I guess it's really spring...

This morning my allergies woke up and let me know in no uncertain terms that it's spring. I'm hoping that now that they know I know, they will go back to bed.

I need to get sleep,
But my head is full of goo.
Allergies be gone!

The morning after...

...was really rough. But that's what happens when you don't get home until 2 in the morning.

But I count it worthwhile. Neffa, that is.

When I worked at Pinewoods I got into the habit of trying not to expect the coming year or session to be as good as it was last year. Because, what if it wasn't? Then I would just be disappointed. I learned that if I didn't expect things, often I was pleasantly surprised.

Not that this always works, mind you...

Neffa is like that for me too. I always have a good time, and get excited by it and hope I have great partners whenever I want them, but try and not set that bar too high. And this year, what with the house being all consuming, I didn't have time to really dwell on Neffa anyway, or at least not too far in advance. And I had a great time and very many good dances and fun partners. I even did both contra medleys.

The most difficult moment for me was Saturday evening. I get very nervous after calling and after performances. Or not always nervous, but I have all of this adrenaline that I've built up that I need to do something with. Because calling for me is just another type of performance, and I want to get up there and put my whole self into it and carry the dancers all the way through until the end. And then it's over, and I get a bit crazy.

This year my two big things were too close together. We got through the GCD performance, and I hardly had time to turn around before I had to get myself together and do my prep to call. And calling at Neffa is such a big deal for me. It feels tenuous. I don't feel that I can mess up and get accepted to call again. I haven't earned that yet, and I'd miss not being able to do it. And for that matter, calling dances at Neffa is an important calling card - people see you from all over and might hire you to call their dance. So I called, and it wasn't perfect, but it was fine. But again, afterwards I had all of this excess craziness to get rid of. So I took a walk and had a coffee and found people to talk with, and all was well. But there must be a different way for handling this. Probably dancing immediately afterwards would take care of it...

And while I didn't dance with everyone I wanted too - a few very notable gaps in that list - I was able to have the aspects of Neffa I most enjoy - connecting and re-connecting, if briefly, with people I don't see often because we don't live and dance near each other.

And did I mention the fabulously wonderful Points of Etiquette were, in fact, fabulously wonderful. I hope we can get a team together to go next year!

There's undoubtedly more to say, but it will keep while I attempt to get to bed at a reasonable hour...

Neffa!!

It's almost Neffa!!! Only one dress and one demo skirt to go on the ironing board, and then the negotiation with myself about whether to go to sleep and get up early-ish in the morning to finish up, or slog through. I think I vote for morning, after maybe a half an hour more of stuff tonight.

But, yay!

The first year I went to Neffa, I was all at sea. I didn't know what to do with myself. There were so many people and many choices of activities. It was almost too much. But by the second year, Neffa felt like a necessity. Now it's one of the times of year I know I'll get in some good contra and a smattering of International dancing, see lots of people I don't see at any other time, have an opportunity to buy good music, jewelry and clothes (maybe not this year though), run into people in the halls, and on and on.

But if I'm going to get there, I'd better finish that ironing...

Making time...

These days I read a bunch of home decoration/organization magazines, my most recent favorite being the late and lamented Blueprint. One of the techniques for getting things done that is suggested for busy folks and procrastinators is setting time limits. I will do x for 15 minutes, and then I will be done, no matter what I've accomplished, and being partially done will be good.

And what do you know, I think it works.

I got home just before 10pm from Swarthmore this evening, in need or protein, and not wanting to do much around the house. So I ate something to get up my energy and set a time limit. I would work on unpacking books, etc. upstairs until 11pm, and then I would stop. And just setting that limit forced me to get started and make some small decisions that will enable me to pick up the task, keep working and not find it so daunting as the prospect of unpack-every-book-and-put-them-on-the-shelves. Now.

I will try to make a habit out of this concept. Some nights it will be 15 minutes; some nights, an hour or two. But this will help me keep working, and yet still have time to read, do the mundane tasks of dishes and laundry, and pop the bubbles on the bubble wrap...

Holi-daze

Tonight I feel little energy for more than sitting here and popping bubble wrap.

When you're creating a community quilt, there's always this enormous pressure to get it done before the wedding, or before the baby is born. If you wait until after the big event, the impetus to get it done disappears almost instantly. I fear this happening with the house...

