Wishing you and yours the very best year ever in 2009! May God bless you!

We made it into the house before Christmas Day…just as our builder, Mike, promised we would. And as you well know, Christmas does not wait until you get settled and ready. So, a day or two before the final move, I brought all the Christmas gifts over to the Creek House and put them into the guest closet, so I would know exactly where they were on Christmas morning. Never mind that they were all clustered under the TV, instead of a Christmas tree…it was still Christmas!

Now, the only gift I expected from Don was…nothing. I mean, this house is all the gift I could want. And, as much as I love presents…I knew he would not get me anything else. And, that was as it should be. However, I got him a few little things, so that he would have something to do on Christmas morning as the family gathered to exchange presents.

(I must assure you…honestly…I did not expect there to be a gift…nor did I need anything else! I am not joking about this.) However…to be honest, I think this exemption should only be good for 1 year from date of First Sleep…so I should be OK for next Christmas!

Well, after we finished oohing and ahhing and looking over all our treasures…Don mumbled something about not being able to find ‘my gift’. I did not believe him, and just thought he maybe felt a little guilty since I had gotten him something. I just let it slide and no more mention has been made of it till tonight.

My Partners in Crime and All Things Fun and Frivolous, Tina and Shirley, descended on the Creek House and commenced to putting it into order! All boxes were to be opened, all ‘stuff’ to be gone through, and what was deemed ‘fitting’ would be given a place to live. Don was so happy to see them, he practically kissed their feet. And, he fixed them a pizza. And, he told me to do everything they said.

My friend, Shirl, is a decorating dervish…actually, just give her a project, and she can be a dervish of any kind. It is as if she has blinders on…there is a goal, and she will see it through. PERIOD. Only stopping for occasional coffee and Diet Coke breaks. Even though Tina and I THOUGHT we had sorted through and ‘let go’ of lots of my stuff…Shirl thought we had only begun. Friends, I ‘let go’ of much, much more. Much more than I thought I would. And of things that I thought I would never let go of. Shirl has been watching Clean House…24 hours a day…preparing for this task. She kept asking me, “Do you love it?” Love is very close to LIKE in my mind…but not hers. Like was not good enough. “In the box,” she would order…and I grudgingly complied. Talk about culling out! We quickly whittled down my pillow stash from 5 boxes to 1. But, I can’t talk too much about that…it still hurts. I did manage to hide a few treasures back before she took them outside. But, she was as right as can be! Those are things that do not fit in the Creek House. They are things I have outgrown (decorating wise)…and I need to let go and move on. It made it much easier on Shirl as Don cheered her on from the sidelines, saying, “Go, Shirley, get rid of all of it…she doesn’t need it…get it outta here.” His eyes were glazed over…he was a happy man seeing all that ‘stuff’ going out of our house.

Now, I must be fair. Shirley knows I am a sentimental fool…and she knew there were things from family and friends I could not bear to part with. And, she was cool with that. But, she even threw away some of the things that even SHE had given to me. I tell you…she’s a dervish!

Meanwhile, Don poked his head around the corner in the midst of all this glee, and said,” If you see a box labeled Don’s Underwear, let me know. I can’t find it. Well, friends, we opened all the remaining boxes in my garage, about 10 or 12…and no underwear was ever found. He began to get desperate. “Where is my underwear? I know I packed it. And, TONJA’S CHRISTMAS GIFTS ARE WITH THEM!” Important news that caused my ears to perk right up. “We MUST find the underwear, girls!” I said. But, we didn’t. And Don even went back to the other house to see if he left them there. He didn’t. I am also missing a few boxes of things I can not find. But, nothing as important as the underwear.

Today, we are on a mission…my Partners in Crime and All Things Fun and Frivolous…find the underwear…and whatever else may be lurking close by! 🙂

THE SCENE: 4:00 AM on the first night spent in the Creek House. Tonja and Scooter are walking through the backyard…taking care of business.
THE TEMPERATURE: 38 degrees…a blizzard by South Alabama standards…
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Because I have empathy for helpless creatures, I pulled myself out of a deep sleep so that I could take Scooter out for a comfort break.

