Now that the moving drama is over and a week in the past (although the imaginary telling off of the moving company where they finally admit how they wronged us is still being looped in my head), I am happy to say that we are settling in quite nicely. Although it does feel like we’re on vacation in a rental house somewhere except that Kevin has to go to work. Which I guess is exactly what is going on. The kids are on vacation, we live in a rental house, and Kevin goes to work. And the place just happens to be Narberth, PA which is really very lovely. Although the French bakery is closing for August which is NOT what I signed up for.
We’re mostly assembled and somewhat unpacked. We only lost one item to the belly of the moving truck, a full-length mirror that I can learn to live without or replace easily if I decide we need it. The fact that we only lost one item is miraculous considering how unreliable, unscrupulous, and unbelievably incompetent the movers were. Not that I’m still traumatized by the move or anything. Anyway, the new house is coming together and starting to feel like home. We have a long way to go but we’re at that dangerous place where we are completely functional as is. If we never unpacked another box, we would survive. What keeps me going is my unexplainable need for everything to have a place and a vision of our home and how I want it to feel. Although the state of the basement is almost enough to make me lock the door and throw away the key.
And so as I organize and arrange and try things in different places, I am having to resist the urge to go out and buy more stuff. The more I unpack, the more voids I see. All the things that are missing. All the things that we need. I know that I need to chill out and live here for a while. Live here to develop the little systems that work best. Live with the furniture where it is. Not hang anything. Not buy anything. Not make anything. (Who am I kidding?) Not shop for anything. Figure out what I can live with and what I can live without. I know that I’ll need a strategy for recycling because right now it’s a cardboard box in the middle of the kitchen floor and that just won’t do. I’ll have to find someplace to corral the Q-tips. They can’t just run loose. But can I live with bags of chips on top of the refrigerator? The answer, is no, no, I can’t. All of these things will have to be dealt with – eventually.
In order to figure out what we really need, I’ll have to live in the mess for awhile. I don’t live well in the mess. I like order and organization. I like the chaos to be contained. If it doesn’t have a spot, you either go to the Container Store or get rid of it. So I’m laying down the gauntlet for myself – all boxes must be unpacked or put into storage before I can buy or shop for a single new thing. Will the disorganization motivate me to finish up this job or to embrace the messiness? Hopefully a little of both.
Trying to get back to my regular blog posting schedule soon…thanks for hanging in through my messy transitions. The pictures from left to right: picking up our keys, view from the porch swing, front door, best sign ever, our town pool, our downtown (five minute walk from house!).
Sandy is exquisitely good at creating messes, and I’ve had the unpleasant sensation of having to learn to give a little. The M.E. in me just…can’t…deal with it, but maybe a house doesn’t have to always be a museum? Vertical storage is my new friend as a compromise. Stuff stacked on shelves seems better than strewn over a table.
Museum? I’m more of a home magazine spread kind of girl. Coastal Living even though I don’t live anywhere near the coast. I’m way guilty of too much lifestyle media.