It's still Passover, but the big event, the first two sedars, my first dinners at my house, are over. I'm not expecting company for a while. And while a ton has gotten done, including much done by my very patient family this weekend, the tasks are still mountainous, and I don't want to lose momentum.

I think I won't (I hope I won't), but between Neffa and the Rochester Ball, I won't have solid weekend time for a bit. But a little each day, I can do it...

Tonight I tackle books! Wish me luck, or better yet, come keep me company some evening or weekend...

Boxed out...

Holiday is fast approaching, and I don't think I can ever be ready. Well, holiday will be ready in that we can manage to make all of the food, etc., but I fear my house will not be ready, at least not to my standards.

I have this utter fantasy that by this time all of the books should be on the shelves, every dish washed and placed in the appropriate spot, everything stowed, everything neat and tidy. This is not the state this house is in. Rather it's littered with boxes, though not nearly as many as before, and pieces waiting to be done that individually don't take up much time, but still there's been no time.

And the lists still seem endless - errands, chores, projects, unpacking, and of course, the non-house-related items like getting ready for Neffa, writing two dance programs, paying bills, going to the library, sleeping...

But for tonight I will abandon fantasy and cope with the reality that is downstairs waiting for me. And I'll wash another load and empty another box before bed.

Turning the corner...

Tonight it feels possible that I may someday finish unpacking.

What helped get me there is the amount of stuff I've unpacked, washed and put away, but also that tonight the boxes got broken down and taken off, ready for recycling day on Saturday, and the paper deposited in the paper bins at the church around the corner.

George and Paul came over tonight and helped me with a bunch of stuff. As of tonight:

-The loveseat is now on the 3rd floor. I'm toying with the idea of putting the TV up there too and creating a movie-watching nest. The stereo will stay in Bear's room,
-The dining room table has legs which are attached and leaves which fit. And with that, I now have a staging area for more stuff.
-Many of the texas boxes are unpacked and the items unwrapped (and on the dining room table). The fireplace tools and screen are out and by the fireplace.
-Grandma's linens are now in the breakfront bottom drawer. Mine will go in the other chest.
-The teapots are starting to populate the open shelves of that smaller breakfront. The rest will go there as well. My tea set and the sugar and creamer sets will go in the shallow dining room cabinet, once there are shelves.
-All or most of my kitchen stuff is found and washed and put away. The notable exception are the trays and pans and cookie sheets, but I know where that box is and where the stuff is going.

Now that it's not Monday, I've hit the unproductive part of the week. I'm going to try and leave Swarthmore expediently tomorrow, and maybe not stay for the dance on Wednesday so I can get stuff done. Now that there's a light at the end of the tunnel, I have momentum and want to keep working.

Alas, poor Irving...

Irving was the name of the latest mouse I had in my apartment. He resisted all of the poison and traps the exterminators put under my kitchen radiator and stove. He resisted all of my entreaties to leave. And apparently he decided to come with me to the new house. He's not staying, and come trash day, he's leaving Mount Airy for good. George and Paul tell me I need a cat.

I started a post last night, but was too tired to make it coherant. I use this time to write while the latest batch of dishes is drying downstairs.

It's been a good weekend, primarily full of errands and dish washing. I completed my Saturday list of things, made it to Home Depot this morning looking for screws and a bracket for the breakfront, but completely forgot about the doorbell. But the main activity of the weekend has been dishwashing. And at last, thanks to Eleanor's help, the cabinets are nearing full, and the boxes are getting emptied. Things will be no near perfect for Passover, but at last I've made some serious inroads.

One of my latest obsessions these years has been with tableware - china, serving pieces, unusual fancy utencils. Among the things that got unwrapped and washed today were the various pieces of my grandmother's good set of meat dishes, which we also had at home and used as our every day meat dishes:



Our version of this was faded and minus the gold rims from many cycles in the dishwasher. Grandma's are in great shape having never seen the inside of a dishwasher (I think I only saw the inside of their dishwasher once).

I never thought very much about whether I liked or disliked these plates. They were just normal and familiar. And fine. Now facing dinner for a dozen, I found myself counting place settings today. And coming up short.

