Settling In

I was thinking about the controlled chaos that has been my life the last month or so (if not longer) and was able to see, quite clearly, that although it still looks like there is a lot to do settling in to our new home, much has been done. What is also clear, in hindsight, is how gentle my life was in Manila the past year or so. Orderly and stress free. I went to the gym, went to pilates, played mah jong every Friday afternoon, had lunch with my friends, went shopping, cooked dinner, researched the next trip, did all the booking online, read, played with polymer clay and color, took pictures, wrote my blog and did whatever else I felt like. I never lifted a finger to clean the house other than some tidying up and certainly never pumped gas or had to find a parking spot. Back of the car, front of the plane. Life was easy.

We're not in Kansas anymore Toto.

The only things my life currently has in common with the previous description is that I still cook dinner  occasionally and I have no problem finding a parking spot, for quite different reasons than in Manila.

Here's how I/we've been spending my time in recent weeks.

Had house painted, bought humungous TV, shopped in Vancouver, assembled new bookcases (took 3 days), dug up some sod to create perennial beds, ordered new fireplace - the big renovation in all of this, still in process. 5 different trades have been traipsing through the house on that project. Hired electrician. Visited lighting store, got advice, bought lamps. Ordered greenhouse, interviewed carpenters, hired Sean the Carpenter to build foundation and assemble, redid all the woodwork in the Bunkie - that was Mark the Carpenter. Changed location of humungous TV, had cable wires relocated. Bought TV stand. Returned TV stand. Bought another one. "Some assembly required" fatigue has set in. Pay someone $95 to assemble it. Nice gig but no one wants to do it. Unpacked unpacked unpacked. Unpacked some more. Ordered new 110 volt small appliances. Bought hardware to secure Chinese display cabinets to wall. (Yes, this is ground zero for the Pacific Rim earthquake zone). Tried to fix leaking bathtub faucet. Unsuccessful. Bought drapes to cover back window doors. Bought curtain rod. Installed curtain rod. Hung pictures. Hung Lao weavings. Installed bamboo hangers for said weavings. Stitched weavings to hangers. Assembled shelving. Removed shelving. Installed bathroom mirror and towel rod. Bought garbage cans. Created plan for carport. Ditched plan for carport. Think about creating a new one. Sorted through clothes. Filled 3 garbage bags with clothes, plus 1 with shoes. Still too many clothes, many not at all suitable to new life. Bought new BC climate clothes. Got BC driver's license. Bought a car. Bought new bikes. Bought a sailboat. Got library card. Cleaned the bathroom.

I miss Rebecca the Maid in Manila. Can't believe how dirty the house gets with no one around to clean it. "Why is the floor dirty? Didn't I just sweep that 2 weeks ago?" Howard says it is time to lower my standards. In the store the other day when someone asked me where I was from, as is usual behavior in this town. When I said the Philippines, she actually asked if I had brought a maid back with me. As if. I also found it a little curious to hear that question asked, for all kinds of reasons.

Nothing, of course comes easily. Every little task requires at least one trip to the hardware store. I go there every day, sometimes 3 times a day. I've been wielding the cordless drill as if I knew what I was doing. So many decisions to be made. I have snatched one of the small bedrooms to be my closet, but have yet to find any wardrobes that suit me. Meanwhile the room is a disaster with clothes all over the place hung from those metal clothes hanger things on wheels. Horrible. I turned the tiny closet within the closet room into a shoe closet. That took weeks of waiting to get the right Rubbermaid closet pieces ordered.

However - the master bedroom is done, the master bath just about done and The Bunkie is finished. Kitchen is unpacked and set up. Den is almost there and the living room should be finished by next week (the drywall guy is now working on the new fireplace wall).

I've just about had enough of all this and it is time to Get a Life. I miss the gym terribly, to say nothing of pilates, so Monday I drove to Parksville (12 minutes away) and joined a gym. Met with the trainer and now have a new program and a new routine.  I'm glad I'm back.  Still no sign of a pilates instructor in town but I continue to look. Then yesterday we actually went for a bike ride on our new bikes that have just been sitting there for awhile, under the shed roof behind The Bunkie, after the big production getting them through our local bike shop ordered specially for my blue. More effort has been spent on choosing the color than actually riding it until today. I'm starting to think about the miniature theater project I plan to do this fall. I'm not sure if this falls under the heading of settling in chaos or getting a life but my greenhouse will be delivered in the next couple of weeks and I have to think about how to set it up with power and heating and plumbing. I'm thinking it may fall into the getting a life category as I will be forced to sit down and really think about what I'm going to do with it in the coming months and years and plan all those details.

Cedar-Built Greenhouse - similar to the one I ordered

I'm exhausted just writing this. Too much activity. Clearly time to recline in the garden and read a novel.