This post has been a long time coming!

I can't believe it's been over a year since my last post. Actually, I can believe it. Mr. Nest was working nights and weekends last year, which basically rendered me a single parent. My priorities had to shift, and the neglected nest became... well.... neglected. Again. A few projects were completed over the fall and winter, but not nearly as many as there should have been. But I didn't care because my life fell apart in January, and it took all my energy and focus to keep myself together and take care of my daughter.

Next month, Mr. Nest and I will officially be divorced. I'm still sorta shell-shocked about it all, but I'm slowly getting used to the idea. We are still friends, and we're great co-parents, but we have certainly learned a lot of lessons in the demise of our marriage. The primary lesson is still a bitter pill to swallow:  a neglected nest means nothing over a neglected marriage! If only we'd spent as much time and effort on our relationship, on communicating, on appreciating what we had, things may have turned out very differently.

Instead of dwelling on the shoulda/ coulda/ woulda's, I'm choosing to bank the lessons learned, pull on my work boots, grab my mini partner-in-rehabing and get to work! Lots of projects to post on and a lot more in the pipeline. I'll be documenting life as a single homeowning mom, and all the trials and tribulations that come with it! I hope you'll stick with me- it's gonna be one heck of a ride. ;)

Here's a quick catch-up on the last year....

Last year's herb garden yielded quite a crop!

Snow, snow, and more snow over the winter

8am is never too early for snow play

I made the score of a lifetime at Habitat for Humanity's Restore

States of flux

 

Birdie got a "big girl bed"

Can you spot the toddler?

Spring finally arrived and we got to play outdoors!

I finally tackled the toilet in the bathroom

Wax rings and soil pipes are nasty business!

I built more planters and planted our garden with help from Birdie

4 weeks from planting- amazing growth!

And most recently, I started to get serious about the exterior of my nest. 

It has been the most neglected by far!

Mr. Nest began insulating and painting this window 3 years ago. 

Stucco in need of patching

There are so many more projects I'll be posting on as I've started to make the house "mine" rather than "ours." This was just a taste, but as you can see, I've been busy. In some ways I can say that putting effort and energy back into restoring the nest has helped me cope during the divorce. There were certainly times that swinging a hammer felt like sweet, therapeutic release! And painting furniture has, many times, helped me to focus on the here and now-- one brush stroke at a time. 

One of the biggest realizations in recent months has been that of commiseration with my neglected nest. I, too, have been neglected for far too long. It's time we both put some effort into ourselves.