As an Aside...

Why is it that when someone says, "She just had a baby, about three months ago" its perfectly acceptable. But when I say, "I just paid that bill, about three months ago" everyone acts like I'm crazy???

I'm just kidding. Mostly.

I've been thinking about the state of the economy a lot lately. My husband and I bought the big yellow house just as the market was beginning to turn, so we got a pretty fair deal. We were also lucky enough to have had equity in the property the day we bought it. Based on the size of the house and lot, we were able to qualify for an equity line right away - even after getting a high LTV first mortgage (we did NOT put 20%, or anything NEAR 20% down). So, even though things SUCK right now, and things especially SUCK for people stuck sinking staggering amounts of money into fixer-uppers, I guess it could be worse.

At work, we've been doing a LOT of bankruptcies. These aren't people who just went nuts with their credit cards (well, some of them are). For the most part, these are hardworking, home owning people who lost a job, or got sick, or had an ARM that they couldn't refinance. These are proud people who don't even want to tell me why they're calling. I want to tell them not to be embarrassed, that it's not their fault. But I don't, because I don't want to seem presumptuous or nosey.

In the face of all this, it's hard for me to blog about home decor. Often, it's even hard for me to read others' blogs on home decor. It feels excessive and frivolous when so many other people have "real" problems to worry about. Hence the complete and utter lack of posts lately.

After wrestling with this over the last few days, I've come to one huge, liberating, conclusion: There are always gonna be people who have "real" problems (and sometimes, I will even be one of them). There will always be economic hardship, violence, disease. And the best thing we can do for ourselves is cling to what makes us happy - family, friends, home, hobbies (including, dare I say it, decorating). If making your home beautiful makes you happy, why NOT do it? Right?