I'm doing 43 things
You know the old saying, “Fish, like company, begins to go bad after three days?” I’m actively working to make my home so welcoming that people who enter my door are too comfortable to ever make me unhappy… and to make sure all people here feel welcome and cozy.
Following the saga of completing this goal, this Spring, we moved to a more urban place in a bigger city…
Whether or not I can take credit for this good fortune or I can “blame” our smiles on my mad furniture arranging skills, I have had non-stop company for more than six weeks now without complaints from me or anybody. That, my friends (coming from the typically reclusive and anti-social wonderbunny who except by small dose is never wild about long staying company) is simply amazing.
Proof one we are on the right track: Everyone has been relaxed and enjoyed the house immensely—so much so that nobody wants to leave.
Proof two everything here is working: I can even say with both surprise and delight that not only has everyone enjoyed their stay, nobody has managed to be rotten or stinky… and all have reported the home both warm and inviting.
Proof three is really rooted in the reports of family.
Being an empirical girl, I have not checked the goal off too quickly. I’ve waited for feedback, and here’s the review of our homefront from the troops: May went by too fast. June went by deliciously slow. Celebrating our independent right to free thinking and to choose the sort of lifestyle we live (by our habits, manners, and moods), the Fourth of July weekend went off without a hitch. Now we are into planning the rest of the summer, and everyone just seems to want to keep spending time together.
As such, I think I can relax into checking off this ambitous yet attainable goal pretty easily. However, I can’t take credit for it all, only the address picking. This sort of “havenly” success leads me to think that this new residence might just be blessed—because we are all having so much fun and are certainly feeling lucky! I think everything gelling is a mix of the right address, the best location, the right colors, an absurd amount of happy windows and colorful scenery, and bringing all the right family history and trail of antiques with me.
Here is my housewarming theory: Maybe it’s the walls, maybe its the family, but a house that is arranged in theory, practice, and in its physical essence to create a feeling of home in its space is always good and definately makes the place sacred. God blesses those who work diligently to create happy.
My house right now is welcomed proof against the fish and company theory, and I’m starting to think this has been the most homey home I have created. Everything here just feels right, for the most part, and we all seem to love the place. So, the time has come to breathe a big sigh of relief and to name this virtuously intentioned deed done. To quote Barbara Hall from Northern Exposure on Northern Hospitality, “That’s the secret of entertaining. You make your guests feel welcome and at home. If you do that honestly, the rest takes care of itself.” Beyond all house guests and most importantly, my family can’t wait to relax and be home.
Thanks, 43, for cheering me along through the process of making sure the loves of my life all feel honored, relaxed, and totally welcome.