It was a service for 12, but I only have 11 dinner plates and 10 soup bowls. And I'm fairly convinced that I have all or most of the dessert plates, but they must be in another box. All of the salad plates, saucers and berry bowls check in, with the gravy boat, platter and vegetable bowl. I have the sugar and creamer, and the cups are among the next things to get washed and counted.

So like anyone might, I checked Replacements and ebay for the missing pieces. No dinner plates to be had (I just need one!). Bowls and dessert plates, no problem. I might pick them up. I'm still thinking about it.

The style these days is to not necessarily match all of your pieces. Something relatively plain with white and grey would work, or just plain white, or a white on white pattern. If I wanted to get anything pink, a solid pink or pink-rimmed plate in the same color way would work for layering.

And while it's not the set I would choose today if I were registering for china, I'm happy to have it and use it this holiday.

And if you come across a dinner plate, send it my way.

Being productive...

Tonight Rachel and Ronnie came over and made life a lot easier. We used our sheer brute strength to shift some furniture, including swapping the (former) kitchen table for the as yet unconstucted ikea drop-leaf. We moved around furniture in the upstiars parlour and discussed how to arrange the craft room. We ate cake.

Rachel and I stated putting together the dropleaf table, but hit a few snags - not insurmountable, but the screws the secure the hinges to the top are not going in well. Tomorrow I will see if I can buy a similar product and finish the job.

Tomorrow is a day of errands and house stuff. In the morning I have a pile of stops:

• Repair shop in Collingdale to see what they can do for Jennifer and Steven's old KitchenAid
• Salvation army to drop off some stuff
• Bank to deposit my latest movie check and change my address
• Streets department to pick up recycling bins
• Line's mother's house to peruse available books, etc.
• Hardware store for screws for the table - see above

After all of the errands, Eleanor is going to come over and help out with some stuff. The major tasks tomorrow are finishing the kitchen table, and then getting as much washed and put away as possible on the 1st floor, including moving empty boxes and some other stuff into the basement.

Also a priority this weekend - assemble the dinig room table, shim the bookshelvs on the 2nd floor, and secure the top of the breakfront to the bottom. I think I know where the shims are. Maybe that's a before-bed project.

Random; house

Writing this blog is a good thing for many reasons, but one of the unintended things that has come of it is a pressure to post almost daily, and get it in by midnight. This creates a schedule, or an imperative almost, to be logged on and ready to write before midnight. With this kind of parameter, it's easier for me to get things done, and say, okay, I will do house thing from the moment I get home from Swarthmore and be done in time to log in before midnight.

This works in the early evening too. I get home about 5:45. On Thursdays I have to leave at 6:30 to head south. That leaves a brief gap, but with a clear start and end time, off I go. Today in the gap time I put dishes away, washed more dishes, made dinner, unpacked a box, ate dinner, got class stuff together and left. Not bad for 45 minutes.

I've read that if you have a task or chore you don't like doing, or regularly put off, if you create these time parameters, things go better. So if you don't like to clean, like me, you say, okay, I will clean for 1 hour, and get as much done in the hour as you can. This works well for me. If I have too much open-ended time, I get less done. This is why I will never work at home.

Unrelated decision: no more hiding things - keeping them wrapped up, saving them for the right time, not using them because they are too good. Tonight in one of my boxes of kitchen stuff were some plates that I bought a few years ago and kept wrapped up because I had no place to store them in the open, but also because they were too nice to use. If I'm not going to use it, or at lease look at it out in the open, I shouldn't have it.

Think of how nice this will look as a centerpiece, or under some lovely asparagus or clementines.

This is the fun part of playing house.

Back into the dance of things...

As Neffa is only two weeks away, it was more than time for Scott and I to plan our ECD session (Satuday, 8pm, Middle School Dance Hall. Be there.). We talked in brief Sunday night, and Monday I started going through materials and making lists. It was wonderful. Before that evening I felt that I'd hit a dance plateau - there were no new dances, and old ones were either uninteresting, or over done [by me]. Not so!

As I was going through books and notes, all of the sudden there was this whole list of dances that were jotted down in my notes, or the tune was in a binder, or it was there somewhere in the back of my brain, lying in wait, saying, "pick me, pick me." Dances for Amherst and Camp, and for the GCD new dance try-out session coming up in June.

