Читать книгу It’s Not About the Pie - Nicki Corinne White - Страница 28

10

When I was growing up, we did not have people come to our home. It was an older

home, and our mom did not feel it was ready for guests. As a child, I wanted to

be able to have people over. Maybe that is why hospitality has become such an

important part of my life today.

When my husband Craig and I first got married, I could not wait to set up our

nest. Craig was attending college and working as a manager at Taco Bell to

support us. We lived in such a tiny place that there was not much to set up.

We had a little garden spot behind our duplex where I attempted a garden, but

the ants that infested our backyard devoured it. Next, to make our duplex look

homey and cheery, I set flower pots in the front yard; the snails living in the

ground cover ivy plantings feasted on them, and my beautiful flowers became

barren flower pots filled with dirt and snail slime tracks. Never mind that

decorating on the inside was a further exercise in futility, as whenever we got a

good rain, runoff water took the shortcut through our bedroom on its way to the

sea, soaking everything in its path and even ruining my art supplies, which had

been stored in our dresser.

We were deeply in love, and it’s a good thing, as reality in that duplex was nothing like

what I had dreamed our first home as newlyweds would be.

Although that first house was not optimal, we hosted a few dinners with friends in

that little place during those eighteen months. Entertaining in that home was very

much like going grocery shopping with limited funds and a long list of items you

want. It was challenging, and it forced me to plan and to rely on creativity when the

money wasn’t optimal.