keeping it in perspective

So we've been in this house, our home, for about 16 months now.  We closed at the end of October (2009) and moved in just before New Year's.

We have done A LOT.  By which I mean some skilled and experienced tradesmen have done a bit, Mike has done a ton, and I have done a bit here and there.

But somehow, sometimes, it is so easy to forget about all that has been accomplished and focus way too much on the little things that remain on the lengthy list.  Things like light fixtures being put in place, switch plate covers attached, drywall putty sanded for (hopefully) one last time and walls painted, floors finished, insulation tended to, etc, etc, etc.  Things that really, when it comes down to it, don't matter all that much but when you spend so much time at home staring at them it is sometimes difficult to ignore.

Did you hear that, self?  I just wrote that these things really don't matter.  Those were my words.  Let it sink in......


But oh, the things we have accomplished.  A new roof, new windows with the exception of three that we hope to one day replace with doors opening onto a deck (uh huh... one day), gravel added to the driveway, wood floors refinished (thanks Nana and Grandpop), fully rewired electrical (thanks Dave and Kevin), updated plumbing, fenced in yard, new bathroom plumbed (and now being used as storage), mudroom added, insulated, sided and stained, new front step railings, new paint on almost all the walls, south side of the house stained to match the rest, new tile floor and tub surround in the bathroom, new sink and medicine cabinet, woodshed built, raised beds built, chimney lined and woodstove insert installed, added hens to the family and soon, bees...... it's an impressive list, really.

Oh, and something else that we've accomplished in those 16 months (well, nearly 15 of them anyway)?  Loving and raising and enjoying our beautiful daughter.  That's got to count for something.  A whole lot of somethings.  I'd say that really, we could throw out the other lists and still be sitting in a house painted like Easter eggs with a faulty electrical system and plumbing running against gravity and a nasty bathroom floor and even then, because of her, we'd be doing alright.  Perhaps slightly more frustrated about the state of things, but most definitely alright.  Better than alright.

On the days I find myself fretting over switch plates and peeling trim I need only slow down, look around with gratitude, and remind myself that I already have everything I need.  Right here.  Right now.  And when I find myself thinking about how life will be so much nicer and easier when this, that, or the other happens, is finished, or can be afforded..... well that is when I really have to give myself a kick in the arse and remember to keep things in perspective.  Life, for me, is about living.  About loving and smiling and laughing, sometimes crying, and about just being.  Sometimes on my own, but especially with those who mean the most to me.  Life is not about freshly painted kitchen cabinets, french doors opening onto a deck with a hot tub, a new bathroom and resurfaced walkways.  Sure, things like that are nice.  Very nice.  But they don't make or break our days and lives.

Here's to keeping it in perspective, to recognizing the beauty in what we already have and what we've surrounded ourselves with.  Most likely, it's more than enough.  As is.