Apparently I am in a bit of trouble for not having updated our blog recently. People I barely know are wondering why I am such a slacker!. Let me start by telling you that our furniture and belongings arrived last week and I have been unpacking and then unpacking some more. It took the movers two days to cram all of our stuff in this little apartment and I finally told them to simply leave the rest of the boxes until I could finally put some things away to make room for more things to put away.
Watching them move our stuff to our apartment was wild. They had an outside lift that attached to the balcony of our apartment and went from the garage entrance up 4 stories to our apartment balcony. For some reason, the local movers here didn't realize a piano was coming and all 6 of them stood around and warily watched as the piano (which exceeded the weight maximum) slowly climbed the side of the building and was lifted over the balcony.
Unpacking included its own humor as I would find random things we brought such as a large griddle for a gas stove that is larger than my entire electric ceramic cooktop. There are also the numerous large cookie sheets that, even if I got a running start, I couldn't jam into my tiny oven. Thank goodness the martini and margarita glasses made it (absolutely no sarcasm there). I WILL find a way to make margaritas here if it kills me (I can always consult my Aunt Di on that one). I brought something like 20 wine glass with me. Huh? Not only do I not have room for 20 people drinking wine in my place, but if I put all of those in my cabinets, about 1/4 of my cabinet space would be gone :). So I have a couple of boxes in our storage space that are labeled: "Should not have brought" and then list the contents.
What didn't make it is my silverware. We have been eating with plastic forks, spoons and knives until I find out from the moving company how to replace them. I've been throwing the plastic cutlery in the dishwasher - amazing how well it has held up. However, I made baked potatoes two nights ago and that was a bit of a challenge. Plastic forks don't smash up potatoes very well.
We are also missing some of Jack's clothes, but I can't tell you what happened to them. I am actually wondering if we left a suitcase at the airport or a carry-on on the plane. We had so many of them it was hard to keep track! I was just happy we made it here with all of our kids.
I will also tell you that the last week has been tough for me. With the exception of getting all of our own things which was comforting, I think homesickness really set in and I looked around and wondered "What have we done?" I have spent far too much of my time wondering how we are going to do without (fill in the blank) instead of focusing on the good things in my life and looking forward to the new and different things we are going to experience. Right now "new and different" is so abundant that I find it overwhelming at times. We have had beautiful weather and for the most part, each day has been stunning. I know I haven't done a good job of thanking God for my blessings.
To put it all in perspective, I talked to my mother-n-law. Rich's mom is one of my most favorite people in the world. I certainly don't let her know that enough. And she probably has no idea the imprint she leaves on me every time I speak with her. For those of you who don't know, she had undetected Grave's Disease for decades which led to Glaucoma. Her health and vision have been severely impaired. If that wasn't enough, she recently had shingles that then went to her eyes! She has been completely blind for the last few weeks and is slowly recovering, but we don't know how much of her vision was damaged further.
There is nothing that makes me feel more like a whiny baby than to complain to her about something.
That's not her fault - it's my own. She always comforts me and gives great perspective and then at some point I realize that I am complaining to her about something that is so irrelevant. I never hear her complain. She always tells me that if I can't control it, then don't worry about it. Such great advice - I simply wish I was better at doing that. And when we are done talking I always feel better. Always. I don't know how she does it, but she rearranges my life in my head enough to know what is really important and what isn't.
So as I unpack my boxes and wonder where in the world I am going to put my bundt pan that I was sure I needed to bring (at least if fits in my oven!), I am trying to do a better job of placing things where they need to be. There are some unnecessary things on which I have been dwelling that I am doing my best to repack and put away where I don't need them. There are some things I realize I can place on a back shelf to think about another day and there are those I need quick access to because they are more important to living a truly good life.
