Normal

I recently responded to a friend, 'when i get things back to normal after vacation, i'll be able to meet up'.  After hitting send, I chuckled at the idea of what normal currently is for me.

Along with the unpacking of 5 suitcases, loads of laundry, and the empty fridge grocery shopping trip that comes with returning home, we put up ceiling trim in the great room.  As in, we woke up after flying home at midnight, and started working again.  I should clarify, the we here is my husband.  I help with design, do the prep work, hand him tools like the level and the nail gun while trying to come up with conversation topics and honestly just remain upright after traveling home for a day.  

Oh, and I clean up the dark wood floors.  I have cleaned these beautiful, striking, dust magnet dark wood floors several times after each step in finishing these 2 rooms where they are laid. 

I am starting to have a love hate relationship starting with these floors.  They are so beautiful and make me so happy...when they are clean.  I think I could literally vacuum them 3 times a day. I know there have been days when I have vacuumed and mopped them 3 times a day.  I'm hoping once all the construction is over, my obsessive vacuuming will abate. 

I digress.....

You can also see here we got the doors put on the bookcases. :) 

The trim is a subtle, but a nice finishing touch to the ceiling treatment in this room.  

It's just 4 pieces of MDF.  Starting from the top; one rounded, thin piece, one square in shape and one with the crown molding detail, and finally one filler piece you can't see, that's placed behind the square piece to bump it out from the wall and make it flush with the ceiling planking.  

We chose to add the crown piece to the bottom rather than the top, easing into all the ceiling detail from the vertical of the wall. 

Vacation was good.  It had all the ingredients of a perfect time away from home.  Lots of family and good food, duration - not too long or too short, with time to reflect, sunshine and sand (gotta get the vitamin D).  

There were even some valuable life lessons.  Sadly we were witness to a tragic event that reminded us of the fragility of life.  

Thankfulness?  Blessed?  Grateful?  Is that something that you often feel coming back to your home from vacation?  Even when living in my less than perfect house, a house that literally made me cry due to its lack of authenticity, and it's downright ugliness.  A house that caused a party attendee to proclaim it was too bad I couldn't live in our garden shed -- as it was that much better than the house we were inhabiting.  A brutal remark for sure, but honest.  It's not as if I hadn't thought the same thing as my husband was installing the shake siding.    

But always, always when driving up our street, I was never sorry to return to this spot.  Even now that it's raining and my brain is in a travel fog, and my tan is fading, it's a good place to be.

I hope your current normal is a good place to be.  I hope that you can count your blessings wherever they may lie.  Life's too short not too. 

Whether you hate your house, but love your yard.  Whether your 3- year-old ruined your bath towels, but made you a thoughtful mud pie.  Whether you hate your hips, but love your sassy hair. Whether you love your dark wood floors, but are seriously considering feeding your family only brown foods from now on...Or possibly returning to spoon feeding, including the cat, to cut back floor care.  
Blessings are blessings, no matter how deep.

I hope you can find a moment in your normal to breathe and focus on the good in now.  

Now you'll have to excuse me -- in the time I've been typing this, some of my blessings have come appeared and I need to vacuum again. 

Sharing with: Imparting Grace, Nancherrow, AKA Design, Thrifty Decor Chick, Shabby Nest, Common Ground