Seven Quick Takes in our new home

Last updated on: February 28, 2014 at 8:49 am by Kate Cousino

Seven Quick Takes in our new home 2014-02-28T08:49:00-04:00 Kate Cousino

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So we’ve had some big changes around here. Two weeks ago, the kids and I spent our last night living at my parents. We’re now ensconced in a cosy little rent-geared-to-income townhouse located in the town where my boys go to school. I’m going to jump on the bandwagon and make this Seven Quick Takes for Friday, since whenever I start trying to describe all the ways this move changes things for the kids and I, and how we’re settling in, and what life looks like, and how we’re doing, I find myself somewhat at a loss about where to start. So, to appropriate an awesome quote: “No, no; there is too much. Let me sum up…”

1. I have an office. This is a wonderful, splendid thing.

2. We have not yet made it to mass at our new parish. The night of our first full day in the house, my daughter was ill. The next day was Sunday, and there was no one to watch her so I and her older brother could make it to mass, so we stayed home. Last Sunday, my oldest was sick. I spent last weekend feeling vaguely queasy and GI-upset-ish, so we all stayed home again. And in case that wasn’t enough trial-by-fire for our first full week in the new house,

3. I broke my laptop, which I use for work. This happened Thursday evening, as I was trying to cook dinner, check something online, set the table, and talk to my kids all at once. I found an identical laptop through a local buy and sell group, and got it set up over the weekend with the help of my awesome brothers and my sister-in-law, but it put a hitch into my workweek and left me feeling a bit stressed. Fortunately, my clients were understanding and everything was caught up this week.

4. Sleep-deprived is the new normal. I’m at my best when I get 8 hours of sleep a night. My new schedule has me working from 8 p.m. to midnight, then waking up at 7 a.m. This has meant getting about six and a half hours of sleep those nights. I only work that shift from Sunday through Wednesday, so I do get a chance to catch up, and I do think this is doable. It does, however, mean that I’m exhausted by the time my head hits the pillow most nights, and I am grateful for the extra time in the morning that comes from the boys having a much shorter bus ride than before.

5. I can’t do it all, but I can do a lot. I’ve been separated from my husband for two years, but I was living with my family for all of that time. I may have been a sole parent, but I wasn’t a sole breadwinner or homemaker. Now I have all three roles, and it requires pacing and a lot of hard work. My day begins at 7 a.m., and ends after midnight. It could easily become grueling–but I know my limits, and I’m working on finding ways to work as much as I can into habits and routines that won’t take up so much headspace. If I can reduce visual and mental clutter, I can accomplish a lot. There will always be things that fall through the cracks, but there’s a lot more getting done.

6. Beauty is as essential to the soul as water is to the body.

I decided that I wanted to surround myself with things that feed my thirst for beauty and loveliness. I don’t want my home cluttered with things that are not either useful or beautiful (preferably, I’d like the useful things to BE beautiful. I want the lovely things I do have to be in use or visible every day–which is why I turned those beautiful little Delft tiles from my Oma into magnets for my fridge, and hung the wooden cookie molds that I use a few times a year next to my kitchen window.

7. I won a book! I was super excited to see an email today telling me I’d been gifted a Kindle copy of Cruel Beauty. I’d read and enjoyed the free sample chapters, but have been putting off buying the book because my budget is pretty tight (what with unexpected computer expenses and all). So it’s pretty great to win a copy from the wonderful DarwinCatholics (who are near relatives to the author), and I’m thrilled to be able to finish the book. It promises to be a good read, once I find the time!

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