The Leen

It’s been an insane three weeks. I’m…really tired. And also overwhelmed. And wishing that the nearest Target were not so very far away, or that I had a car to get there. (A girl needs to make a Target run after a move…I’m just saying.)

Most of all, I’m really, really happy. Since our plane landed yesterday and Brett picked up his mom and Elanor and me at the airport, I have felt like I’ve had a permanent grin on my face that I just can’t seem to wipe off. I’m so glad to be here, and so glad to be with Brett again. I know 10 days apart really isn’t very long, but it felt like forever. I guess there’s nothing like a little absence to make the heart grow fonder. Or…something. (Sorry. I know; that was really cheesy.)

Yes. So. I’m writing this from our new bedroom in San Francisco. The windows are open, and I’m feeling the fresh, cool breeze off the ocean as I’m typing. Brett’s out at a concert tonight (our friend Kevin’s band is in town from Seattle) so I’ve just been organizing and unpacking and trying to arrange my Fiestaware in the beautiful glass-front cabinets in our dining room area, and, now, catching up with the online world.

I’ve got to admit it feels pretty weird to be sitting here without any at-home work hanging over my head. I felt similarly after I graduated from college; I would have a vague sense of guilt any time I was just hanging out that previously would have been spent doing homework when I was still in school. Throughout the time we were in Portland over the past couple of weeks, and now as well, I’ve felt a little bit like I don’t know what to do with myself when Elanor’s been asleep and have felt vaguely guilty for just sitting. I’ve done some knitting (I’ll have to share about that in another post!), watched a movie and a few TV shows, and hung out with our families. It’s been really nice!

That said, now that I’m here, I’m going to have to find a job sooner or later (which, oddly enough, I’m looking forward to doing…hey, working is a way to meet people and to guarantee getting out of the house by myself every now and then) but for now life feels like a vacation even though I’ve been going non-stop for almost a month, just because I don’t have to work every time Elanor falls asleep.

It’s a little surreal that THIS is now home; that we live here now, in this wonderful apartment, in this city. I’m looking forward to getting through the first little adjustment period of settling into our house and getting things put away. I want to be able to explore the city a little more, and, eventually, to find a routine that works for Brett and Elanor and me.

Anyway, like I mentioned, Brett’s mom came down with Elanor and me from Portland, which has already been a huge help. With another pair of hands, I can work so much more quickly at getting things organized and put away. Basically, there’s someone to get Cheez-its or water or whatever for Elanor so I can, like, figure out where I am going to put all my pots and pans, you know? That kind of help is invaluable, not to mention having someone to hang out with and talk to while Brett’s working. Having her here is already making this transition a lot easier.

Everything is still pretty unorganized in our apartment, although Brett did get a lot done while he was here by himself: he got the living room all cozy and feeling like home and all of our books unpacked, as well as our bed set up, and the futon put together, and a lot of Elanor’s toys unpacked. I’ll try to post a few pics of my favorite parts of the apartment once there’s some semblance of order. I’m hoping to get our bedroom dealt with tomorrow (ugh, I hate unpacking boxes of clothes…hanging everything up feels like a ginormous chore to me) and doing that and moving out all the empty boxes will help with a lot of the clutter in the rest of the apartment.

I’m still working on kitchen organization. Priscilla and I stood in the kitchen for a good while during Elanor’s nap today, trying to think through the best and most logical places for everything. After making dinner in there tonight, there are some quirks about the kitchen and the way I have it organized that I’m not thrilled about but I think it will be fine once everything is put away and I’ve found a groove. It’s always a little weird to adjust the muscle memory that tells you to reach this way for a knife and that for the olive oil. I hope that adjustment goes quickly; I hate feeling inefficient in the kitchen, and walking back and forth across it about seven extra times while I was making dinner definitely made me feel that way.

Bottom line, everything about this move has been so easy thus far. Getting our house packed and loaded into a truck and cleaned was far easier than we expected, and Brett’s trip from Seattle to San Francisco was smooth sailing. Things with Brett’s new job are good, the apartment is fantastic, everything went smoothly with my time in Portland and my trip to Seattle for my doctor’s appointments, our flight down here was perfect because Elanor slept the entire way and I got to read and eat M&Ms instead of wrestle a screaming toddler, and I even got the internet and wireless set up this morning without a hitch. I feel a little like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop and for everything to go south, but maybe everything has just fallen into place so perfectly because this is where God wants us to be and what he wants us to be doing.

Our fantastic and stress-free 2009 seems to have finally, finally begun, and all I can say is that it’s about time!