All the Cool Kids Got the Katie Daisy Art

So, I wrote this post yesterday:

I have long watched television shows about home renovations.  I remember one show in particular where a homeowner took on a little more than she bargained for. The renovation was long and arduous for her - with so much of her blood, sweat, and tears having gone into years of this renewal.  At the end of it all, she really did have this beautiful, unique home that she took comfort in.

I remember very clearly - to sum up her experience, the tv show host asked, "Was it worth it?"
I'll never forget the homeowner said, "Yes.....but just."

364 days out of the year, you could ask me about our home, and I would absolutely call it a labor of love, - worth every creak in the floor, and every ancient cockroach carcass hiding behind the appliances...but today is that off day.

I feel if I get one more splinter from our *gorgeous* 100 year old original hardwood floors....or try to plug one more three pronged electrical cord into a two pronged electrical socket, I just might cry out of the left side of my face.  /omg

*le sigh*

...and that was all, but then I hesitated to publish it. (I guess I didn't want my friends and family that read the blog to be concerned.  I knew I must lay my burdens down at the throne...)

But then, today, I met a most wonderful man who came to work on the framing in our attic.

As he was walking out the door, he turned and said, "Hey, let me show you something."  He pulled out a picture of an old home he had renovated in South Dakota (a vacation home to him and his family now).  He explained it was 108 years old, and he talked about hunting in the neighbor's rubble for siding and other home renovation parts.  He said most days he felt like a rat scavenging for parts, and we both understood that it was much fun.

"We share a love of fixing up old houses."  I said, "Yes, 364 days out of the year I will tell you it's a labor of love, but there is just about one day out of the year that I think I will cry if I try to plug in one more three pronged outlet..."

And then he joined me, and we said, in unison,

"INTO A TWO PRONGED SOCKET!"
"INTO A TWO PRONGED SOCKET!"

And we laughed at how we both understood.

There's something about knowing you're not TOO crazy, not SO stupid (just the healthy amount of crazy and stupid).  There was something about how he saw fit to store that photograph in his wallet next to the photos of his family that I found encouraging...

I knew we would be just fine.

And so today, I am resting into the larger part of the pie chart - the 364 days I feel grateful.  It certainly helps that I received this in the mail today:

If you're not already familiar with this artist, this is Katie Daisy.

It was hard to pick one I liked the most.  There are those that say, "You Shall See Wonders", and "Be Filled with Joy" - which I wrestled over because I feel those sayings speak to me more - but in the end, this won out because it matches the bathroom. 

Happy Valentine's Day to meeeeee!  (And to youuuuuu!)