Sunday, October 05, 2003
Organization, Finally
It actually happened. Only more than a month and a half after moving in, we finally got all the boxes either unpacked or declared unimportant and put away. All the empty boxes even got completely thrown away, out, out of the house! The living room looks so spacious. I can walk across it in multiple directions. I have a clear path from the doorway to the rest of the house without feeling like I have to walk sideways or dodge at any point. I am no longer in danger of stubbing anymore of my toes.
What spurred this fit of organization and cleanliness? Inviting guests over, of course. We invited Heather, Matt, and Gene over for dinner. Mark is the oh-so-proud owner of a grill now, and wants to show off his cooking talents to people other than me. So they came over yesterday afternoon, to watch the U of Mich. football game, (which I have the suspicion I ought to think a heretical act in my house, being an MSU student and all, but then, I am the product of a mixed UNC/NCSU marriage, so I guess it's okay,) and we did actually eat dinner as well. And we ate many, many snacks. Mark sort of went nuts on the chips and dip aisle. 3 different kinds of chips, 4 kinds of dip, all in little bowls of their own.
The high point for me, though, was that Matt actually brought me all the rest of my stuff from Japan! Yes, those 7 boxes I had shipped to myself more than 2 full months ago. I hate shipping companies and customs agents now. The boxes had been in Detroit and mostly ready to pick up for at least 2 weeks, at $10/day, but I couldn't get them because the storage company needed something from the shipping company in CA, which couldn't give the release order until they got a piece of paper I didn't have from the shipping company in Japan. Now that I actually have my stuff, (thank you, thank you, thank you Matt for picking it up!,) they can all die.
The interesting thing is the effect having the apartment finally organized is having on my state of mind. I actually felt like doing work today. I no longer have the constant feeling that I should be unpacking something, or organizing things, or trying to find places for more things to go. I can actually concentrate on my life in the house again. I sat down this morning, in the clean, clean living room, and graded 2 weeks' worth of homework assignments, plus the latest quiz. I'm in general much more cheerful. And perhaps I will also now be less allergic, and thus, all around more pleasant to live with. You should all pray that it is so, for Mark's sake.
It actually happened. Only more than a month and a half after moving in, we finally got all the boxes either unpacked or declared unimportant and put away. All the empty boxes even got completely thrown away, out, out of the house! The living room looks so spacious. I can walk across it in multiple directions. I have a clear path from the doorway to the rest of the house without feeling like I have to walk sideways or dodge at any point. I am no longer in danger of stubbing anymore of my toes.
What spurred this fit of organization and cleanliness? Inviting guests over, of course. We invited Heather, Matt, and Gene over for dinner. Mark is the oh-so-proud owner of a grill now, and wants to show off his cooking talents to people other than me. So they came over yesterday afternoon, to watch the U of Mich. football game, (which I have the suspicion I ought to think a heretical act in my house, being an MSU student and all, but then, I am the product of a mixed UNC/NCSU marriage, so I guess it's okay,) and we did actually eat dinner as well. And we ate many, many snacks. Mark sort of went nuts on the chips and dip aisle. 3 different kinds of chips, 4 kinds of dip, all in little bowls of their own.
The high point for me, though, was that Matt actually brought me all the rest of my stuff from Japan! Yes, those 7 boxes I had shipped to myself more than 2 full months ago. I hate shipping companies and customs agents now. The boxes had been in Detroit and mostly ready to pick up for at least 2 weeks, at $10/day, but I couldn't get them because the storage company needed something from the shipping company in CA, which couldn't give the release order until they got a piece of paper I didn't have from the shipping company in Japan. Now that I actually have my stuff, (thank you, thank you, thank you Matt for picking it up!,) they can all die.
The interesting thing is the effect having the apartment finally organized is having on my state of mind. I actually felt like doing work today. I no longer have the constant feeling that I should be unpacking something, or organizing things, or trying to find places for more things to go. I can actually concentrate on my life in the house again. I sat down this morning, in the clean, clean living room, and graded 2 weeks' worth of homework assignments, plus the latest quiz. I'm in general much more cheerful. And perhaps I will also now be less allergic, and thus, all around more pleasant to live with. You should all pray that it is so, for Mark's sake.
