After months of an exhausting vacation from my usual parsimony, and unrelenting lists of problems and work to be done, we are finally ready to move into the new House!  All that stands between us and our hard-earned success, is several square feet of grout in the shower… which should be in place and cured by the weekend.

I just wanted to take a moment and reflect on the amount I have learned, and the satisfaction that comes with reaching this point.  Never again can I look at an electrical socket, a door frame, or even a hardwood floor, and just appreciate it in its final form.  For better or worse, I now know first hand how these pieces come to be.  I am also drawn to the mistakes and imperfections in the construction around me, having become so aware of the errors and approximations that go into construction work.  Indeed, every bathroom I have used since working on my own has drawn my attention to the tile misalignment, the shortcuts around plumbing, etc.  Far from annoying, I have always found this sort of perspective shift both exciting and intriguing.

I have also come to appreciate how lucky I am to have been able to design every aspect of my house from scratch.  From the moment we move in, the full potential of the house can be realized.  The knowledge that everything in the house was guided by my own hands at one point or another make me feel very much at home there, even though I have never lived there before.  Although small, the layout is precisely what we wanted, and now that it is filling with furniture, I can see our vision alive at last!

Yes, yes, all smiles.  But of course in exchange for this experience, the bank has required our small commitment to enter (and henceforth to remain) in seemingly insurmountable debt.  Such is the equilibrium of the world.