Monday, November 1, 2010

What I'm Thankful For Challenge Day 1

Over at The Bz House That Love Built, Brian and Cheryl are celebrating November by issuing a challenge for bloggers and non-bloggers alike to post everyday during the month of November what their reasons to be thankful.  So I accepted the challenge, let's see how I do with the everyday posting...

PC and I were talking the other morning about some of the things that need to be finished around the house, we moved in 5 1/2 years ago with just a few things left to do and as life took over other projects crept up and here we are still with unfinished cabinets in the master bathroom, can lights that need to be placed in the game room, and now our kitchen cabinets need to be refinished...and that's just the inside.  Still when people come to visit for the first time, they tell us what a beautiful job we did on the house.  We humbly say thank you and start to point out all of the flaws and tell a few stories of the nightmares we had during construction and then finish with the all too common today, one liner of "It's pretty but we could do without the payment". See, we got caught up with the rest of Southern California and decided we needed a new house, when the one we had was perfectly fine. There are many factors why we chose to come out to the "country"; to be close to our whole family who were also caught up in the construction frenzy, to be in an area where Bubba and Baby girl could ride dirt bikes and quads, to have enough land that PC could build his giant steel building, and to also build a house for the experience.  All in all we are happy here (except for once a month, when that check has to be written), we have had many gatherings, PC's building is everything that he dreamed it would be, as is the house everything I dreamed.  However, after you live in a house, even one you designed yourselves, you say "we should have put this here" or "we could have done this," or "I wish we would have..." Would of, Could of, Should Of...That's what I am thankful for today, as I putter around my too-big- for-our-own-good home. I am thankful that it's not perfect, that there are improvements to be made and lessons that were learned.  I am thankful for our ability in these times (and especially with the life-style change we are going through because PC supported my decision to go to school) to be able to write the check for the payment that we really should not have gotten ourselves into. I am thankful for the man (PC) that has the know-how and ability to make all of those improvements. I am thankful that as PC and I talk about the future, we realize that this is just a house and that our Home is wherever our hearts and love are at the time, so that if ever our situation changes, we could sell this house, cherish the memories of it as we do our other two Houses and make our new Home wherever we choose.   Would of, Could of, Should Of...these conversations usually get on my nerves, because I see them as a way of living in the past, bellyaching about things that cannot be changed, but today I am grateful for all of those conversations between PC and I because today I feel a sense of security in the knowing that as long as we are together we are Home.
Want to join the challenge?  Go check out The Bz House That Love Built and post what you are thankful for.  Thanks for stopping by, I have to go post my Menu Plan on My Dream Kitchen, c'mon over and visit it me there!  Ta Ta for Now!

1 comment:

Brian + Cheryl B. said...

Hi DeAnna :-)
My computer is having challenges with your site - then again, the poor thing is 8 years old, which in technical terms is ancient 8-/ So I think I'm gonna have to borrow a son's computer to keep up with you from now on. Sorry!

Any-ways - I truly believe that you can be ever so thankful for something and yet be aware to what else needs done with or for the thing.

I would encourage you to pull back from pointing out to visitors what yet needs to be done. Rejoice in the things you have accomplished and the fact that others notice!

On the other hand, don't stop sharing stories of your trials along the way. While others might find amusement or sympathy for you in them, they also find encouragement for themselves. They realize that 'trials' are part of the process for everybody - not just them.

Thanks for being a part of our challenge!