Here I am in Spokane and my brand new house sits empty. I have boxes in the garage I didn’t bother to unpack, but I did set up my bed so if I decide to come home some weekend I’ll have a place to crash. My lovely next door neighbors, Dave and John, let the couch guys in so at least I have a couch, but really it’s just empty.

If it weren’t for my longing to live in my house, I actually like being in Spokane. My mom’s whole family is here and she’s the oldest of eight so you can just imagine the Catholicism at work here. This weekend I visited many relatives and helped move some of my grandparents stuff into their new place, but the best part of the whole weekend was playing with my cousin Denie’s two kids. Max and Ella are so clever and sweet. I wanted to pack them up and take them home. People have pointed out that the ticking of my clock is interrupting their conversations. Sorry. Never thought it would happen.

Until (if?) I follow the path of marriage and family, I have this house. People keep asking me if I feel any differently owning a house. What I realized is that I feel like I just married Seattle. It’s as if Seattle proposed to me a few years back and I thought long and hard about it, dated a few other cities, had a couple one night stands with some little towns, and flirted with a bunch of other states, until finally I said, “Alright Seattle, I think I do love you, let’s do it. Let’s get married.”

The truth is it’s all about the kitchen. When I was dating this guy a couple years ago, we used to joke that the only way he could get me to marry him was to build a beautiful master suite above his house. That sounds so materialistic of me, but well, I don’t know how to defend myself except that I knew it was a safe bet he wasn’t going to do that. My point is that Seattle wooed me with this beautiful kitchen and I was sunk. So here it is and here I am and all is good. Seattle and I shall have many a dinner party together in our kitchen of love.

Posted 04 Oct, 2005 |
Categories: Personal Growth , Family