Settling In

We moved house a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve had lots of people ask how we’re “settling in” and how we’re enjoying the new place. I’m really enjoying getting set up here, but I’m also very much looking forward to just “being” here – writing, reading, doing puzzles, and of course taking Keisha for walks in the woods. The walks are the only “normal” thing that happens because my head and time are still so taken up with setting this place up.

Yesterday, for example, I washed, hemmed, ironed, and hung the new IKEA drapes we bought last week for the sliding door in the dining room; hung some more pictures and rearranged a few we’d hung another day; went to the hardware store and bought odds and end we’d need for a few tasks; fixed a toilet that wouldn’t stop running; washed, ironed, and rehung drapes in the kitchen (I’d discovered black dog hair on the lower edge of one a few days before); put felt pads under legs of furniture that won’t sit on the rug when we pick it up (hopefully today); met with a contractor who we might hire to do some work on on our basement; called another contractor hoping to make an appointment; called the energy audit people and the furnace company; got our cds arranged (some were still in cardboard boxes); put felt pads on doors in the kitchen that banged shut too loudly; broke up and bundled the last of the boxes in the garage (till we unpack the books etc in the basement), so there’s now room to park both cars in there; washed the basement stairs; set up a bed in the basement, which had originally been set up in my office, but I decided I didn’t like how it fit there; moved some stuff from my old computer to my new one (that was about it for (semi) work-related stuff , except to answer an email saying yes I can meet next Friday; packed up and moved to the basement a box of family photos that aren’t going to get hung in the hall till after I paint it; moved a set of drapes from the ensuite bathroom, where they aren’t needed, to the bedroom, to replace some green sheers that we took down the first week we were here; fixed two lamps whose bases, shades, and lightbulbs didn’t work together; changed the vent cover beside Keisha’s bed so air doesn’t blow right on her when she’s sleeping. I did stop and do a crossword puzzle while I had lunch and read a Homemakers article while I had supper (Peter was in Toronto.) Oh, and I did some laundry, which is a kind of normal thing to do, and made up a bed in the basement in case we have overnight guests any time soon.

There are still lots of things on the list of things to do to finish making this house ours, but I’m figuring that as of Monday morning, I can start fitting them into a more normal routine. The only time I’ve spent on my novel since early June, when we first saw this house, was during the three hours of “quiet time” each morning during the week of our workshop/retreat. It is time to get back to it! (But of course, I also have a presentation for PYI to prepare…)