Settled

After almost 4 years of living in liminal space, we will be moving into our duplex at Franke Tobey Jones before the end of January. We were able to pick out the colors for the paint, and carpet, and choose the lighting fixtures and a ceiling fan (instead of a chandelier in the dining area). We dropped by on Monday, and saw the paint on the walls and the new, granite counter tops, and talked to the fellow who is doing the refurb. He assured us that it would be ready well before the end of the month. We’ll talk to the movers tomorrow and find out how much that will set us back.

Lots of the other bloggers that I read have been deciding upon and announcing “One Word” that will be their watch-word for the coming year. I picked “Settled” because I think we’re finally going to be just that – settled.

And then, “settled” also means so much more than just having a place to call home. It means feeling happy and content where we are, doing what we’re doing. It means making friends without wondering when we’re going to get orders and leave. It means committing to jobs at the church without putting in the caveat “…if we’re still here.” It means finding places to put furniture in the rooms and pictures on the walls without wondering where they’ll be next year.

After a life lived at the whim of Shell Chemical Co., or the United States Air Force, it will be lovely to put down a few roots. That doesn’t mean we won’t travel to see friends and relatives in other places, or welcome old acquaintances who come to visit us, but it does mean we will always know where “Home” is. Growing up, we moved so much that my only “Home” was where my grandparents lived, because it was the only place that stayed put.

“Settled” also means that I need to lose the weight, make exercise a habit, eat right, and be happy with my body, however it turns out to look after I’ve done the hard work to get healthy.

So “settled” it is! That will be a new way to look at life!