Accomplishment

I used to think that packing everything up to move was the biggest pain about relocating. I have since changed my mind. Unpacking is the biggest pain! We have lived in our new house for over 2 months now. We are still living out of boxes. My frustration levels are reaching an all time high. I do not like chaos. I do not like having things out of place or no place at all! And that, my dear friends, is the crux of the problem!

Moving into a new home requires taking all your old stuff that fit perfectly in your old house and finding a location for it in your new house. Sounds easy enough, but unless you just walk into your house and plop it down, claiming: "Here is your new abode, dear lamp!" it doesn't really work. Especially when the lamp is sitting on the dining room floor beneath a chalkboard easel, like mine. (Though I think this technique would work for my husband.)  No, you have to check your surroundings. What area of the room really needs a lamp? What part needs more lighting? Is there a plug available in that corner for the lamp? Is there something to sit it on? Oh, the questions are endless.

Okay, yes, I am being overly dramatic, but I am having some "vicious cycle" moments here. I painted my son's bedroom without any furniture in it. It was fast and easy. I puffed my chest with accomplishment when gazing upon the white and University of Kentucky blue that donned the walls. I put up the peel-n-stick Wildcat decals and rejoiced to see progress in our journey of settling in. But that was pretty much where our progress stopped. A few weeks passed before I could no longer take stepping around the sea of boxes. In a feverish rush, I broke out the paint that I was contemplating using in the kitchen. It was a full gallon of blue left over from our kitchen at the old house. I put it on one wall....and fell in love all over again. I was pumped! I finished the kitchen in another day or so. Then, I unpacked my blue and white kitchen decorations. My heart sighed in contentment at seeing the place settled. The only thing left for the kitchen is the curtains I am sewing.

But the rest of the house is a mess. I finally moved the boxes out of the living room and stacked them up along a dining room wall. I rolled out the area rug in the living room (an area rug that I bought new for $65 though it was regular priced $325) and smiled with accomplishment. Really? Accomplishment from rolling out a rug? Yes, that is what my wonderful, anal sense of structure and organization has been reduced to. I also put together the two new end tables I bought. Those and a few chairs is all that sits in my living room since I am waiting to make a trip to IKEA to buy a couch. I also need a piece of artwork for over the fireplace. And I cannot decide where to hang the stuff I currently have.

I am mid-process of painting my oldest daughter's bedroom. And my youngest two daughters are still living among cardboard boxes like homeless children. Our bedroom is not much better since all the questionable items (where should we put this?) have been quarantined in one corner there. Just like the dining room. And the garage. And a room in the basement. In fact, most of the stuff we had at the old house doesn't really fit in well here. I guess I will sell most of it at a yard sale this spring and take the money earned to buy new stuff.

But then I have to wait for better weather....see? Vicious cycle. I have to wait to unpack until I paint. I have to wait to hang this until I paint or figure out where it goes. For those of you who know me well, you know that I can create some beautiful rooms. This house, though, has been seriously trying my decorators spirit. I will prevail, though. I just need to shut up all the chaos of clutter and get busy! Today, I opened my new bedding set and put it on my bed. Yep, another accomplishment!