What matters most

For those of you who haven't been around forever, here's a very brief background about me:

My fam moved to Sac when I was a wee little one, from SoCal, where much of our family still resides. So, we came here, just my pops, my mom, my older bro and I. We have been pretty much in the same area of Sac ever since.

As our family is really small up here, we have always been really close. My mom and pops are the best parents a person could ask for and we have always been extremely close. This means that I was always there for the fun activities they did, like Jeeping, camping, going on trips, etc. This also means that I have become quite close with their group of friends.

A little over four years ago, we were forced to go through everyone's worst nightmare. Out of nowhere, my dad was diagnosed with late-stage Esophageal cancer. So, we went from a family on top of the world, living it up, to one in the midst of the fight of our lives. Sadly, our battle only lasted a few months before we had to say goodbye. I can say, without a second thought, that this was the hardest thing that my family and I have ever been through. It has taken this entire time to get any semblance of normalsy back in our lives.

Now, here are the few added bonuses that come along with a situation like this:

* A year (or maybe two) of regrettable treatment of friends and family by those going through the worst of the sad part.
* Ongoing, spur-of-the-moment crying jags. (Brace yourself, I'm going to share the worst of the worst... On my JOB INTERVIEW for my current position, which I love, I cried, in front of my then-future, now-current, boss. When mentioning what I did for work previously, I teared up at the fact that I used to help my dad with his business. Yep, crying on a job interview. It was THAT bad.)
* A feeling that, as I grow older, the things that most people look forward to their whole lives now seem like things I couldn't suffer to put myself through. Things like getting married, having a kid, buying a house now seem impossible because I don't have the go to person I always did to come to when I have a question about anything from how to change a tire to what to do when the bathtub drain won't drain.

Although I always kind of new this, here is what I have learned in the last few weeks:

There are always people that care. When you're in a tough spot or an unfamiliar situation, someone will be there. When you don't know how to do something, you have people you can call.

Case in point: this house.

We know, from the last posts, that the BF (Shupe) has been amazing through all of this construction business. Patience is a virtue he thankfully has a lot of.

Phil, my bro, has been a huge help, giving up his perfectly nice weekends to help take down contaminated sheds, sand walls and many other completely yucky tasks.

My mom, has come through like a shining star for me. Not only did I hit her up for her spare change to purchase the house, but as the deal got closer, the number grew exponentially. And she smiled (through possibly gritted teeth), sighed, and opened her checkbook. Without her, this blog would be a continuous story about life in Bordova... Certainly not a bestseller.

After this past weekend, I have to share another example of my family coming through to make my dream come true.

This weekend, after the tragic bailing out of our hopeful cabinet man, I felt like this thing may never happen. With a quote from our local big box home improvement store for cabinets to be ready in six weeks at a price I thought was rather high for "we deliver - you install" cabinets, this meant that our approximate move in date of early September was shot to the moon. And I must mention that we started this process in February, so we are going on eight to nine months working on moving to this place.

Enter surprise saviors, stage left.

Our old family friends, who will remain nameless for privacy purposes (I know the CIA must be on to this blog by now). ;) To my surprise, my family's oldest and dearest friends, who just happen to own a top of the line, absolutely amazing, awesome cabinet shop, popped up and made me an offer I couldn't even dream of. Not only will they do my kitchen, but perhaps even in a timeframe that would allow for our actual move-in date to stick relatively close to early September.

Now, these aren't your "we do cabinets when we want because it's fun" kind of people. They are busy, with hectic schedules and big (HUGE compared to my place) jobs for important people. But, out of the generosity of their heart, they made me the offer and agreed to help little old me have the kitchen of my dreams. And this isn't some easy task, as my kitchen is the approximate size of a box of Cheerios. And not the big Costco box, I mean the Safeway box.

So, with already booked schedules and deadlines, they have squeezed me in and are actually looking forward to the project.

This had made me so excited that words cannot express. Not only will the kitchen be absolutely stunning, but as the focal point of the house, it will be the room that I am most proud of and spend the most time in. (Hey, vegans get hungry a lot.)

The lesson of the day is this: Family is the most important thing in the world. They are the ones that can pick you up when you're down, show you how to be a better person, and make your dreams come true.

Thanks, Mom and Pops 2. My dad would be so proud.