and paint the outside. All hired out work...and I was relieved.
I ment to get the inside done in 2020, but that didn't happen with such a crew living here and tots that loved being really hard on my home...and parents that weren't cleaning up after spills and artwork. So...waiting we have done. I did get Sarah's room painted and Naomi did surprise me by painting not only the kids bathroom, but also the cabinets! We have been hard on this house....well...to the extent that it has been lived in....normal stuff, really...for 19 years of living in a home that is now 25 years old! Talk about putting down roots!
Since turning 50, I've been all the more looking to re-evaluate the stuff in my life. I'm not buying into an extreme minimalism, but I've learned a few questions to ask myself and they continue to challenge me. Particularly "Does this item serve me in my future life? Do I see it there?" I might Marie Kondo my underwear drawer, but that is as far as I've gone with some of that....lol...still, particularly with artwork n tchotchkes, asking if it "Sparks Joy" is helpful.
Anyway....here it is, New Years Eve....and we're home. We've become very much "Innies" with this whole Covid thing. Maybe I'll talk about that next time....