Nesting.

It has been eight days since my closing, and my house is finally starting to feel like home. A heat wave has choked the city the last couple of days, but I embrace the humidity. I wake up and listen to the birds sing, walk slowly through my garden while Mishka runs around with his rawhide, and go about my errands which are now becoming less about renovation and more about upkeep. 

This morning I painted the guest bedroom, which was a vicious shade of pink (someone’s little girl was growing up with terrible taste).  I transformed it into a soft lavender and painted the ugly taupe trim white. Afterward, I did laundry, and strung up a makeshift drying line on which to hang my guest towels and painting clothes and cotton dresses. At lunch I cooked myself a delicious brown rice pasta dish on my brand new stove, and may have had one too many glasses of Chardonnay. Fortunately, I have time to sleep it off — work isn’t until 5:30 and I now live ten minutes away, so commuting is effortless. 

There are orchids in the kitchen bay window now — one blooming, one dormant. An Asian Buddha sits serenely between them. I like to sit at my kitchen table at breakfast and look at the Buddha and the flowers while I quietly contemplate the day ahead. I won’t have internet until June 12th so my mornings are technology-free, with the exception of my phone. I would like to think I can keep it that way once I do have a steady connection up and running. 

I’m not lonely. It’s such a relief and a joy. 

Building a home.

I achieved my childhood dream of owning a home on Friday. I handed over a certified check, signed a formidable stack of papers, and received my key. 

When I was a little girl, other girls would draw pictures of their wedding dresses. I would draw floor plans. This is where the kitchen will be. Here is where I’ll put a bench in the garden. This is the loft overlooking the main room. 

Since Friday I’ve been moving boxes, buying paints, and taking on home improvement projects. Every minute of the day I’m moving in the direction of having a complete home for me and Mishka. Yesterday, I painted the kitchen a warm light blue. This morning, I replaced the faucet and began the monumental endeavour of tiling the entire 12×19 foot room (of course, not without Jeremy’s lead on said project). Tomorrow we finish tiling and begin grout work. I went to work at six and got home at midnight. I thought I was exhausted but instead I painted the entire dining room. That’s why it’s 3:30 in the morning and I’m soaking in an Epsom salt bath and having a well-deserved glass of Riesling. I imagine I will be dead on my feet tomorrow morning, but sleep is for those who can do nothing but dream of what isn’t there. My dream already came to fruition. Nothing left to do but stay awake to watch it evolve. 

I’ll post some photos of before and after soon. Tonight, I relax in the tub and make mental to-do lists. So begins the journey.