3/20/09 Digging Out

It's still in the overwhelming stage. Just the most basic tasks take a lot of searching and opening and arranging. But I did make dinner tonight!

We're slowly crawling out of the hole. We got a microwave, shelves are getting adjusted, leaky gas line fitting tightened, floor heat thermostats set, laundry detergent unearthed. I have a goal of unpacking at least 3 boxes a day, which sounds like a very small goal, but it's amazing how quickly a day goes by. And it's SUCH a drag unpacking the kitchen stuff! Did the movers have to individually wrap every water bottle??

The plumbers were here today, and admitted to swapping the hot and cold in two bathrooms. Geez! Fortunately this can be fixed with "reverse cartridges," which the Grohe rep told me he's sold so many of, to recover from plumber's mistakes, that they put his kids through college. The 3rd bathroom's thermostatic valve just needed calibration, so now we're up to two working shower/baths.

Last night as I cut up cantaloupe for lunch, Julian sat at the island across from me and colored a flower picture from school. I loved that I could do my thing and he could do his right in the same space, and we could easily chat about the silly names for the colors on the colored pencils he was using. It was really nice. This was only sort-of possible at the rental house, and completely impossible in our old house.

Gabriel asked me today I'm ever going to pick him up from school again. That kid has an astounding capacity to shatter my heart in a flash. I miss the other two also, but it feels worse for the one in school. But I'm starting to feel it for Julian too, who needs more interaction and playtime with me than Gabriel did. Katrina is still young enough to be happy to bop around with anyone, though the happy way she greets me at the end of the day is starting to add to the guilt pile too.

Next week, we get to go to work without the pressure of Friday jobsite meetings, or being called or emailed and having to drop things at any moment to go handle some crisis, and with a lot of annoying driving eliminated. Next week starts the new normal.

3/20/09