New House, New Habits?

It's finally happened. We've moved!

The rental home we were in was a little bigger, but had a lousy floor plan. The only thing I'll miss about the old place is the storage space- it had cabinets everywhere, and a decent sized basement. Our new place is a little smaller (at least according to the paperwork we signed), but the floor plan is more open and brighter. It reminds me of a beach house, without the glass doors to the deck. And that's the way I like it!

After color coding my boxes and labeling the contents, the move itself went off without a hitch. Only three boxes were placed in the wrong areas! But oh, the stuff we've accumulated after living in the the old place after thirteen years! ('We' meaning me, by the way) And that was after I'd gotten rid of a ton of stuff! It was a sight to be seen.

Our kitchen is full of boxes. Full. As in 'barely can slide around all this stuff' full. Half of it is dry and canned goods, which had to go down the basement because there's no pantry. No worries- I plan on making one out of a closet. Either that or knock out the neighbors wall and use some of her space- I'm creative like that.

Mealtimes were an issue, because it's really hard to cook food in your bare hands. Luckily for me I'd made one-serving dishes within the two months before the move, so we had something to heat up for the past few days. Unfortunately, most of the meat-potato-and-veggie meals are gone, and all we have left is soup- at least four kinds.

It was like finding buried treasure when I found my frying pans! Yes, the box was marked, but they shoved it waaaaay in the back of the pile. Tonight will be grilled ham and cheese, to go with the soups. We will probably be having soup until Jesus comes at this point!

I was surprised at just how much stuff needs to be tweaked in a new house. Okay, new used, but new to us. I've also noticed a lot of stuff missing- like clothing poles in the closets, a missing shower curtain bar, and the fact that there are absolutely no cable wires anywhere. Not to mention the improvements we wanted to install, like cabinets, shelving and turning a closet into a small pantry.

I want a fold-up table with storage so I have a place to knead dough without pushing it into the bottom of the toaster on the counter. No one wants to knead dough on their counters anyway- it's hard to keep your buppies out of the way!

The kids have already unpacked their rooms. Of course they have clothes poles in their closets to do so. Mine will be done tonight, and I can finally get this ton of wearable fabrics off the foot of the bed. At this point, I feel like a hoarder!

I've adopted an attitude of 'If it Doesn't Fit, It Doesn't Stay'. The problem is I'm coming up with all kinds of ideas to store the stuff so it will stay. Like my sewing room.

The sewing room is even more stuffed than the kitchen. I probably won't have this space in order until January....2078. Instead of the mish-mosh of cabinets and dressers I used at the old place, I now have nothing to store the fabric. The dresser went to my son (who was the original owner until I nabbed it when it didn't fit into his attic room), and the cabinets were sold because they were just too darned big. Now I get to look at all the pretty things in the IKEA catalog and dream of a new-improved sewing space- like shorter dressers that will also serve as tables to lay out fabric!

Most of the pictures I had in the old place were so faded by the sun, we had to toss them. So I get to look for artwork too- or make some, when I get my sewing space in order. I already have ideas for home decor for around the windows and doors that just might be awesome enough to sell in the near future!

Until then, I make notes and unpack boxes. Lots of boxes.

Thank you God for your bounty! You brought us to this house and got us through a lot in the process of getting it. Thank you for a house that's warm all the time, for boxes filled with stuff that we need (for the most [part), and for friendly neighbors!