Home

This afternoon, as I left Chicago, I thought about how happy I was to be coming home. To my own house, my own car, my own garage, and of course, my puppies. My grandma always used to say "East, west, home is best". No question of that.

So as the plane was packed to the gills (every seat filled) and I could hardly move, I decided it was not worth the effort to try and drag anything out of my computer bag for entertainment. That meant, I HAD TIME TO THINK. Very dangerous...all of you out there who know me well know that when I have time to think, it is generally not a good thing.

Today, I thought about what it meant to be going "home". This house, my home, has been my home for nearly 6 years. It is where Chelsie has spent the majority of her life. I have ripped it apart, put it back together, colored it, beautified it and loved it. Its what I know, its where I feel safe, its where I walk into the house and am greeted by a wagging tail running through the kitchen. Its the biggest investment I have ever made, requires regular love and care and the highest value asset on the balance sheet of my personal net worth. I have shed blood, sweat and tears over it (so have my parents and my brother - a lot of them).

But it is home...it is mine. Its where I retreat to when life hands me lemons, its where I go to make lemonade from those lemons. Its where I celebrate the good things, cook a meal, plant some flowers. Buying a home was the scariest thing I have ever done, yet one of the things I am most proud of. I take great pride in caring for it, making it comfortable for me, my guests and my canines, and walk in it and know it reflects me, the things and people I love and the things and people that are most important to me.

Among the most prized possessions in it are my grandmother's china, the scrapbooks I made for my grandmother and of course, my animals. The china I see in my living room every day was in the house I grew up in and on the table for special occassions. I have yet to eat a meal on that china in my house, but maybe one day that will change.

While I love my house, there are some things I do wish were different about it...and as of late, I have been looking at houses online to see what is out there. Lots of interesting things, but nothing so far that has grabbed my attention. I almost feel like I am cheating on my little beloved home looking for another one. Crazy, I know, but that is the way I feel. When it gets right down to it, I really have all I need here - and am greatful that on cold, blustery nights like tonight, I have a garage to drive into...and puppies waiting for me inside.

So for now...I am happily off to sleep in my cozy castle, in my own bed with a dreaming little labbie running agility in her dreams next to me. I need nothing else.