House!

Head Chef and I have developed a code word for our mutual excitement over the pending acquisition of Our Very Own Hawai’ian House 1.0. Well, it’s more commonly a code phrase, but it’s simple enough to be just one word, or a whole sentence. It started by me gently ribbing his excitement, but ultimately it’s become just another exclamation and we’re both using it to describe our enthusiasm.

It’s sortof like the sentence one can say in Mandarin using only the word "ma." Really, I’m not kidding, I looked it up. It’s "mama ma ma ma man," and it means, "Mom curses the hemp horse for being slow."

Admittedly, Chinese is a more fully realized language. Head Chef and I have only been speaking in code about our house acquisition for a couple of weeks to a month, give or take. I’m not arrogant enough to think that he and I, formidable though our combined intellect may be, are capable of besting the efforts of millions Mandarin speakers over the course of thousands of generations. Our code simply isn’t up to the task of describing mother’s ire over the speed of the pakalolo pony.

Although, let's be honest. If it were sluggish, Mother's frustration would be warranted.

Still, our code is quite adequate for describing the sense of satisfaction of finding the perfect cabinets for the kitchen. Nothing says it better than "house house house." Nor is anything more well-suited to expressing the elation of realizing that we will finally be able to garden again than a simple "house house house house house." But most frequently, "house house house house house house house" is simply the easiest, most efficient way to put into words the eager anticipation we both feel for having our own home again, making something beautiful together, and for being proud of our home and our accomplishments.

Aged though their culture may be, I don’t think even the Chinese could describe it more eloquently.

House house house house house house house house house!