Our House... is a very, very, very fine house

For the past 4 years, my husband and I have lived in small, "fixer upper" houses (a.k.a. foreclosed dumps with potential). When we were first looking for these "fixer uppers" I spotted an add for a house that said, "sweat equity". I called my parents and told them about the find and exclaimed, "yeah... even the advertisement said that it had sweet equity." I now know that it has everything to do with SWEAT and nothing to do with SWEET. Tarps hanging from walls. Living in campers while we put up sheet-rock. Dust. Nails. Paint. Decisions. Bottomed-out bank accounts. Take-out and cereal for dinner each night.

BUT. Our first little house turned out to be a dandy. With amazing, brilliant, selfless and HANDY family... you can do just about anything.

And then we became a family of four overnight. And that house grew small.... fast. So... my husband and my father thought... "Hey... since this house came out so great... why don't we try to do the same thing to another house... and sell that one?" It would be a joint effort. And, since the next house might have a little bit more room... we could stay in that one for a while before we sell it. 

So that's what we did. We moved into another home. But it wasn't bigger. Garage... yes. Basement... yes. More room? 990 square feet (NO). With twin boys... that's not a whole lot of space I tell you.  

So... I've been dreaming a bit. About our next house. When you live in "transition" homes... you don't exactly feel settled. Pictures weren't hung. The basement is still full of boxes full of stuff. But this next home might just be "the one". Or, at least, the one that we are in for a while. And what do I want in this next house? 

A yard for the kids. Maybe a garden. A garage would be nice. I don't need a bunch of square footage. Just wide open spaces for company and laughter. I dream of a quiet, sunlit reading room for afternoon naps and "wine o'clocks". I like things old. With character. A location where my kids could ride their bikes to the neighbors house. A place that isn't too far away from the action of "downtown". Close to the ocean? Am I pushing it? (We could probably afford a porta-potty that we could rent and put on the beach?) 

(image)  

But bottom line... you can make a whole lot of dumps into something beautiful. 

 Time. Sweat. Family (free labor). And Love.  

  That had me thinking of our sons' home country. What would they be living in if their parents were still healthy and had enough to take care of them? Probably a little hut. One room. Maybe two. Running water? Probably not. Heat? Nope. Wood floors? Dirt. Beds? Probably not. 

photo taken by a friend in Ethiopia

Love? Absolutely. 

Skydive lovin' and living in the present

I used to think they were nuts. They jump out of perfectly good planes just for fun (and for a living). They strap this parachute on them (that hopefully was packed well), they pull a chord (that hopefully deploys the chute), they jump out of a plane (that hopefully the pilot knows how to fly). THEY ARE CRAZY... this cousin of mine and her man. Or... so I thought. 

And then I experienced something. My husband and I went over to their place for dinner. Ohhhh... did we have fun! GREAT food. GOOD wine. GUITAR hero. YOU TUBE videos. Music. Friendship. Family. Laughter. And I noticed something about them that I wanted for myself. They LIVED in EVERY moment. They were fully present in the "now". Passionate living is what I'd like to call it. And yet I think it's even more than that.

I have a feeling it has something to do with jumping out of these perfectly good airplanes. Not that you have to jump out of planes to really experience life... but that there is something absolutely essential to really "getting life", really "grabbing a hold of what you have"... really "living in every moment"... 

YOU GOTTA LET GO.   

"Keep walking, though there's no place to get to. Don't try to see through the distances. That's not for human beings. 

Move within, but don't move the way fear makes you move. 

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened.

Don't open the door to the study and begin reading.

Take down a musical instrument.

Let the beauty we love be what we do. 

There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground."

-RUMI

After we left their house that night... they went out on the lake, laid down in the snow, and looked up at the stars.

Here's to skydiving. Here's to family. Here's to the eternal present. 

Maybe one day I'll muster up the courage to jump.

My Family rallied…

Most people celebrate the New Year with Fire Works, champagne and whistles.
However, we celebrated the New Year with these:

 
Kid so sick he fell asleep while playing. Stomach bug, cold/flu, ear infections, Conjunctivitis, and the beginnings of Pneumonia (for our little Asthmatic one). We were ALL sick at the same time. It was miserable. I was pretty pathetic. I think that’s one of these toughest things about being a new parent… you are figuring out that even though you are sick and need to rest… you can’t… you gotta take care of your little ones. My mom has always said that being a parent is one of the best ways to become less selfish. Can I get an “Amen”?
On top of being sick… we were in the midst of moving. Which, I WAS very excited about… until we got sick. I was ready for a new start. A new home (well… “new” to us), a fresh start, a reorganized life, and a new year! 2010 was probably, hands down, the toughest year of my life (which I will write about one day). I was ready to leave it behind me, and step forward. And then it hit. And the thought of moving AND cleaning the “old” house to get it ready for a Real Estate “showing” just about put me over the edge. I think I’m getting a zit just thinking about it now. 
But then… there was family.
So, my Aunt and Uncle came down the night before the move and asked us, “what can we do? Just put us to work.” So we did. We stuck my Uncle staining windows and my Aunt over at the “old” house cleaning out the fridge. While cleaning, my Aunt called in recruits. “Ah… dispatch….ah…. we got a sitch-ee-ation here… ahh… we’re gonna need some back-up.”
And help came. The next day, most of the rest of my family showed up in sweatpants, cleaning gear in one hand and coffee in the other. There were 16 of them! 16 of my family members (including 2 friends… but we consider them family members anyway) came to save the day.
  
 
And by 5:00pm (which my family actually calls “wine-o-clock”), they had moved OUR ENTIRE house AND cleaned it! (I’m talking behind-fridge, ironing curtains, dusting, and washing clothes-type-of-clean). You could lick the floors.
 
I was at the “new” house putting box after box away. They told me to come over to the “old” house when it was finished. I walked in… and there they were… 16 people who loved us. And the house was immaculate. Plants were placed “just so”. Rugs were washed. And I couldn’t help but cry. I was thankful beyond words.
So, my precious family… if you are reading this… know that you saved me. It’s one day later and I’m sitting on the couch in our new house sipping on my coffee and writing this. Most of everything is put away. The kids are sleeping in their new room. I can breath. And it’s gonna be a wonderful, wonderful new year. Cause it’s a wonderful, wonderful life when you have people who love you. So… I love you Family. More than you know. And I’ll never forget when you showed up… and saved the day.