Sunday Night

Our house guests from Boston left Tuesday after a 6 day stay. This couple have hosted Terry twice at their home when he was in Boston on official karate business. They were perfect guests in all ways. Even though I had never met them before, they were kind, gracious and easy to live with. But I secretly wished they’d go home every day. We had only been in this house one week before their arrival, moving only certain furniture/household items that would make this house livable and visitor friendly.

As lovely as they were, I’m delighted they’re gone. I sound so petty and self involved but I treasure my time spent at home, especially now that I’m living in my dream home.

Workers still come around, the extensive fencing project will take a few weeks, plumbers will be here tomorrow to complete their work, having waited for parts to arrive. Same for the Heating/AC people and who-knows-who-else. As we go through our rainy season, the ants still make frequent visits. I learned online to clean areas where they appear with hot soapy water to remove the odorous trail they leave and it works, until the rain drives them back inside. But so far, major annihilation of armys of ants inside and out has been avoided. Good thing California has a very short rainy season.

We still have a lot of packing/finishing work to be done to the old house but had to put it all on hold due to the guests and the two weddings that Terry was best man in each.

Remembered a furniture store that specialized in contemporary furniture in the area and left a bunch of money there on Friday for a dining room set, a breakfast room set, 2 twin beds and a small love seat. Just a beginning of furniture buying as most needs replacing some time in the future. Although their prices were gloriously low compared to some high end items I had bought in the past and antiques, it still amounted to a lot. I realized during this move that Terry does not have the concept of “making do” with what you have until you can replace things. So we shop together with him saying, I’ll take that and that and that and me, putting the brakes on his spending while I look for the best deal. Just another way that we balance each other.

My mother, who passed on a few years ago and remains one of my least favorite people, always loved antiques, anything with a designer’s name and most expensive things. I now know that she always felt a need to prove that she was no longer the child of Italian immigrants, disdainfully looked down upon by others and acquired material things were her ticket to acceptance.

When I was young and newly married, I remember being attracted to contemporary furniture, much to my mother’s disgust and disapproval. I’m know she felt she had failed somehow in my upbringing and often prayed I would someday see the light and only buy antiques and/or designer items.

Later on in my life, I did like and buy some antiques but never achieved that blissful feeling that she did for any of these pieces. Mostly, I like the history of the item, wondering who had owned it and what their life was like.

I assumed that my attraction to contemporary furnishings was my way of rebelling against my mother. Those college psychology courses were not wasted on me.

Now I’m older and supposedly, wiser, living in my dream (mid century contemporary) house, slowly and happily replacing my vintage and antique furniture with modern streamlined tables and chairs. And I’m starting to feel that same delight she did even though our tastes are vastly different.

I’m always surprised at just when I think I have everything all figured out in life, I realize I have nothing figured out at all.
I have also learned that when I’m stressed and very tired, I become increasingly cranky. For the last few years, I surprised myself with how mellow I had become, thinking cranky was a thing of the past. It’s not.
But it’s rare now.