Week Three. It’s amazing how puttering around the house manages to pass the day just as well as getting up early and going to work. It usually starts like this: pull myself out of bed around 9am, make coffee, start some laundry, unpack, organize and generally fondle my belongings, exercise, work on art projects, plan dinner and possibly run to the grocery store, read, tidy the kitchen and load the dishwasher, fold clothes and BAM it’s 6pm and Austin’s walking in the door. Sometimes I’ve managed to take a shower by then, but sometimes I’m still in my pajamas. It’s a good life. There was that one time with the fire ants, but still, it’s good.
I feel a satisfying balance between having time to myself and also time with my husband. I’m really excited when he’s on his way home from work – often he’ll hear the first words I’ve spoken all day, unless I’ve been mumbling to the cat. I love that not only can I do the things I want during the day but, because I have my afternoons free I can also help Austin take care of things that are just easier when you have two people. I was able to take his parachute waaaay out to the manufacturer’s location to have it repacked so he can jump again soon. And it felt wonderful to pick him up at work during a nasty, rainy and cold day when he otherwise would have had to ride his motorcycle home in just a jacket and pair of jeans.
Every day I’m more and more grounded and settled in my new Home. Mostly it’s because finally, after three years, I’m physically with my husband every day. All that time I had felt like I was split in two – like some astral projection of me was constantly 1,000 miles away with him. Also, all of my stuff has fit harmoniously to create a real blending of Mine and His into this new thing called Ours. And there are plans in the works for our house – we want to create a rock garden surrounded by fruit trees, and a vegetable garden to grow tomatoes and sugar snap peas upon which I will gorge myself straight from the vine. It’s been a whole new experience for me to envision projects for a home I own rather than the small changes I’ve made while living in rented apartments. There’s a much more personal and meaningful sense of the future, and of creating an environment based on our shared dreams.
We’ve filled these initial weeks with family dinners, picnics on the coast, a glorious sailing lesson, our first dinner guest, a local history tour, twilight walks around the lake, romantic toasts with delicious wine, massages and snuggly movie-watching. My husband is a tremendous pleasure to be with – funny, intelligent, loving to my aforementioned cat (who often doesn’t deserve it), understanding and compassionate, generous and thoughtful. He is a wonderful man to be married to, and a wonderful man to live with. Right now, I just feel very very blessed.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
T-minus 12 days and counting
Moving was so much work that I don't even want to think about it anymore. Now, 90% of my things are in Florida – cozy in their new space, finding corners and shelves and wall space to occupy. I’m finishing up the month of January at my job and then hauling myself, my cat and some odds and ends 1,000 south to Central Florida. I’ve made a list of to-do items and I’m steadily working my way through it: officially change my name (done); tune-up for the car (done); clean the car (er, not done); clean the room I’ve been using at my brother’s place (also not done).
I’ve also made a list of suggestions for myself when I’m feeling bored and lethargic this summer. Something I can look at when I feel like doing something but I’m not sure what and if I don’t come up with an activity soon I’m heading straight back to bed for a nap. This list is going straight on the fridge and I’m going to do at least one thing from it every day:
Unpack – there’s no shortage of this that needs to be done.
Exercise – Cardio Salsa, free weights, boogying to my favorite tunes
Practice dance – Swing, Belly and Burlesque. I put up a wall-full of mirrors to help.
Study Spanish – I have a three-disc audio tutorial. So far I can ask where the bathroom is and tell you that I want the next train.
Ride my motorcycle – The small, quiet town I live in will be perfect for getting to the next level and riding in moderate traffic.
Blog – Hello.
Write letters – I have so many people to write to!
Daytrips – Florida is filled with small coastal towns, art districts, wilderness preserves and I wanna see them all.
Walk around the lake – I’ll visit my neighbors the horses, and the pigs and geese down the street.
Paper crafting – I love paste.
Paint the bathroom – After much serious deliberation I think I’ve settled on blue. Yeah. Blue.
Work on the backyard party barn – Whoo-hoo! This long-unused two-horse stable just needs a string of chili lights and a couple of chairs to make it the swingin’est barn-bar there ever was.
Do laundry – bleh.
Garden – I’m thinking of starting small with some summer herbs on the front patio. We’ll see if the critters will allow me to grow for myself or if they’ll eat everything as it sprouts from the dirt.
Water the trees – I hear this is a beautiful, meditative task. Soaking the leaves and branches with water and watching the droplets meander their way down. Sometimes a couple of birds will shower themselves.
Sew – I have lots of half-finished projects…and I’ll probably start lots more
School enrollment – This is going to take a lot of time at first; enrolling in the Federal TAA program, then with the school. I’m expecting lots of visits to the unemployment department where the program is coordinated, lots of waiting in lines, lots of paperwork. Hopefully it will all go relatively smoothly and then not take too much time till the semester starts.
I’ve also made a list of suggestions for myself when I’m feeling bored and lethargic this summer. Something I can look at when I feel like doing something but I’m not sure what and if I don’t come up with an activity soon I’m heading straight back to bed for a nap. This list is going straight on the fridge and I’m going to do at least one thing from it every day:
Unpack – there’s no shortage of this that needs to be done.
Exercise – Cardio Salsa, free weights, boogying to my favorite tunes
Practice dance – Swing, Belly and Burlesque. I put up a wall-full of mirrors to help.
Study Spanish – I have a three-disc audio tutorial. So far I can ask where the bathroom is and tell you that I want the next train.
Ride my motorcycle – The small, quiet town I live in will be perfect for getting to the next level and riding in moderate traffic.
Blog – Hello.
Write letters – I have so many people to write to!
Daytrips – Florida is filled with small coastal towns, art districts, wilderness preserves and I wanna see them all.
Walk around the lake – I’ll visit my neighbors the horses, and the pigs and geese down the street.
Paper crafting – I love paste.
Paint the bathroom – After much serious deliberation I think I’ve settled on blue. Yeah. Blue.
Work on the backyard party barn – Whoo-hoo! This long-unused two-horse stable just needs a string of chili lights and a couple of chairs to make it the swingin’est barn-bar there ever was.
Do laundry – bleh.
Garden – I’m thinking of starting small with some summer herbs on the front patio. We’ll see if the critters will allow me to grow for myself or if they’ll eat everything as it sprouts from the dirt.
Water the trees – I hear this is a beautiful, meditative task. Soaking the leaves and branches with water and watching the droplets meander their way down. Sometimes a couple of birds will shower themselves.
Sew – I have lots of half-finished projects…and I’ll probably start lots more
School enrollment – This is going to take a lot of time at first; enrolling in the Federal TAA program, then with the school. I’m expecting lots of visits to the unemployment department where the program is coordinated, lots of waiting in lines, lots of paperwork. Hopefully it will all go relatively smoothly and then not take too much time till the semester starts.
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