The Simple Life at Home

Well, in a gesture of love and kindness, my parents and I (plus kids) went down to my brother's future home today.

My brother and his wife bought a 19 acre property out in the middle of nowhere. Their goal is to become mortgage-free and self-sufficient. On the property was a "house," which they decided to finish off to hasten their move to the property. To set the stage, you have to picture a house that had been stripped of walls, floors and ceiling - basically all the things that make it a house.

Well my brother is amazingly talented and handy and he and his wife and kids have done all the work on their own, from demo-ing out all the old stuff to raising the ceiling and hanging drywall. I honestly don't know how he knows how to do all this stuff, but he's doing a great job. However he's been having pain in his shoulders lately so we volunteered to go down today and sand down all the drywall so he can continue. It seems he'd been stuck on that.

Now picture in your head a tiny house, 5 adults (including two who are, shall we say, OLD!!), 8 children ages 13 to 1, and a hyperactive dog. And dust. Lots and lots of dust. I now know what I will look like should I ever stop coloring my hair and go gray and I have concluded that that day will NEVER come.

I'm not sure that we did a good job (though I'm sure my brother will let us know if we didn't), but we had a fun day all working and laughing together. But now? Oh, do I understand the sore shoulders. Everything from below my ears to above my waist hurts.

Troy, should you ever wonder if your family loves you, just remember today!