Happy Sunday, friends! It’s Jameson and Jordan’s 7th Cativersary today! We brought home our little minions on November 1, 2013. Good grief, it feels like yesterday. Their story is a fascinating one, and we are so blessed in their company. Sweet, sweet girls, both.

If you’ve ever renovated a house, or even done a major home improvement project, you know how disruptive that can be. Boxes. Dust. Strangers in the house at all hours, many of whom down gallons of coffee to wake up and then embarrassingly need to use your facilities. (Pro tip: don’t schedule any appointment before 10 am...) The uncertainty that results from the paradox of choice—you can do ANYTHING to your home now, in any style, with any design, color, or detail. Choosing between 14 incredibly similar but totally different French country-style dining tables can be a bit...overwhelming. Add in coordinating schedules of multiple vendors, making plans to lock up the pets, and the added stress of COVID safety measures, and it can be a wee bit challenging. 

The house we bought needed a LOT of work. But, having renovated our last house, we knew we were up to the challenge. We focused on the envelope first—foundation to roof, then moved inside: restoring the hardwood floors, painting everything a neutral gray, re-carpeting a few rooms, installing new bookshelves, and designing a master bath. I’ve acted as our general contractor inside, Mr. E handled outside. We’ve been blessed with incredible craftsmen the whole way—you know a project is only as good as the contractors and vendors you’re working with. 

Meanwhile, we were staging/selling our house, which involved moving out half the furniture and all the books, then moving what we needed to live and work into the new house while leaving behind the bulk of the furniture, then, because the closing moved up 2 weeks, getting out entirely, quickly, hiring and directing movers, and finally, bringing to the new house all the things we moved out to stage the old. 

This was not the easiest path, nor the measured and thoughtful retreat we had in mind when we set ourselves upon these stormy seas, but it’s nearly over. We’re a week away from completion, and that is only an hour job once things arrive. Everything we own is at long last in this new house. The cats have found the places they like to sleep. My books came today, and that makes me oh so happy. The end of the chaos is upon us.

So, since I am, at last, expecting no one, I am taking the next week off. I am going to hunker down and do a week-long writing retreat to kick off my new creative life in our new home. I plan to stay far, far away from anything that doesn’t serve my current story. It is going to be a difficult book to write, and I need to sink into its warm waters and soak myself. 

Wish me luck, and be good to each other. We’re all we have. 

Onward!

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That’s it from me. Don’t forget to vote, and I’ll see you next week! 🇺🇸

Peace and hugs,
J.T.