I'm sure I'm just a little bit neurotic. I worry about many things, sometimes waking up at odd hours to 'double-check' on whatever it was that jolted me from otherwise pleasant dreams of Federer falling to his knees in victory after winning Wimbledon again.

Such was the case on Saturday morning. I launched out of bed at 6:30am, threw a hoodie on over my pajamas and drove to the new house, still more or less asleep. Why the fuss? I woke up wondering if I'd locked the garage the day before. It was locked. Of course. After thoroughly berating myself for being ridiculous and wasting many precious minutes of sleep, I figured I may as well take the opportunity to survey the amazing work our crew had done over the course of the previous week. Dormer #1? Built! Roof? Off! I stood there on the top floor, walls open all around me to the outside, and soaked in the quiet warmth of a beautiful morning.

​With all of the obvious fuss going on inside the house, I hadn't been paying much attention to the natural world outside of it. But from my second floor vantage point, I was reminded...by the lilacs. I hadn't even noticed them before, but there they were, in full bloom, on all sides of the house. Their scent was sweet and heavenly. All of a sudden, I felt so lucky, knowing I could look forward to this remarkable bounty each spring.

Thanks, lilacs, for washing away some reno stress. Now let's hit up that great bakery around the corner and enjoy the morning, shall we?