There's No Place Like Home

Having spent a chunk of last week away at a conference, I totally enjoyed a quiet Sunday at the house. To quote Dorothy, there is really no place like home, even if that means catching up on laundry and making an epic dinner as you are so tired of eating out.

Let's talk about home for a minute. I spent nearly two days in classes & networking learning about best practises, ways to improve the home for the homeowner, and mortgages. What we didn't touch on was what we are really providing. That came to me via a text message from our latest homeowner. I asked her how things were going and she said that she was nearly unpacked in the house and was getting ready to tackle the garage next.

See, we rehabbed a house from 1927 for her that had recently gone through a fire. Normally homeowners don't get a garage with a Habitat House or a fenced in yard.  I was pretty sure some time in January when we were running off generators and portable heaters that this house was going to kill me. Later, it was the cedar shakes in the heat of the summer. I can honestly say this house was NOT quick by a long shot, however we finally wrapped it up.

During the long wait as we rehabbed everything, we had a couple of days working on the overgrown backyard that was full of pretty rose bushes. I was heartbroken we had to cut out so much. Interestingly enough, the other day I was in her backyard and the roses are growing back. Kinda like her house.

Anyhow, back to her text message. I asked our new homeowner if her Mom and Dad liked her house. She said they really did and that her Dad was going to built a special removable ramp to get her Mom into the house. She also was put in charge of hosting Thanksgiving Dinner. This is the kind of thing that I totally needed to hear. Made all that work worthwhile. We created a space for family and that's pretty freaking cool.