Seeing The Padded Lining

To say that I’ve been busy as of late would be a huge injustice to … well … to me. In the past – glances at watch – ummmmm carry the two … one hundred and eight hours – I have moved my entire existence. I have new neighbors, new streets, new routines, new shops, new critters (you should just see the size of the crickets around here), new everything. It’s WILD the decisions I get to make now. “I want to hang this apron here” and “look, new dishes” can be kinda exciting, in a strange way. There are the familiar touches (ie the stuff I brought with me), but overall, it’s pretty much a brand new world. And it’s a world that I’m enjoying a whole lot.

Making do with what I brought with me has turned out to be easier than I expected, but that’s mostly because of the advance work that was done prior to my arrival, and I’m very grateful for that work. Without the lanterns, my only light in the evenings would come from my PDA. Without the air mattresses, the first few days of sleep would have been not as luxurious as it was (happily the new bed has now been delivered). Without the mass amount of cleaning supplies awaiting my arrival, the past four days would have been mostly shopping instead of mostly cleaning.

Strangely, the “cleaning” part is both the most satisfying and the least gratifying. It is where one (or, at least, where I) can feel “wow – I’ve really accomplished something here today” and then, hours later, review the room as a whole and think “geez, look at all that is left to do”. Yes, lining kitchen shelves with padded shelf liner is a good thing to do, and when the job is done well, it’s easy to take a step back and feel a true sense of accomplishment. After a few hours, when it occurs to me that all I’ve done is lined the shelves and drawers, it can be disheartening. However, unlike the work I have done in homes in the past, this is my home and there’s no timeline. I’ll be finished when I’m finished. There’s no deadline and no airplane will be cutting my work short of completion. It will be done when I’m satisfied with what I’ve accomplished.

Like any home, there are also the unknown surprises (which light switch controls the lights in the laundry room? How does the fan in the kitchen work? Where does the washing machine drain out?) but each one brings an answer in time (I still have no idea about the light switch, the fan works by pulling the chain and is VERY effective, and the washing machine will drain out all over the basement floor if I don’t bend the drainage hose correctly). I am nowhere near discouraged in these discoveries – quite the opposite actually. If the light in the laundry room doesn’t work yet, it will be a good rainy-day testing process and if the washing machine hose flops out from the drainage sink and floods the floor, well then basically my attitude is “ta-da, I’ve just washed the floor!"

If all this sounds like roses and sunshine, I suppose it is. I’m not so naïve to think that there will be NO stumbling blocks in the days and weeks (and months and years) to come. But I suppose, as I take a moment to look around my new kitchen, I am just more at ease realizing I now have the best-lined kitchen shelves that I’ve ever had.

And that’s enough for today.
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(Written on Sept 30 at 11am ... and posted from a coffee shop a week later because duh - new home, no Internet)