Here is to 2015

Heather says

2014 has been very quiet at Home-Ec101.com; it’s been a year of healing and new beginnings.

The year has been about learning what is good enough and what can and can’t be tolerated.

Back in April, one of my best friends, who is also my assistant at FeedBlitz, found a lump and began the longest eight months of her life. It’s not my story to tell, but she had her last chemo treatment the week before Christmas and we are anxiously awaiting her return.

Some of you know that I made the decision to buy what I’ve been calling the fixer-upper late in the summer. That wasn’t a simple decision, it’s the house I grew up in. It’s the house where I tried to raise my youngest sister when our family fell apart.

Financially I knew it made sense, but I didn’t know if I could handle the emotional cost.

The house has come a long way. Yes, the bathroom floor is still sagging, but there is a new roof (and no more squirrels!).

Paint and new appliances are helping. I am looking forward to the day I can rip up the carpeting, but there are a few more pressing repairs to handle first.

I’ve gotten so good at “cutting in” when painting that I don’t even have to tape the borders.

I’ve learned how to install new outlets and  light switches and what happens when you do that incorrectly. (In my case you live with extension cords from rooms with power to those that are lacking. At least until your ex-husband, an electrician can troubleshoot for hours, to finally pinpoint the problem -the brand new light switch, oy.)

I’ve learned that, in my home, the most important room, is still the dining room, that having the table where we can eat together matters far more than all of other improvements we’ve made.

I’ve learned that making an effort to stay on top of the kid mess matters so much more when the surroundings aren’t nice. It’s so much easier to fall into a why bother attitude when the walls need a new coat of paint and the blinds are torn. Dishes seem to pile faster, too.

But, I’ve also learned that a colorful bathmat can help me ignore the sagging floor until it can be repaired and that Ikea really can be a magical place of wallet-draining wonder.

2013 was awful, some of it was my own fault and some of it was caused by situations far beyond my control. I thought I would hit the ground running in 2014 and that I’d get Home-Ec101.com back to where it was in 2012. It turns out that new beginnings are a lot of work and much of that work happens where no one can see.

I’ve committed to keep showing up and I’m looking forward to 2015, yellow counters and all.

Some of it will be getting back to basics like a return to menu planning, but I also plan on addressing more reader questions and being more active in the online community that allows Home Ec 101 to exist in the first place. Thank you for being a part of the journey. I wish you well in the new year.

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