Well, we are moved, sort of.   There are still lots of odds and ends at the rental where we’ve been living for the last year, and God knows I have to clean it this week before handing over the keys.  And this house – well, I did some unpacking of glassware tonight just to make myself feel good.  It was really kind of like Christmas – there were lots of boxes that haven’t been opened in the past year.  I have joked that if I didn’t need to see what was in them for a year, then maybe I didn’t really need that stuff after all.

And yet – as I unwrapped each lovingly cushioned item, it all became clear.  All little treasures that define my life with my family.  Van Briggle pottery items from Colorado Springs – some of which I’ve had since I was in my twenties, one piece that my Dad had picked out.   The photo of the family – one of those sepia toned photos that you take at places like Disneyland.  Ours was taken in Canada at  Fort Steele and it is framed in a “wanted poster” – The Wild Bunch – there I am, looking all the world like Ma Barker surrounded by my surly group  – ages 6 – 10.  In another box the old-timey wooden puzzle games that sat next to our fireplace; in another my favorite little white statue of the virgin Mary, her hair flowing and her dress swirling as she joyfully holds up her baby boy to the sky.  The irridescent blue Carnival goblets that belonged to Al’s mom.  A mug that Terri brought me from a famous quilter’s shop in Virginia.  The stunning wooden plaque that Jeff made in high school – I hung that on the wall immediately.  I really truly did get rid of the crap back in Lafayette, I knew that even as I wondered what could possible be in those boxes that have been stored in the garage of the rental.  So now more Christmas awaits me as I open each box and remember what was in them – all treasures that make a house a home.

We really did pick the right house.  We are all at peace tonight in our respective states of exhaustion.  The animals are content – Ed the Dog sleeping next to me on the couch – well, that’s nothing new, but he’s strangely sedate.  Twister the Cat has been meandering around and is now upstairs playing with one of my elastic hair ties – we won’t know for sure that she is at home until we find a hair tie in the toilet – her favorite activity for some crazy cat reason – but it is a sign that she is happy.

I look out into the darkness and once again I am blessed with city lights in the distance, and in the morning I will be surprised to see the ocean.  My new friend here in the area gave me a hard time when I started the “what have I done to deserve this” nonsense.  It’s not that I deserve it, although I would not hesitate to say that Al does.  He has worked so hard his whole life after his Dad died.  I’m just the lucky one in that I get to enjoy it with him.   The past four years have been so crazy – Al living in the trailer in Newport Beach for three years, when he wasn’t travelling all over the country for weeks at a time.  Me, trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.  And then the upheaval, Al’s new job in Irvine, moving not once but twice in a year.

We are finally home.