Okay, that’s not true. We took four… maybe five? Essentially, the things that were awesome in Rome are pretty much a google images click away, so we didn’t bother. I think we got a shot or two of our ridiculously funny apartment with the rock hard bed and shower so tiny you couldn’t lift or lower your arms without turning off the water. That’s worth sharing, so I will check with the Mister to see if he has ‘em. The things that were awesome in Tuscany were impossible to capture – smells, tastes, long evenings on the patio with the Australians who made us laugh so hard.
I think another reason we didn’t take any pictures is that we got to share all of that magical stuff on the spot – Can you believe this view? Here, taste this. There was never any sense that we needed pictures – proof to take back with us. We were each other’s proof. Sappy, probably. But true. And typing that makes me think about a line Susan Sarandon says in “Shall We Dance,” a delightfully cheesy ballroom dance romcom:
“We need a witness to our lives. There’s a billion people on the planet… I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you’re promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things… all of it, all of the time, every day. You’re saying ‘Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness’.”
Anyway, Italy was wonderful and I will have stories and what few photos we managed to take later. Wedding photos are still rolling in, and while I figure out what to share and what to keep, I figured I’d share what might very well be my favorite picture so far. Because it’s us. The real, when no one’s watching, silly us.
We had been home from the honeymoon for exactly as much time as it took to sleep in our very own beds and stumble around our very own house in search of breakfast when I decided to go outside to water my withering petunias. I can be trusted to arrange care for my cat, but not to remember that I have plant life which also requires tending to. Oh, well. Nobody died. They just got crusty.
Quickly flash back to when we were scraping paint off the guest room walls a month ago and spotted one of the neighborhood’s feral felines with a kitten. It was just a puffball of a thing; could have fit in a tea cup. Naturally, I tried to snorgle it and was rebuffed in a low, snarly growl from its mother. The mother who, when I tried to feed its tiny offspring a bit of tuna before we left on the honeymoon, swatted its kitten away and ate every bit of food herself. Some maternal instinct! Anyway, I never got within ten feet of either mother or kitten – both were far, far too scared to partake of the fruits of my maternal instincts. C’mere you.
Now, fast forward to some plant watering when I see the kitten, still no bigger than a muffin, sacked out on the neighbor’s driveway, no mama in sight. I took a shot and called to her. And she came, trotting through the grass. More hungry than afraid, she stuck her little nose into my open hand. It took me a minute to realize she was mewing – her tiny mouth was open but no sound was coming out.
I scooped her up and pushed the front door open. Husband! We need food and water, STAT!
The kitten was all bones and fleas. I thought she might break in my hand. I thought my heart might break, too. The neighbor has been feeding strays for ages and yet, can let something like this go on? This kitten was starving right in front of her. Well, not in front of me. No way.
“Honey, would you be upset if I took her to the vet?”
Money being what it is, I knew committing to a vet bill wasn’t something I should just up and do without some discussion.
“Of course not.”
So the vet was called and an immediate appointment made and as we were headed out the door, the Dork Lord asked, “Wait, does this mean we just got another cat?”
“It means we will take care of her until she is better and we decide to find her a home or keep her.”
I wasn’t dead set on anything except not letting that tiny beast die on my watch. The vet pronounced her five to six weeks old, less than one pound in weight, and severely malnourished. She couldn’t even hiss when she got the most invasive of exams – too weak to make noise. He treated her for fleas and intestinal parasites, checked her heart and said that although frail, she would probably be okay. Come back in three weeks for a second treatment, he said, and if you decide to keep her, we can talk about vaccinations.
I didn’t think my husband was up for a second cat, I told him. But we’ll make sure she has a good home.
But then the Boy named her. And then he nicknamed her. And sang her rhymes about cat food and mean old Sir Hal. And watched basketball with her asleep between his feet. And that’s how Midge (short for Midget) came to live at our house. She may be another mouth to feed but it’s like the Dork Lord says, she pays us back in cute.
