We had a walk through with Emil to determine where shower fixtures will be, the exact placement of sinks, grab bars and medicine cabinets. We finalized outdoor lighting and picked the last couple of ceiling lights. And most importantly, we all agreed on a house color with the developer, Amanda. Thank goodness! It will be a light grey, cream trim and a burnt red door. Emil is so organized, so concise; he is a delight to work with, so patient.
It is absolutely amazing the progress that was made this week… on so many levels! The framers, as you can see from last Friday to this Friday were 'fast dancing'. We have an actual house! You can walk through and feel each room, sense the space, enjoy the anticipation. We had a walk through with Emil to determine where shower fixtures will be, the exact placement of sinks, grab bars and medicine cabinets. We finalized outdoor lighting and picked the last couple of ceiling lights. And most importantly, we all agreed on a house color with the developer, Amanda. Thank goodness! It will be a light grey, cream trim and a burnt red door. Emil is so organized, so concise; he is a delight to work with, so patient. Though the idea of moving to such tight quarters is daunting, I think we are both going to settle in easily. The people we have met are so kind and gracious. I sense this is (will be) a strong community made up of neighbors that care for and about, one another. Not too chummy, but friendly. So excited!
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A local bakery, BREAD, makes an amazing chocolate cookie called Chocolate Gulch. I was buying too many so set out to test some recipes to see if I could come close. GHIRARDELLI Ultimate Double Chocolate Cookie is it! I have been making treats for our amazing framers of the new house (5 young men) and this was today's adventure. Your weekly sugar and calorie intake in one cookie!
CHOCOLATE GULCH COOKIE INGREDIENTS 12 ounces Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips 10 ounces Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips 6 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter 3 eggs 1 cup sugar 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 cup chopped walnuts DIRECTIONS In double boiler over hot water, melt bittersweet chocolate chips and butter. In large bowl with electric mixer or whisk, beat eggs and sugar until thick; stir chocolate mixture into sugar. In small bowl, stir together flour and baking powder; stir into chocolate mixture. Gently mix in semi-sweet chocolate chips and walnuts. Using a sheet of plastic wrap, form dough into two logs, each 2 inches in diameter and about 12 inches long. As dough will be quite soft, use plastic wrap to hold dough in log shape. Wrap tightly; refrigerate at least 1 hour or until firm. Heat oven to 375°F. Unwrap dough; with sharp knife, cut into 3/4 inch slices. Place slices 1 1/2 inches apart on greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes. Top will be shiny and inside soft. Note: The 'dough' is very soft. I blop it on the plastic wrap and roll, chill in frig for half hour, roll again, chill a half hour, roll and then leave in frig over night or for several hours. We got to be witness to 'the dance' today that Jerry was talking about with the framers. They had just finished hanging the floor joists when we arrived and they began to lay the plywood subfloor. 5 guys, no one spoke, they seemed to move from one job to another seamlessly. We had a floor before we had left the site! We have always loved watching a house be born. We have never had the pleasure of watching our own be built and not be one of the builders. This is fun! The other thing we did this week in relation to the house was some one-stop-shopping. As this is a development, there is a 'palette' and a 'look' for each house style; with ours being a new style, making 4 total now. Our 'Farmhouse' will be the first of this style. That said, we are 'building the prototype'. It has given us a little leeway in selection. Amanda brought some great samples which made selection fairly easy. She came up with a new lighting selection which I loved and will set this house apart from the others in style. Farmhouse…farm lights. I think the two last decor questions are house color and counter selection. As it is a development, there will be 'one color' for Farmhouse. Amanda and I came at the color choice from completely different thoughts. She wants blue, I want a darker grey. She wants a cool color, I want a warm color. I think we found a middle ground we are both happy with. Light grey house, cream trim, dark red/burgundy door. It would not be my first choice, but alas it will work with the rest of the houses in the development. I bought samples of each of the three colors and I am making some sample boards. It is all moving along VERY fast. We have a walk through NEXT week…we don't even have walls as of this morning, how can that be? We have an electrical walk though the following week. Phew. The speed of light I'd say! The paint store employee told me about a couple who had just finished painting their house in our selected color combination. I decided after working the morning at Manna that I would do a drive by. Turns out it is in the development abutting ours! I took a photo and approve; light grey. Since I was right near Estancia, I decided to go over and oohh and aahh at our subfloor. Look what I found? I had no clue they worked on Saturday! Week 4 complete.