I knew I was in this all-house-all-the-time mode, but it was good to be drawn back into this other world that I love, to be excited about the next program so I can pull out one or two of these potential gems.

It's not that the house is no longer primary. Indeed, I can't wait to pull it into shape so I can really enjoy it. But the house was part of the dance joy in some ways. There I was in my parlour, sitting in my grandmother's chair at the drum table in the window, perusing my notebooks, jotting down ideas. And it felt great. Right choice, Joanna.

Creeping along...

Just a quick post as my head is mostly in dance mode, the hour is creeping up on me, and there are still dishes to wash before bed.

-Tonight I managed to put away all of my clothes and stow the linens in my other dresser (the jewelry, etc. that used to be in there will now live in the dressing table; the table linens will live in one of the breakfronts.
-I distributed my hanging clothes among the closets. All except the ballgowns are sideways in the narrow spaces in all of the 2nd floor closets. The ball gowns get the exalted 3rd floor hall closet - the only one deep enough for modern hangers. The clothes are roughly divided by closet into categories - ball gowns, work clothes, dance clothes, jackets, costumes, and other. I shouldn't wonder if a lot of the other category of clothing actually needs to be out-boxed, or simply taken away.
-I decided to swap the kitchen table for the as yet unconstructed Ikea drop-leaf table. There's plenty of room in the craft room for the big, solid kitchen table. That will be my work surface while all of the stamp boxes live on the desk. The dropleaf table will be perfect in the kitchen. It will provide a very necessary work surface, but by simply folding down the leaves, it will provige easy access to the shelves along the wall. I think Friday will be the day of that swap/table construction.
-I am still in a dither about how to arrange the furnitue in the upstairs parlour. I think the drum table will get moved next to the bookcases in the corner and near the outlets and phone jack to serve as desk. I'm going to try moving the futon into the bay, and who knows what with the loveseat. I need consultations about this, and about where to set up the stereo.
-I've made the decision to get rid of a bunch of mugs. I am a single person living alone. I don't need more than two dozen assorted mugs. I'm not sure that anyone does. I think my travels this Saturday to get recycling bins and run the inevitable errand will include a trip to the Salvation Army to drop off some stuff...
-More dishes washed. Another box of dishes opened and ready for washing. The washing task makes me want to invest in one of those portable dishwashers. Home Depot has one for $469...

So, creeping along, but doing things. Now a little more dance stuff, a few more dishes, and then bed.

Time lag...

Why does everything take about seventy-five times as long as I think it should? I feel like I should be able to unpack and set up this house in no time flat, but no, it doesn't really work like that.

Friday night the Texas furniture finally arrived. Mostly intact, even. Arlene sent, among other things, two tables, which both had their leds removed for ease of transport (and lots of great furniture, and many thousands of boxes of stuff - the Purim graggers and old yamulkes from family weddings were my favorite). Arlene (or someone) thoughtfully put all of the hardware to re-attach the legs to the kitchen table in a bag and stuck it to the table top. Foolishly I thought that putting on the legs would take five, ten minutes at the most. Foolish.

It turned out that at some point along the way, the bag with the hardward ripped across the bottom. So now instead of eight screws, there was one. So the first step in table whole-ness was a trip to the hardware store. And while I was there, I picked up a hose and a watering can for task number two of the day.

With screws in one hand and drill with screwdriver bit in the other, I was all set. Except that all of these thing that purport to be modular are not, and some of the screws don't really want to go in nicely. But in the end, they all did, and the table is whole, and very useful in the kitchen, if a little big. It only took about an hour, including the trip to the hardware store.

The second task of yesterday involved planting bulbs and pansies in front of the house. The spade broke as I was planting the second clump of bulbs. This is why it never pays to buy the $3 spade. Next time I'll go for at least a $5 spade...

And today's time drain involved assembling shelves and cabinets. You know that always takes longer than it ought to. (Strangely enough, none of the pieces involved a hex wrench...)

But unpacking creeps along. I discovered my mugs and washed half of them. I unpacked the bathroom. I ironed curtains, found a spot for the TV to live, made and ate dinner at home, ate off of real plates and drank from a real glass. And opened many boxes and bags of one sort or another, and even unpacked a thing or two.

Now I am falling off my feet, but I will keep going so as to get things as in-shape as possible before Passover. Less than two weeks. No problem...