Hopefully, this bit of gorgeousness (love the color!) from Mercedes Morgan will tide you over until we return in two weeks! Thanks, Mercedes for patience and perfection. Friends and family – especially from afar – for showing up and making the day everything we hoped for. And to Neil for the most perfect wedding ceremony two very imperfect people could ever love.
Love is the particulars, the details, the specifics.
Love finds a place for an over-sized television.
Love is quick to laugh, and even quicker to console.
Love is supportive during exams. Semester after semester after semester of exams.
Love leans into the belt sander with both hands, and works into the night if that’s what it takes.
Love celebrates wit and embraces crazy, and tolerates moody pets.
Love even forgives dents and scratches on the car.
Love can let the second coat wait until tomorrow.
Love mourns and lets mourn.
Love supports changing jobs in the pursuit of satisfaction.
Love splurges on bathroom tile, cause damn it looks good.
Love endures idiotic shipping companies and celebrates the kindness of a seamstress.
And love is not stolen away even when lots of other things are.
The following photographs were taken either with an iPhone (the before/progress pictures) or at 2:00 this morning when we finally put construction materials away (the after shots) and thus 1) the light is really harsh or really, really dark and 2) I am way, way too tired to photo edit for color/light/blah blah. I’ve included some Before and After shots, as well as a slideshow with some progress shots, just fer kicks.
There are no pictures on the walls yet. I can’t bring myself to put nails in the walls. Also, I’VE BEEN BUSY, OKAY?
The Bathroom – Before
The Bathroom – After
What you should know: this was a total gut, with the exception of the bathtub, which I kept and refinished because of its quality. We moved the door over 10 inches to accommodate modern sized vanity (which I designed. There are sketches in the slideshow) as the original fixture was 10 inches too shallow. The color looks a little purpley here, but it’s not at all.
The Dining Room – Before
The Dining Room – After
What you should know: the dining room benches were also my brain child (and I love them) and one fine day, they will have cushions on them and my dream will be fulfilled. Scaled drawings of the benches are in the slideshow.
The Living Room – Before
The Living Room – After (sorry the light is so bad!)
What you should know: the greatest accomplishment in the living room is nothing you can see. Eliminating the dog pee smell required refinishing of the floors and window seat.
The Guest Room – During
The Guest Room – After
What you should know: We had not intended on renovating this room. However. I walked in one evening during renovations to find paint peeling off the wood paneling in this room. We had to strip, scrape and refinish which took hundreds of man hours. The design goal for this room was for it to be a sort of Caribbean guest house/B&B. It’s bright, cheery and a little cluttered. Goal achieved. I, uh, haven’t finished painting it (or refinishing that dresser, like I intended), but you get the idea.
The Hallway/Ceiling - Before
The Hallway/Ceiling - After
What you should know: *We removed an old, broken attic fan, repaired the ceiling, replaced the frame on the attic entrance, all the doors, baseboards, door frames blah blah and no one killed anyone else. MIRACLE.
* By “we” I mean, without the help of my almost-in-laws, family and the occasional friend (kisses, Amanda), NONE of this would have been possible.
AFTER the honeymoon I will get you some Master Bedroom & Office shots. They’re fun, too.
We’re getting married in five days – what a crazy, crazy feeling that is. Mostly because I’ve felt like we were married for a really long time, so I didn’t expect the legal bit of it to feel so… big.
I’ve made two trips out to the seamstress since Thursday and although the dress didn’t look a whole lot different from Thursday to Sunday, it did get things like boning in the bodice and a hemline. Inch by inch, we’re getting there!
Same with the house. I keep thinking I’ll be able to wrap things up, put away the tools (at least until after the honeymoon), mop the dang floor and take a few pictures. But the construction just keeps on keeping on. Tonight, no matter what, I will get the hallway sanded, painted and say enough. House guests arrive tomorrow.
