Finding Direction: The Wind Vane Chronicles

 We haven’t the money, so we’ve got to
think.

 I’m thinking today.  I might as well be, because I sure don’t have any money to go out and spend.  In fact, I’m sitting here right now looking at a huge check for thousands of dollars that our builder is going to pick up later this morning as part of his 3rd draw on the house.  Yep!  We’re that far along.

I don’t have the camera this weekend because Tom has gone off on his annual migration to Jazz Fest in New Orleans, but we can shoot some pictures Monday to post next week, okay?  I haven’t posted any photos lately because all of the work being done was on the inside of the house and didn’t show up to well.

That included the sheet rocking and putting in all of the baseboards, doors and frames.  But now the entire house is painted, which pops against the brilliant white trim, so I have pretty colors to show you.

They are also finishing up all of the taupe colored siding on the outside around the back and the back porch and are nearly finished bricking the rest of the house.  It’s looking good, I’m very happy to say.  Although I must confess I’ve agonized all along each step of the way.

The past couple of weeks have been the worst, worrying about which kitchen cabinets to go with and to get to the point we could actually order some.  The kitchen is by far the most expensive decision we’ve had to make (other than picking out the entire house plan, I suppose) and because we have a very open floor plan, I’ve wanted it to be an outstanding kitchen.

Good news – yesterday we finally got that far in our process and I was able to order the kitchen cabinets I’ve had my heart set on for nearly 8 months!  Well – it’s going to run us a bit over our contract, but not by a whole lot in the greater scheme of things. 

And Tom knows how badly I’ve wanted this particular kitchen, so he assured me all along that while we’d certainly have to consider cost, when it came down to the crunch, I could get exactly what I wanted for this "dream" home (not to be confused with our "dream" vacation fiasco last September, that we don’t want to mention in the same breath as this house project!) if it meant that much to me, which it has.

I mean, our house plan is a very open one and the kitchen will be one of the outstanding features in it with its 12 foot ceilings and all.  It’s got to be "dramatic," don’t you think?!  And we’re not talking about extraordinary expenses here in the kitchen.  We’re putting in a formica counter top (because that’s all we can afford), not granite, and are not going hog wild.  (And there are wild hogs around here in the woods, too, for your information.)

In the end, the cost for all I want, including crown molding with decorative trim will be about $2,500 above what the contract is, so we’ll just have to pay the difference at some point, which over all isn’t bad.

So, I’m thinking more peaceful thoughts today.  More idyllic, inspirational, late spring thoughts.  Thoughts that maybe our house really will be completed one day soon.  Maybe we really will get to move out of our boxed up existence and have room to expand just a bit and put everything in its place.  Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Maybe we really can make our dream house a lovely home to fill with laughter and joy and goodness and Godliness.  A place where family and friends and even strangers can come and feel at home.  At home out on the top of the hill in the woods above the creek where there are lots of fish just waiting to be caught.  A home out from Picayune, Mississippi that I’ve learned in just the past few days is a good place to call home.

Home.  That’s what I’m thinking about today.  Home.