confession: i love reading martha stewart living, but it always depresses me for at least 24 hours afterward. it's not the foodie bits, which i love, and generally try at least one or two of the recipes, nor the "good things" section, which i also love...it's all the decorating and gardening and collecting things bits. so many things i want to try, so little (wait, make that no) money to do it with. sadly, i have no home in the hamptons complete with linen press or home in maine complete with map room.

i do, however, have a home. and that is a good thing. and it has a laundry room, which is a wonderful thing. so so grateful not be doing the walk-to-coin-op-laundry thing anymore. and i have a big luxurious tub in my bathroom, and neil and i have our very own bathroom that we don't have to share with abigail, and when guests come there are two whole bathrooms so that everyone can get a shower without the process taking three hours as we all wait our turn. my kitchen may not have marble countertops, as martha recommended to someone in the august edition, but it does have enough space that i have plenty of room to cook and i can still fit in my hutch and abigail's fisher price snack/play-doh/crayon table. i don't have picture windows with gorgeous flowing drapes in my living room, but i have a vaulted ceiling and a fireplace (and windows). and i don't have the most beautiful landscaping in the world, but i have a yard for which i can plan landscaping over the next few years, which is much more fun than just upkeeping something that someone else planted. and most gloriously of all, i have a home that is comfortable, spacious, and aesthetically pleasing, but is not so "finished" that there is nothing else i can do to it to personalize it and make it my own. no, my friends, many late nights laughing and painting and sanding and sealing lie ahead with my dear husband as we ravenously devour sour cream and cheddar chips and jelly beans to keep us going. and really, where would the fun be in a perfect house? all i would be able to do is clean it.

so there's your daily dose of roundabout optimism as inspired by martha stewart.