New paths, new routines

One amazingly wonderful thing about this new house is that in many ways it feels quite normal. I didn't expect that. Maybe it's because it's still all of my stuff, just in different surroundings. Maybe it's because I grew up in a multi-storey house, so running up and down the stairs all the time is just a return to the way it was for the first half of my life. Or maybe, simply, this was the right place at the right time.

Nevertheless, there are so many new things to get used to and learn; new habits to form.

I've gone from needing a calendar in every room to needing a clock in every room as I have again become a commuter, and Septa determines a large part of my schedule. I have to catch the 8:14 train or I'll be late to work. I have to figure out how much time it really takes to walk up to Suburban Station from my office so I can catch the 5:08 home. I left work at 4:45 yesterday, 4:50 today and had time to spare. Tomorrow, 4:55.

I'm learning to navigate the roads up here, including making accomodation for the now perpetually under construction Germantown Ave. So far no matter how I slice it, it still takes 40 minutes to get to Swarthmore, but I like the way I found tonight via Stenton and Flourtown roads. I think that's the winner.

I'm trying to form new and better habits - don't go to ged with dishes in the sink, unpack at least part of a box every day, make lunch before bed - don't leave it 'til morning, and the as yet untried try to clean the bathrooms and at least one other space every weekend. This will be a challenge as I hate cleaning, but I think in the end, it will be more satisfying to do it than not. I am enticed by the idea of having a clean, open, welcoming space where I can have people in at a moment's notice and not worry about the condition or cleanliness of the house. If I want that, I have to stay on top of it from the get go.

But I haven't yet formed the habit of getting to bed early...

Odds and Ends

I have to admit, it's still a bit odd to be leaving class or the Wednesday dance, and not drive downtown. That's where the car automatically goes, after all. But I must admit it was a real treat tonight to drive home, not find a parking space right in front of the house, and so simply park half a block away. End of story. Now I'm home - no fuss, no muss, no driving around for a half hour. A girl could get spoiled...

Jennifer gave me a KitchenAid mixer tonight!!! It's an older model, and in need of some repair, but I think it will be fun to play with!! I can't wait. I found a place in Collingdale that will give me an estimate for the repairs. Now the trick is finding time to get down there. Probably not this weekend, but next, I hope.

Tomorrow I go even deeper into debt - the electrician/plumber comes to visit! The list for him:

• Repair leak in basement heating pipes
• Add bleeders to 2nd floor rear and 3rd floor front baseboard radiators
• Make the 2nd floor bathroom radiator work
• Properly ground the kitchen and laundry room outlets
• Put the refrigerator and possibly the washer/dryer/stove outlets on separate circuits

And I'm out of money. I wanted to ground a handful of other outlets through the house, and put in a doorbell, but those will have to wait.

I've also given myself the night of of dishwashing as I didn't get home from the dance until after 11. Instead I'm hosting a tea/drinks/dishwashing party on Friday evening to have some company and still get stuff done. You're all invited.

And who knows, maybe the Texas furniture will arrive sometime this weekend...

So to bed.

Moving Day

Slow connection be damned, I want to post some the pictures Rachel Winslow took of my move on Saturday...

When I picked up the truck on Saturday, I was really unsure that all of my furniture would fit, but it did with no problem, including the metal railing/outdoor table frame I decided to take along.

Mom and I went back and forth about whether or not I should keep this old bookcase that once belonged to Carleta. It's an old Ikea thing that has seen better days, but served me well as a linen closet, but that I was ready to part with. But as usual, Mom was right, and it's a perfect fit in my utility closet.

My queen-size mattress fit up the stairs by virtue of it being bendable. Even so, I think it took three people to shove it up there.

This futon frame went upstairs without a problem, though it was heavy.

Thank goodness for Alfred and his collection of moving pads he lends out. I never thought we'd use half of what I borrowed, but I think we used all of them. Thankfully, they are now out of my car and back in Moylan.

The real problem was the boxspring for my bed. There was no way it was getting up the stairs. The possible solutions were to a) saw it in half, b) buy a new two piece box spring, i.e., throw money at the problem, or c) take out a window. C won. I'm glad I was not actually there for this event, but I'm thrilled that it worked.

Go team! Box spring in! Move successful. Now for the endless unpacking...