We have no fence yet. This is a source of extreme irritation to me. Why do we not have a fence when we have been building this house since February and every one involved knew we must have a fence? The builder was not responsible…and the architect was not responsible. I was not responsible…and Alex was not responsible. That leaves one other adult who was responsible. Or irresponsible, as the case may be. The logistics and other preparations for the hot tub, which this person was also responsible for, were all seen to with much haste. The fence fell by the wayside. But, I’m not bitter…much. Because, without a fence, Scooter, who was born to run, will. And, he won’t stop until he’s exhausted. And he may be 14 years old, but he has not slowed much. So…he has to be taken out on a leash for the time being. He has to be taken out on a leash into the deep, dark woods that is our backyard. And, especially in the middle of the night, and most all other times, actually…if Alex is not able…I am the designated leash holder.

OK, back to our story. This was the first night, and Scooter was already freaked out about being in a new place. Nothing smelled familiar to him. By the time, he and Alex were able to come over…it was already dark. So he couldn’t even see where he was. I went to get him, and out we went. Of course, if you are a dog, you must be sure every inch of a new place has been sniffed before you feel comfortable enough to ‘let go’. So, every inch was sniffed, with me following behind…going round and round the trees because he kept getting tangled up and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get him to go back around. And it was cold. And, I am not sure there are not bears back there yet myself. Finally, he was reassured,nature took over, and we could go back in. However, instead of following in a straight line close behind me, as any smart dog would do…he veered off to the left. I turned around just in time to see him walk right into the POOL!

OH! MY! GOODNESS! His little eyes about bugged out of his head, and his little paws were paddling for all he was worth. I was not about to jump in and get him. It was COLD…and it was the deep end! So I pulled on the leash, to aid his paddling. When he got to the edge, I had to lean down and haul him out of the pool…causing much water to adhere itself to my body…and it was COLD! Of course, what is a dog going to do when he is wet? Right…shake…and shake…and shake…all over me…because I was still holding on to the leash.

We got inside and I called Alex to get up! “Bring towels,” I yelled. “Why?” he asked. Not the best time for him to go questioning his mother. “Just get towels…lots!” I yelled again. “Where are the towels?” he asked. And, I realized right then that I had no idea where the towels were. Only that they were in a box and the box was in the house…somewhere. Luckily, we found Alex’s new set of towels for his bathroom. New…never been washed…not very absorbent.

Once Alex woke up well, he saw the water on the floor. “Mamma, get that water off the floor! Daddy said water will ruin them! Get it up! Wipe it up!” he cried. And, that posed a dilemma, my friends…the dog or the floor. The wet, old, smelly, cold dog…or the brand new, gleaming hardwood floors. The dog won. Quickly throwing towels over the wet floor, I started rubbing Scooter to dry him off and warm him up. Alex could still be heard, yelling, “Get the water off the floor…Don’t let Daddy know they got wet. They are going to be ruined!” This is where I yelled back, “Just get yourself out of bed and come help me.” And he did. He took over the dog drying duty while I went to work on the floor. I knew there was not enough water to ruin them, but Alex was about to have a coronary!

And we spent the next 30 minutes or so, furiously rubbing the dog. Bless his heart, he was still just a shivering. Finally, he crawled over to the rug and lay down and drifted off to sleep…still shivering occasionally. Alex and I sat for a few minutes on the couch, then he went back to bed. I went to the couch, and spent the next hour gazing at the trees, watching the sky turn from black to grey and finally to a cloudy white. I never did see the sun that day, and it stayed cold and damp all day.

But, it was in those moments alone, in the studio, everyone safe and sleeping, dry and warm, that I realized there will be as many memories to be made here as there were in our previous home. The place is not important…it really isn’t…it’s the people who we surround ourselves with that cause a place to feel homey. It is the everyday accidents and regular living that takes place, that causes a building to become a holder of memories. It is the love and care and concern for each other (and the dog), that causes a place to become warm and cozy and safe and welcoming. It is the living that turns a house into a home.

 

First turkey cooked at the Creek House! It was yummy! And thanks to Strong Arms (Ian) for taking it out for me…and then carving it! What a son!

“LOOK!” It’s here! FINALLY!”

“Careful, guys! No scratches!”

“First thing in…THE Christmas tree!”

“The first of many, many, many piles of STUFF.”

“Great, great friends…with strong backs! I couldn’t have done it without them! This is Patty(L) and Tina(R).