What are Morning Pages? They are a gift. For 11 years I never missed a day… honestly, NEVER! I remember being at a retreat is Austin, TX with friends, the four of us sharing a suite. In order not to miss a day I sat in the early morning hours, while the others slept, in the bath tub, pillow propped behind me, settled in for my half hour write. The basis of morning pages is to HAND write 3 pages, preferably the first thing in the morning; for me that means about first light. There is no wrong way to do morning pages. Well… actually… hand written is preferred.The physical act of writing sweeps away anxiety. It takes longer to write by hand, and this slowness seems to help connect you to your emotional life. When you write Morning Pages on a computer (SOOooo much faster) you become emotionally detached from the act. With a computer you can easily and quickly go back and 'fix' mistakes. Speed in this instance becomes your enemy rather than your friend. The reason I say they are a gift is because of all the surprises they yield. It is really quite staggering! With no 'planned' purpose, agenda, or forethought, ideas come up, I work through issues that are bothering me or that have seemed overwhelming, I find clarity and focus, I rid my brain of 'clutter' and subconscious junk floating around in it and problems are solved that I didn't even know I had! In short, I listen to my heart in this hand written brain dump. Now don't you want that for yourself?
I can't explain it, but the results are amazing. In the years since my initial 11 year stint, I have many times decided a problem needing solving and I hadn't found a solution. I go to the grocery store, buy a college rule notebook and start Morning Pages. I make a pact with myself to write through an entire notebook before I decide if I want to do more. Generally I find peace along the the way. I bought a notebook the other day and I am on the journey of surprise and truth and peace. note: You can google Morning Pages to get the blow by blow (even a YouTube video), but here is the basic recipe. Hand write 3 pages every morning, stream of conscious. Do NOT let your pen stop, keep writing…. keep writing…. keep writing, even if you have a moment of block. Do not check on spelling or make grammatical correction, just write. Stuck? You could write 'keep writing' or 'my windows need washing' or 'I have a lot on my plate today and I think I will start with…' You write until you get to the bottom of the third page. Somehow your unconscious blurts out things you didn't even know you were pondering. Honestly…rather magical and heartening. Happy writing! Russ was able to get out to the house site every day this week. We ended last week with the forms being removed from the foundation and the earth movers coming in; it all looked a bit raw around the edges. We ended this week looking neat & trim and ready for the framing crew to arrive on Monday. The builder, Jerry, says the framing crew is a dance in motion and a sight to be seen…can't wait! I work in a church. I am fairly certain that any outsider would hope that church staff were filled with integrity, humility, honesty, love and care. And while that is true at our church, the staff are actually human and being a human can be messy. Well, thankfully we have been 'assigned' accountability partners and in meeting regularly now for a couple of years, we DO embody the above quote… challenging one another to look at a situation with more than our own interpretation, sharing deep guttural belly laughs with a heartiness and exuberance of friends who know one another, encouraging one another to be the best we can be and generally, on a day to day basis, being a part of the happy place of work. Now... is that not a gift? Our group of four holds a place of comfort & love in my life.
Accountability is simply being responsible for one's actions. An accountability partner supports you in your journey and helps you acknowledge the essential element of trust, allowing you to trust them enough to trust yourself. Your partner helps bring out a better you in you! It is all about letting your vulnerabilities show and sharing inner thoughts without concern of betrayal. We are all held accountable in one way or another. I have 3 very different and very honored accountability partners/group. I have my work group of 4. They know my work life, they know my approach, they know my less that subtle way of delivering my opinions, they know when my faith in life is shaken and come to walk beside me. They share their heart, their faith, their wise council. I have my Wednesday morning walking partner. We have walked together for years. We read thoughtful, life giving books and have wonderful discussions. Sometimes we are just there to care, listen and support. And I have Russ. How can you go wrong when your husband is your best friend. How can you go wrong when you have someone who cheers for your accomplishments, carries you when you're sad and greets you each morning and evening as if you are 'the best'! I have to say, living up to his love and grace pushes me to hold myself accountable. Given my last posting, my accountability partners held me close, gave me support, soothed my anger and showed me I could broaden my thinking; I mattered. They have all been peace to my soul and I am grateful. I was put in a difficult position this week. I won't expound on it, but suffice it to say, there was tough conversation, harsh words, edicts given and it was my decision to either go along with the dictate or not…and no this is not my marriage or the new house! Sometimes we face those moments when it is a lose-lose decision. Neither decision would be a gain for either of us. It's was bleak, a situation none of us wish to find ourselves in, but which we all do at some point. My heart was heavy.
