The Coping Mechanism

I have one. And if I have learned anything about myself in this whole moving process it's that not only do I have a coping mechanism but it can be taxed and, really, completely maxed out in general. So much so that it dissipates completely.

I absolutely love it here. I love being buried up in the hills, nestled in the trees. Birds sing through open windows, wind sifts through branches and trees are larger than life. Trees creak and groan in the wind and possess a cadence that can put all of life at peace.

Kind husband awakened early and without disturbing quietly left to run early morning errands. With children finally back on beds and their own mattresses, as opposed to sleeping bags on floors, for the 1st time in 3 weeks they all slept entirely, unusually late. So I woke to a quiet house. I stood on deck in cold morning air with 4 inch socks blanketing feet, coffee in hand. A herd of 10 deer grazed in the dense undergrowth across the chainlink fence as I stood marveling over the fact we're here. I do love it here in every way.

That being said, I am more than a little ready to be settled. We're going on 7 wks of being surrounded by boxes and it screws with the organized head that needs order in life. Life is unorganized and out of place. With a life sorted and governed by baskets of every shape and size it's been difficult to get through the phase of jumbled together boxes of crap. I am used to being efficient in every way. Everything serves a purpose and is functional....practical in every sense of the word......except for the gigantisized porcelain cup I could not resist 4 years ago. I had every intention of selling it but husband plead it's cause and the useless cup made the 1500 mile trek east. So, with cup aside, everything serves a purpose. So to have things all messed up and out of place, along with no plastic baskets in place to create order in life....it takes it's toll on the brain. I have a huge personal issue with being late....anywhere. I think it's just rude and inconsiderate and screams of how one's life is a bit out of control and unmanageable. But I have found that with no clean clothes, nothing where it should be, no way to be organized yet as we wait on modifications to make a small space work for 12 people, and things continually out of order....it makes me crazy. Like seriously crazy in the head. And I can't get anything done on time like this. We're late in everything....from just walking out the door, to lunch, to dinner, to bedtime, to pretty much everything. I have lost the coping mechanism, as it took flight somewhere along the way with about the thousandth opened, dug through box. It seriously took us 2 hours from time of making the errand announcement to being out the door. Something that is ordinarily accomplished in a mere 10-15 minutes. But no..... TWO hours as we went in circles trying to locate stuff. It makes me crazy.

As much as I have fallen in love with our little cabin in the forest it is still 400 sq ft smaller than where we came from. 1500 sq ft in total of living space, which has proved to be more than adequate in some places but greatly lacking in others. The laundry area would be one of them. And the fact the house is completely electric and we possess a gas dryer. Laundry has not been done since we unhooked it 8 days ago before the move. And with this many people life doesn't really work like that. We do about 5-6 loads a day of just commonly used stuff. That does not include sheets, blankets, or whatever else happened to get peed or baby puked on. Usually it's 2 loads of towels, 2 loads of darks, 1 load of lights and 1 denim load. And being minimalistic out of necessity, we do not own enough clothes to get us by 8 days without washing. Sooo.....I fear I'm on the brink of chaotic brain malfunction.

So the laundry is located in the kitchen....the kitchen. I have made the best of it but the real challenge lies in the fact we have no dryer. Soooo....I am hanging all of our laundry on clotheslines, that husband was kind enough to rig up, in the basement.While this sounds a bit homesteadish and romantic in theory It is actually quite the opposite. It is entirely labor intensive. And while I embrace the thought of a much lower electric bill and not being out the expense of a new used dryer I do not exactly embrace laundry overtaking my life. It would be all we do all day long. So we compromised and I found an electric dryer for 70.00 just like the massive capacity gas one we had. I will use it for small clothing articles such as sockage and all underwearage but towels and jeans get hung to dry. But wash being in the kitchen has proven to be another massive issue to overcome. Where oh where do you put waiting dirty clothes....cause they ain't sitting around in piles on the floor.....or even in baskets on the floor. So we made the decision to move the whole laundry operation to the basement. With minimal cost involved hook ups can be place directly below their current location. I found industrial metal shelving to create the everybody closet down below. Handyman husband has finished the clotheslines and is now hanging two 8 ft rods below for all shirts and dresses. Basket life will resume and all will be in order within the world. We will resume our system, life will be familiar, the method we have found that works best for us will once again be in place and efficiency and order will once again be present.

