Missing an old friend



Art Institute Staircase March 2011

 I took my blog down for a while, mainly due to a haranguing husband, who has some issues with certain information being posted publicly. Does anyone else have this debate in their houseblogging household? I'd love to hear from you.

There is no one in the world that can drive me insane more than my beloved spouse, except maybe my co-workers, who I spend an inordinate amount of time with-- because we live in a country with such a crappy vacation policy. But I digress.

Anyway, because of my dear and beloved spouse, and life just changing and altering my needs and focus, I have seen my blogging dwindle down to 2 posts last year. A far cry from the peak of posting in 2006, when I created 156 entries. How did I do it? I have the say that the years 2005-2006 had a life of their own and I experienced both the joys and exhaustion of being consumed by our home and its projects. I remember many dinners of pizza slices from JB Albertos and salad, manwiches, and tacos because that was about all we could manage. Now we are more likely to be observed cooking something delicious from the Silver Palate or making Beef Burgundy on a week night, rather than lying flat on our backs waiting for the aches and pains to subside from a long weekend of hanging drywall. And I have been known to bake cupcakes just for the heck of it.

In 2007, I turned 40 and I remember feeling as if I was waking up from a dream. I couldn't believe the years that had passed with Steve and I consumed by our home and working together. I truly love working side by side with my husband as a team. It brings me a real feeling of contentment and connection and if too much time passes without that, I find myself longing for the experience. I will always fondly remember the "summer of the wood pile," where I experienced a moment of true connection looking down at my hands sanding board after board of straight oak trim. I realized how immensely satisfying it was to work with ones hands. Because of this experience, I relate to contractors and tradesman quite a lot. I admire them.

New Year's Eve 2010 at Zoo Lights

That same year, I said to Steve, "Oh my God, can you believe how much time has passed? We've been together 7 years!! I think we should get married this year, seriously." And Steve said, "Okay, sounds like a good idea." And we got married. And that felt right. And our lives moved gradually towards more "normal," time for extracurricular activities like the theater, dinners out and friends, volunteer work, block clubs, gardening, vacations, family etc... All of which we barely had time for in 2005-2006.

Of course, living in a 100+ year old building, we are still working to maintain it and the DIY urges have not left us. This summer we are planning to build a new fence in the backyard and plant some large evergreens among other things. We have an endless supply of improvement ideas and wish lists. I hope, someday, to convert the basement and have "a room of my own," which I think would do much for my contentment.

This morning and lately, I found myself missing my old houseblog and decided to bring it back online. I know there are oodles of you out there in the thick of things. I remember those days well and fondly. Once you've done something like renovate your own home, no one can take that away from you. It gives one a similar feeling to putting yourself through college on your own dime and effort, it's hard but builds character, something inside that is yours. That's how I feel about it anyway.

I may re-design this blog (with Steve's help as he is a graphic artist). I offered this option to him as a compromise, he who wants me to edit my blog and keep some things offline. I want my spouse to be happy, but I think I still need my blog. Writing can be extremely therapeutic and there's a whole world of brethren out there. I'm not done with you just yet.

Happy Spring everyone...!