The Making of Home-Sweet-Home

Well, now. It's been quite a while since I've been here. I've been kind of obsessed busy with an on-and-off obsession hobby I've had since I got hitched - planning our dream home. It's a wonder I've actually gotten back to blogging about this family. When I get hooked on something, I become totally enslaved engrossed. To the exclusion of all else. (Which is why I am constantly reminding myself to go easy on Woog as he turns a deaf ear on all and sundry whenever Shawn The Sheep... or Totally Spies... or Jake Long, is on. He has to have gotten this trait from someone in his family. Besides, his tv viewing has been limited to weekends since school started. So, getting one's gander up about one's catatonic son is not a very productive thing to do. But that's another story).

A couple of weeks ago, we attended the house blessing of our good friends, a lovely couple with four kids who set up shop in the same neighborhood where we bought our residential lot. And boy, was their home drool-worthy!

I slavered over the life-sized rocky waterfall formation just beyond their lanai. I lingered over my hazy reflection on each step of the oiled Narra staircase. I ran my fingers along the granite-tops of the kitchen counters, went full rotation around the island worktable. I kept returning to the wonder of the white wooden blinds, and Atch had to forcibly pull me away from the spacious walk-in closet just as the opening prayer began.

Don't even get me started on their lushly landscaped garden and brick window planters.

When we made that first downpayment on our little plot of land two years ago, I made copies of the lot plan and started sketching the lay-out of our future home-sweet-home. With no architectural experience whatsoever, not even access to a downloaded Auto-CAD program, I spent precious hours on what Atch deemed a waste of time ("That's totally premature, Aif. We have to pay off the lot before we start on the house."). After decimating reams of paper and turning a deaf ear to the husband's exhortations, I finally put my dream on the backburner. But not totally forgotten, no.

That house warming party brought it all back.

On the last two days of his vacation, I had Atch drive me all over the city (I knew he was good for something), looking at furniture and house design. I wanted to go into the private subdivisions to take pictures but Atch put his foot down. No sense getting arrested for invasion of other people's privacy.

My enthusiasm was catching. Finally the major financier of the family estimated we had just about made it more than halfway through with the lot payments, it was time to think of renewing the bank loan for the...*gasp*...house of my our dreams. Atch can really be useful once he sets my his mind to it.

We turned over the much-abused, dog-eared lot plan to the contractor brother-in-law for a rendering of an honest-to-goodness house plan. I also handed in a couple of others I copied from the internet (much rolling of eyes on Atch's part), for additional perspective.


I intentionally refrained from mentioning the fully appendiced table of finishing and furnishings (from roof material to paint and fabric color, from flooring to furniture) that I'd painstakingly prepared, complete with sample photos. One thing at a time. Now that I’ve we've gotten the ball rolling, I've got all the time in the world to inch my way through as foreman (Or forewoman. Whatever does you).

Nice, no?

Not that I'm under-appreciating my pragmatic and pennywise bitter better half. He ultimately sees things my way, and for that I adore the socks off of him. Not that I'm discounting the major role that Papa God plays in our life. We lay our plans before Him, and we let Him decide. And I'm so very glad He has decided in our favor.

So I'm easing back to spend time with this here blog, preparing to stoke my energies to take on this this much-awaited future task with all the gusto I can muster.

Good luck to us. And God bless our future home.

Dream home, here we come!