Washer was finally hooked up today in it's temporary location in the kitchen and 4 much needed loads were done. Children seemed to think hanging it all was quite the happy experience in life so they overtook that aspect of it. But....I have never known laundry to be so therapeutic in all my life. The rhythmic lull of the washer brought happy order to life and the intensity of the last few days sudsed away in the routine and happy bliss of getting one overwhelming aspect of this move back under control.....and I feel better. Much better. Like, I am no longer grumpy due to the fact I have a working washing machine. And a vacuum he surprised me with.

Husband and I have a date day tomorrow to pick up the electric dryer, metal shelving, and the plastic shelving I found to bring order to the dirty clothes baskets. We'll also pick up rugs to cover carpet and.....more little baskets. If I ever had an addiction it would be to baskets. They bring order to pantry, spice cabinet, kitchen drawers, kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets, bathroom shelves, blanket closets, clothes, loose items and everything else in life. And with much tighter spaces organization is paramount. So....we organize and children know structure, routine, and order. And my brain can actually think and function beyond the walls of our home.

Internet is supposed to be installed tomorrow, which means better pictures....and lots of pictures....can be posted. Blogging on this phone...while still a complete novelty....can prove to be a bit challenging also. Having Internet also means we can finally order our bed, since it is offered via the web only. The 1st night here I slept on the floor and the remainder we've had air mattresses. Very ready to be in a real bed again and back to sleeping with my husband. Air mattresses can be squished together for closeness but inevitably I fall in the hole every night.

So know that in my absence I'm going a bit crazy in the head as I seek to establish some sense of order around here, unpack boxes and find an organized space for each and every thing.

On the laundry note which brings to mind hot water and stuff....I find myself continually contemplating how we will manage to fill up the birth pool. With a limitless supply of on demand hot water due to a seriously amazing tankless hot water heater we put in our Texas home I am finding the tiny traditional water heater to be a bit challenging as well. It runs out of hot water in just 3 showers so filling a birth pool may take awhile. Guess we'll find out. Looks like we'll be boiling pots of water and crockpotting water like the majority of other people filling pools.

The advantages of this house....now that I've crapped out and vented about laundry and hot water.... Would be the built in bookshelf, massive dining room, the much loved deck, carport the van actually fits in...a huge surprise we never expected, and ample office space. The master shower is massive in size also, given the tiny quarters of the bathroom itself. It's large enough for 2 people to fit entirely comfortably so husband and I have happily done our part on conserving hot water.

Very very ready to find normal here and regain order. Taking the family out here is proving to be a bit difficult also as the spectacle factor is so much larger since the size of the city is on such a bigger scale. People here have been beyond kind and talkative but, when out trying to think through needs and getting organized, having store employees and everyday shoppers follow us around taking pics can try the patience of even the kindest and most patient person. I am thankful though for the kindness of this city and how the size the family has proven, so far, to be a novelty rather than entirely offensive and intrusive in people's perceived spaces. We literally stop shopper traffic wherever we go...some comment, some just gawk and stand with mouth gaping stupidly open, many take pics and/or count....but so far there has been an overall kindness that does not exist in the snobby areas of Dallas when we would visit. Granted, we've only been here a week and our outings have been limited, but so far so good, and I am thankful for that. It's not the down-home cowboy that exists at home but it's not the total aversion that exists in DFW either.

Dearest in all the world friend has planned a potluck picnic at a park in our honor after church on Sunday in order for us to meet friends, church members, and fellow homeschoolers. I love that the foundation here is being built and we have the ability to get plugged in here. Pastor has already heard of us and anticipates our arrival. Drumming husband stays excited over the prospects of getting to play again. I look forward to expanding our life here and being close to my sister-friend. We celebrated our arrival with dinner Mon night and children rejoiced over being united and the ability to play on a regular basis. Best of friends separated by hundreds of miles finally united. Now if only the friends we left behind would follow life would be pretty perfect.


So....that was really long. Especially for a phone post. But we're here and I'm content. Life is good....especially now that the washer's hooked up. And I have a vacuum.