Daily 5 - Day 199, 200, 201

Day 199 (Saturday - Moving Day)

1. Made it through moving day without puking.  (This may not seem like a big deal, but my anxiety issues tend to effect my stomach, and this is definitely the first move without any puking at some point during the day.)
2. Thankful for the help of family and friends with moving and cleaning.
3. Thankful that it only took one load to move the last of my belongings.
4. Thankful that our old landlord was immediately available and the walkthrough went quickly and smoothly
5. Thankful that God is leading to new places, even in this space of not yet understanding, and still grieving the old spaces.
6. Thankful that in the mess of boxes and bags tonight, I was able to find the Almond Joy bars that LP/CA sent me, and have that much desired treat after a very emotionally draining day.
7. Glad that at least some of my furniture is in place.  There's something comforting about that tiny little bit of familiarity.
8. Enjoyed watching the men's gold medal curling match with my family.  Especially since Canada won and it was even a team from Alberta!
9. Really incredibly proud of the way I handled this move.  So thankful for the growth I see in myself in terms of handling the anxiety of this transition.
10. Really glad that I can just kind of take it easy tomorrow.  Do some unpacking.  Hang with my family a bit, and hopefully just rest.

Daily 5 - Day 200 (Sunday)

1. Got my clothes pretty much unpacked and went through the stuff L. left with me.
2. A hamburger and a bunch of green grapes for supper - love my George Foreman grill.
3. Did a few errands on my own by bus.
4. Pizza for lunch at mom and dad's - hanging out, watching the gold medal hockey game, and resting a little.
5. Finding a plaque in the stuff L. left for me of the verse in Romans that talks about being joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Struck by it since that verse hit me so hard earlier this year, but also because it seemed to speak rather directly to the struggles of the day and this new situation.

Daily 5 - Day 201 (Monday - Today!)

1. The internet is finally (three days late, and three phone calls to Telus later) hooked up at home!
2. Got most of my food stuff unpacked and sorted out tonight.
3. 90% of my books are out of their boxes and on shelves.
4. Managed to get a load of laundry done, despite some interesting drainage issues that required an emergency call to the city sewer people, and a visit from a city repair crew.
5. Did I mention that I'm back online and feel a little less isolated in this crazy new situation I find myself in because of that?

Making Lists

I'm really hoping that Telus has finally come through, and I'll arrive home to discover that my internet is finally working.  If it isn't, well, a large portion of my "to do's" for tonight aren't going to happen.

One of the list items for sometime in the next 24 hours is to write a polite but unhappy letter to Telus' customer service department, letting them know just how displeased I am that they have botched the move of my services three times in a row now.

I've been making both acutal and mental lists all day.  Sorting out in my head how I'm going to attack the task of unpacking and turn the chaos into a space that is "home" for this next season.

And mentally figuring out ways to minimize the trips I need to make upstairs into Grandma's territory.  Because each time I trekked up the stairs last night - to cook, to shower, to wash my dishes, to fill my water bottle - necessitated an appearance from her, and a short chat.  It's the sort of thing that can underscore the "this isn't my house" feeling that was so strong yesterday morning.  So I'll keep my food mostly downstairs, just carrying up what I need for the evening.

And, in the meantime, tonight I'm going to try and arrange my food in the spot where it's going to be stored.  And maybe unbox my books, spread them across the floor, for reorganizing onto my shelves.  And I'll be thankful for the one little corner of the room where order has mostly been created, that feels like "my" space - like home.

If the internet is up and running, you can expect to see three daily 5 posts later tonight.  If not, well, I'll keep making them in my journal, and when the internet is up and running at home again, they'll finally appear.

It's Quite the Experience

Last night I admitted to myself that I was feeling a little bit like a failure for moving into my Grandma's basement.  Because, at 26 years old, who really wants to reply, when asked where they live, "I live with my Grandma."  Especially after nearly 4 years of living on my own.

Yes, it's financially a great option.  No, with my current state of finances, I couldn't really swing an apartment on my own.  Yes, I was quite certain that for this next season, it seemed to be the option that Jesus led me to.  The door that opened in front of me.

But it's hard.

Quite the experience really.

I said "no" more times yesterday than I probably have in the last week.  No, I don't want you to do my laundry.  No, I don't want you to cook for me.  No, I don't want to eat upstairs, I'm going to watch a movie on my laptop while I eat.  No, I don't eat breakfast in the morning before I leave for work (I eat it after work.)  No, I don't want you to drive me to all of my errands.  (For that last one, it's really a case of, I don't want her with me while doing all of my errands.)  No, I don't particularly like red grapes, or eat much white bread.

And then there's the scheduling things.  I'm sort of afraid this is going to turn into one of those situations where I have to report my wherabouts at all times.  At 26 years old, I'm not planning to make those phone calls that I made when I was 12.  I don't actually know what time I'll be home after work.  It depends on if I decide to do some errands.  Later this week, I won't be home until late in the evening, I'm meeting L. for a final evening together - dinner and a movie and just some time together before she leaves the country.  On Thursday nights I come home, but then I go right back out.

Sigh.

It's quite the experience living with your chatty, nosy, eighty year old grandmother when you're already an independent adult.  Especially an independent adult who places a huge degree of value on both independence and privacy.

And I haven't even mentioned all the quirks of the less than well maintained house.  The toilet that sometimes runs, so you have to watch it and push this thing inside down to make it stop.  The floor drain that starts to back up while doing the laundry, so you need to watch that too (guess my days of throwing a load of sheets into the washer before work and into the dryer when I get home are over.)  The basement bathroom that doesn't have a shower at the moment, only a sink and toilet, but makes me nervous every time I go to use it, because it doesn't have a door at the moment either (hopefully my dad is going to rectify that this week sometime.)  The furnace that comes on and goes off every twenty minutes or so with a bang that sounds like someone dropping several metal cookie sheets loudly on the floor.

I'm so looking forward to the date in April by which time I'll again have a car.

I can taste the freedom that that will give.

In the meantime, it's only a few days old, but it's already quite the experience.