Yesterday I unpacked my last box in my new home. I hope when you read that sentence, you hear the trumpets’ fanfare. Because I sure do! I know I mentioned in my last article that I was pretty clueless about what moving entails. I frequently witness my clients going through the process but it’s always been as a spectator. That little mystery has been solved. In fact, I now consider myself wise in the ways of moving. Make no mistake, I don’t plan on doing that again for many moons. It was one of the most stressful things I have ever been through.
Much of that stress also came from the worry of how I would adjust to such a big change. The thought of a totally new environment is both thrilling and draining in equal measure. I feared that the big decisions would be overwhelming. But it turns out that it’s those small micro-decisions that chipped away my energy. Where should I put the glasses? How should I orient my couch? What art goes on which wall? When you live in a house for more than two decades, you develop a day’s worth of little habits. Things that you do without even thinking. Where you sit, what you do when you get up in the morning, which lights you turn on, which noises are normal and which mean danger. Not to mention where you get groceries, oil changes and coffee.
“All my new appliances sing to me when they’ve completed their task. It makes me smile every time.”
It’s fun creating new habits and discovering new places. I have not owned a plant in many years. I have always told people that I had a black thumb. Now I have not one, but three plants to care for (please send them your good wishes—they may need them). I had grown tired of cooking after so many years of trying to come up with ideas for meals and then having to winnow those choices down in order to suit the common denominator. Now I’m enjoying it! I have a brand-new gas stove for the first time since the last century and it’s so fun to cook with. My old appliances had a simple beep to tell me when they’d finished their job. All my new appliances sing to me when they’ve completed their task. It makes me smile every time. I take my dogs for a walk every day. I haven’t had to run around with a poop bag in quite a while so it’s still weird to me to have to pick up after them, but I’ll get used to it. I spend more time in bed. My new bedroom feels like a treehouse and it’s just so light and bright and lovely. And, for the first time in my ENTIRE LIFE, I have a walk-in closet. Those of you who know me know that I am a clothes girl. Now I can see everything all at once!
I’m still getting used to my new grocery store. Evergreen King Soopers is weird. Sorry, but it’s true. So, for now, I spend twice as long getting groceries as I used to. I’m sure I’ll discover some new things, so that will be fun. I found a great spot to get an oil change. And I’m only a mile away from Espresso Evergreen. I have met my new neighbors, who are all very nice and tolerant of my two dogs getting used to having a little less space to roam. And my friend Rhonda lives a quarter mile away and I hope we will have many glasses of wine together on summer evenings. I’ve joined a golf league and a yoga studio in the last month too.
So, boxes unpacked, glasses put in the cabinet by the sink, the oil painting by my grandmother hung over the couch, tired from my yoga class, and the refrigerator full, I looked around yesterday and realized that this new place felt like home.
