Gallons of Gratitude For the Pool

When we first looked at this house, we spent the most time next to the pool. Not because we were impressed by it, the cover was on it, but because we were late to our appointment here and only had about 15 minutes to run through the house. The outside, we could linger and talk about our impressions of the house and neighborhood. 

And I'll admit I was very nervous about owning a house with a pool. What are the liabilities, the risks? How hard is it to maintain? How much will it cost us monthly, annually? Can we even use it this summer? What about injuries? How do we keep everyone safe? Ugh. It all weighed heavy on my mind. 

And when we initially lost the house to a higher bidder, we were very bummed but I was a teeny tiny bit relieved we wouldn't have to figure out that pool. "It might be a money pit!" I remember thinking. "We didn't even see it without the cover."

Fast forward to the present and one of the hottest summers I can remember. And the absolute JOY of having this pool. I'm filled with gallons of gratitude for it. What a luxury. 

It took us a few weeks to get used to the maintenance. To gather the correct chemicals and figure out the formulas. We had a pool guy out twice to ensure it was safe to swim in. But now, it's smooth sailing for the rest of the season. 

And what a thing to have! Our nieces have been over to swim a lot. Friends want to come by to take a dip. And the girls use it almost daily. They have such a great time splashing around, diving and playing games. 

We're usually in it all together as a family every weekend. I try to make time to jump in, setting aside home projects because, in a few months, we'll be closing up this pool but that kitchen wall will always be there. 

I discovered my favorite time for a dip is right after work. It relaxes my muscles and makes me feel like I can stretch the summer day out longer. Even a 15 minute dip feels like a luxury, as I do some laps or just float, dissolving the day and everything that happened (or didn't go as planned). Taking deep breaths and imagining we're at a resort, just for a very short time. 

The odds of moving into a house with a pool was small, only a few houses we looked at had one. But now that we're here and experiencing it, we're so glad and grateful. It is just AWESOME.