Neither of us could identify compatible interests, which meant judging the other. Neither of us could find a path or agreement that would capitalize on shared path. There was no negotiation; that would mean resolving our differences. Neither of us seemed able to take into account different options. I knew this meant I could not allow the disagreement to damage our relationship once I had made my decision. I needed to separate the people from the problem. If you have been in a lose-lose situation, you know this is difficult! Throughout this disagreement, it was important to remind myself that I will have to communicate with the same people in the future. For this reason, it was worth considering whether ‘winning’ the particular issue was more important than maintaining good relationships. Most people have an underlying need to feel good about themselves and will strongly resist any attempt at negotiation when being directly challenged or when it might damage their self-esteem. Were I to press the point further without a clear offer of support, I would be the fool. It was a tough decision because pride got in the way, but I chose correctly. The weather was great this week for the foundation. Today, the final day of foundation work is pouring rain. I am not venturing over to the house so not certain it is 100% complete. As of yesterday they were almost done with backfill and were compacting the garage ready for it's cement pour. We did venture over on Saturday and decided that perhaps we'd name the house 'The Lake House' as the garage to be was full of water from the monsoon rains.
I love knowing people's stories. We can live within our own bubble thinking life is as we see it, as we experience it or we can use those stories to respect and maybe even understand another’s point of view or life circumstance which may reveal a larger truth about ourselves and others. We can use those stories and be genuinely grateful that the world is not made up of lots of 'us'! One story is of our new friends Rod and Pattie from Alaska. Their adult life style and life choices until now are completely unknown to our experiential background. Ah, but Russ and I love this couple. They have enriched our lives with experiences that seem so common to them and completely alien to us. Don't you just love learning about others experiences and how they have lived life? Even here in the USA, life dances to different drummers. It broadens us all to walk a new path, either actually or figuratively. Rod and Patty? Their careers were in Alaska. Patty a teacher and Rod a wildlife biologist. Hunting, fishing, trapping, flying as a way of transportation… sounds rather exotic for someone from the lower 40. So much of how they have enjoyed life is an unknown in our world. Yesterday we got to enjoy the fruits of 'the unknown' with an amazing dinner. Rod, Pattie, Jessa and Andrew just returned from a fishing vacation to Coffman Cove, Alaska. They set 3 traps for Alaskan King Crab and daily got 3-5. You can only keep males of a certain size so measuring is the first order. They shucked and cooked all the meat, Jessa being the queen shucker, and shipped it home... We got to eat some of this crab. We had and amazing crab quiche followed by Colorado Peach Cobbler. Do you think it could have been any more succulent?
CRAB QUICHE 1/2 cup mayonnaise 2 Tbl. Flour 2 eggs 1/2 cup milk 1 can (6-7oz) drained or flaked crab or 2Xs that amount of FRESH Alaskan King Crab…immmmm 8 oz swiss cheese 1/3 cup onion Bake a 9" pie shell at 350 for 5 minutes. Blend everything together, pour in the shell and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. So incredibly simple and so very yummy! House showing canceled today...
I get it: one of the couple sees the house and likes it, schedules a second showing to show her spouse when he returns from his trip, they do a drive by the evening before, he doesn't like it, cancel... The part I am the most disappointed about? I changed my schedule for tech work at church and dinner plans with friends on Sunday. I once again worked hard to make it look like we don't live here and to make the emptiness of the auction look less severe. Oh well, we start the week off looking like no one lives in our house and me a bit less than cheerful. |
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