Why is My House Always Crying?
In 2022, just as the real estate market here in Denver started to “cool down” (if that’s even a thing here in Denver), I was privileged enough to buy a home. This is my second townhome in my adult life, and I just love it. Great suburb, friendly neighbors and a lovely neighborhood. Buying a home is a privilege, maintaining the home however, feels like a money pit. When I first moved in, I had to replace the furnace after less than 2 weeks of being in the home. Since then, there are odds and ends that need maintenance and updates, the same things every homeowner experiences. I’d love to replace my floors, but the most energy efficient and cost saving project to come next (when I win the lotto), is replacing the 30-year old windows. I’m grateful to have a home that I love, even if she cries every now and again.
In the two years I’ve lived here, I’ve had 3 water leaks, all ending up in the basement. When I had my first leak, my neighbor was kind enough to come over and cut out the wall, give it a once over and told me exactly what to say to the plumber so I didn’t get ripped off. He jokingly said to me at that time, “your house leaks when you’re emotional”. HaHa I thought! The second leak was also in the basement, in a different area. When we cut open the wall the culprit was obvious, the pipe had a huge crack in it. This one was more expensive to fix than the last.
In addition to the leaky pipes, I’ve had leaky dogs these past few weeks. I’ve renamed my home “Kristin’s House of Horrors” because every time I turn around, I find one of the dogs had an accident.
Miska has some tummy issues and Kitana started having accidents in protest because she wasn’t going out as often as Miska was. I’ve had sleepless nights for more than 3 weeks now taking Miska out every 2 hours or so, and coming back in to find that Kitana had made her own statement on the floor letting me know how she felt because I didn’t take her out too. Of course, they’re freaking nuts so I can’t walk them together. This pattern repeated over and over until I finally found a holistic vet who helped me get Miska on some supplements and food that has made a world of difference! Now that I’m back to sleeping through the night, I discovered that my house stinks of dog pee. I spent a whole week steaming carpets, the sofa, moping the floor, treating everything with pet enzyme treatments, trying to get the smell out and every morning I’d wake up to the stale smell of an accident that I didn’t find somewhere. I can tell you, I was at my wits end by yesterday.
Because my attention has been on the dogs, teaching two additional yoga classes, and just trying to remember what day it is and what time I need to be at work, I felt the need to do physical activity on my day off. I didn’t want to do anything in front of the computer, I didn’t want to go anywhere, I just wanted to try to tackle a few home projects. I was determined to begin painting the basement. I am turning it into an in-home yoga studio so I can teach neighborhood classes. I’m calling it the Zen Den! I’ve had the paint for over a week, and I have been dying to get it up on the walls. My goal was to paint three walls, I had painted two and a half when I discovered a new leak. I have a small cast iron faux fireplace heater that weighs a ton, when I moved it, I realized the blanket it was resting on was soaking wet. Ugh, why me?
I immediately texted my neighbor asking him, “why is my house always leaking???” to which he replied, “emotions?” (I suppose that response was better than mansplaining plumbing to me-lol). He came over to check it out for me, I confess I had a mini meltdown, feeling overwhelmed by what I assumed it would cost, not to mention the wasted paint that I had just used. I just couldn’t hold back the tears, if my house was going to cry, damnit so was I!!
After taking a deep breath and pulling myself together. I remembered how grateful I was to have a beautiful home I enjoyed, even if she’s leaking and smells like dog pee. I’m also very thankful to have a handy neighbor who is a good friend and generous with his time and DIY expertise. I breathed in and out, and reminded myself that the paint is replaceable, the wall is replaceable, the area rugs are replaceable, the time I lose worrying about these little things is not something I can get back. Turns out it was a small leak that required retightening a clamp, and it was fixed in moments. Neighbor and I had a good laugh, and I continued my paint job (and spot treating the area rugs).
I came home from teaching yoga this morning, our theme in class today was finding inner peace. When I opened the front door, I realized the house no longer smells like pee (yay). I recognized that I cannot control what’s going to break, deteriorate or need fixing in my home. I can do my best to mitigate the dog’s having accidents, but at the end of the day I can’t really control that either. I can however, control how I respond to things. For a moment I felt bad about crying in front of my neighbor, but crying is what happens when I feel overwhelmed. What felt different this time was that my mind only spiraled for a moment, I was able to take a deep breath, acknowledge that having a leak sucks, but is not the end of the world. Sadhguru, a yogi and spiritual leader says, ‘if you don’t have problems in life you are not living an active life’. Apparently, I am living a VERY active life!
What’s your funny emotional home story? What major (or minor) home issue sent you over the edge? How did you recover and return to find your inner peace? Take a moment to journal about the lessons you learned about yourself through that experience. Share your story on our Facebook page!!!
