Seven Quick Takes -- About "Being Moved"

Seven Quick Takes is hosted at Conversion Diary.

As of this coming Monday we will have been living in our "new" house for four months. In recognition of that fact, today's Quick Takes are themed around "being moved."

1. Our old house no longer exists. Roger posted here about not missing it as much as he thought he would and here about the irrational reaction he had when the demolition was in progress. I found myself bursting into tears last week when I realized it was truly gone. This was precipitated by "Oh, no, I never looked in the carpet where my dresser was for that missing earring!" ( Fortunately the earring in question was part of a multi-pack from Claire's and not something from Bryan's family's jewelry store.) Obviously it wasn't really about the earring.

2. At one point I told Roger that I figured I'd really feel settled in when I could unload the dishwasher and put things away without having to consciously think about where they should go. I'm almost to that point. Everyday items are easy, but odds and ends that I don't use all the time are trickier. I don't have any trouble finding them to use, but I can't put them away while thinking about something else.

3. Having all the books on the bookcases is wonderful. It will be even more wonderful when we get the unassembled one that is in the basement set up and I can relocate the books that are on top of the shorter bookcases (and a couple of random dressers) down there. They are sorted and neatly set up, but they look untidy because I don't have enough bookends. The last bookcase solves all! Until we buy more books. Which we will. If "bookaholic" were a word, our whole family would be poster children.

4. I still don't "own" the yard and things outside the house. That's reasonable since it's been mostly winter, but I am not a garden-y person, and there are some things I'm going to need to spend some time on, like the big raised (brick sided) flower bed under the picture window. Right now it's full of dandelions. Fortunately Kelson's class is selling potted flowers as a fund-raiser, so I may tell the kids to kill three birds with one stone and buy me some pots for Mother's Day. Then I can dig out the dandelions (already started) and just set the pots under the window. After that I'd only have to remember to water them!

5. Another good reason for flowers in pots is that we are going to need to paint the outside of the house this summer. (If the flowers are in pots I can move them out of the way when we are painting in that area.) Roger is only waiting for me to settle on a color before he goes and buys the paint. The problem is that I can't make up my mind. Blue? Or tan? Or white like it is now? Lighter or darker shade? (Not of white, obviously!) I have been playing with an online program where you upload a picture of your house and try out the colors, and I still can't decide. I don't know what my deadline is, but I'm pretty sure that if I don't decide soon we will default to white. And maybe that's OK? Aaaargh!!

6. Despite the dishwasher definition of "Moved In", there are times when I still don't feel quite at home. In the first few days I claimed a particular corner of the new couch as mine, and I sit there when I read the Bible and pray in the morning, and also at lots of other times. And yet what I see from that seat still isn't fully familiar. I suppose that's not surprising, since the couch and chairs are new. So are some of the bookcases, and the older ones were never all in the same room before. I would use the excuse that almost 25 years in the old house is a long time in one place, but we did remodel the kitchen, and move things around periodically, so I guess it just means I'm an old fogey, and set in my ways. If I still feel this way in a year I'll go see a counselor.

7. Actually, of course, I LOVE this house. It's convenient (except for a couple of things in the kitchen), and pretty, and closer to a lot of things. It has flowers that I didn't have to plant, and room for everything, and lots of wonderful natural light. And my family is/comes here. We had an Easter egg hunt for the grandchildren in the back yard, and the barbecue is set up on the deck, and I have enough room to seat everyone for dinner. I know where all my books are, and most of Roger's, and all my clothes fit in the same closet. So despite my moments of wistfulness-or-nostalgia-or-whatever-it-is, the "new" house is now "the house", and HOME. Thanks be to God!