Unpacking & Repacking

I’m having a hard time sitting down to write anything, and that’s because half of my house is way too organized right now and the other half is like… I’m probably never going to because to find a measuring cup or plastic baggie ever again. Also, hairbrush? Dead loss.

I may have accidentally left it here…

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The rules of life as I know them are, 1.) no matter what, you cannot complain about having been to the beach in February when you live in Michigan, but 2.) you can make this face every time someone tries to brush your hair between the ages of one and ninety-nine…

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Because, shit. It also explains why I only own one hairbrush and haven’t been looking for it too hard since it went MIA in Jamaica, and also why my grandmother is a saint. (Yes. I made that face every time my hair got brushed for the first ten years of my life.)

Also, hey! Guess who just got back from the beach where they may or may not have left their one-and-only hairbrush?

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Yeah. The girl I’ve know the longest in the world– one of my very best friends– got married in Jamaica last week with 50 of our closest friends and family because when it comes to being on the beach in February, we do not fuck around… 

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I could not love this girl or her new husband more. (It won’t surprise you that I used to drag her out into the cornfields with me and make me play “army” when we were kids, but she’s retaliated in our adult years by making me get all dressed up and presentable and go to, like, martini bars… where they don’t serve beer.)

It also won’t surprise you that even though everyone else was staying for a full week, I made my reservations for 4 days, and then tried to change my flight to leave a day early because I can only spend so many days sitting on my ass on the beach before I need to be home and doing shit.

So, I’m just going to acknowledge how lucky I am to be able to spend a few days in paradise with my bestie when she gets married. And I’m also going to acknowledge that I’ve done an amazing job building a life that suits me so well that I don’t want to leave it. I think it’s okay to say that. I love my life… I like the work, I like the demands, I like the routine–I very much love who I am and what I’m able to do because of the work and demands and routine– and I have a really hard time stepping away from that for “time off.”

I do it when it matters, and because it’s good for me, and then I dive gleefully back in to my regular life where sometimes I spend six hours of my day in meetings, and two hours driving home in a damned blizzard, and hauling water through a foot of snow in the morning, because look at that face…

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It is so, so good to be home.

Even though, as I may have mentioned, it’s going to be impossible to find a measuring cup, or a plastic baggie, or any other kind of kitchen utensil for the next six months eternity because… that’s right…

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The entire kitchen has been packed up an moved into the entry way. I’m thisclose to legitimately starting the kitchen renovation.

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(Old pic, obv. That floor is totally gone now, and my mom removed about a thousand staples from the subfloor while staying here when I was out of town.)

It’s weird (and a little painful) to pack up a kitchen you’ve been fully living in for a few years (especially after living without a legit kitchen for a few years before that.) I also know that this is going to be such an amazing room when it’s done, so here’s what’s next for me:

  1. Buy a new hairbrush. (Maybe.)
  2. Set up the temporary kitchen in the laundry room… it just needs a microwave and a cabinet for the new sink to make it fully functional.
  3. Replace and reconfigure the cabinets in the kitchen.
  4. Prep everything for paint.
  5. Actually paint.
  6. Install plywood counters and temp plumbing to get everything functional again.

Six easy steps, guys. No problem. I’m so glad I took the time to organize the laundry room and the treasure room before leaving… it’s odd to have those typically “non-fucntional” rooms totally organized, while the kitchen– where I actively need to do things to live every day– is a total disaster, but I’m learning to live with it.

I’m giving myself between now and the first weekend in May to tear this room apart and put it back together in a somewhat working fashion before it’s time to start on outdoor projects again… wish me luck.

8 Responses

  1. Jamaica in February – sounds like a dream. It’s turning into Spring in the south that means it’s working its way northward.

    My mother used to call me over to her at the end of summer, anchor me between her legs and brush the rat’s nest out of the back of my hair because I only brushed the top layer all summer. Fortunately, I was not tender-headed. That would have a made it even worse.

  2. Kudos for building a life that you love to come home to. And for having friends who you love enough to let pull you away for a bit. It’s a good balance.

  3. Spring is in the air, my bulbs are coming up, geese are heading north, my doodle is finding sheds.
    No doubt you had many things on your mind besides a hair brush when packing for the beach departure. I’ve heard if one chooses a vocation and life you love you will always be on vacation.
    Your temp storage seems fairly organised, as well, and temp sink / kitchen / laundry room is key idea. I do like the country knotty pine look of the present kitchen, actually it’s gorgeous compared to ( on the job 1949 plywood cabinets ) but have no doubt it’ll turn out awesome and look forward to seeing it’s progress. Best wishes Kit… on your 2.25 mo. pre garden kitchen endeavor/remodel. You do like challenges and are a true inspiration
    🙂

  4. Give up on brushes. Combs>Brushes.

    I have stupid, thick, COARSE hair (thank you 1/8th Hispanic heritage where my hair is the only way I can convince people I am actually Hispanic) and use a comb. I have been using one of those free combs that hotels give you when you tell them you forgot a brush and it has been going strong for over 3 years. Brushes break and hurt, but using a comb and combing from the bottom up is infinitely better than a brush.

    Plus when girly friends with thin hair ask for a brush and you tell them that you only own a comb, the look on their face is priceless.

    Also, what are you going to do with the green counter tops? A cool project? I know you dont like the green, but it seems like there should be a cool barn project you can use them for where color doesn’t matter.

  5. I think your priorities of organized utility spaces over organized living spaces makes perfect sense–I have spent the last few days cleaning up my basement workshop area, which somehow seems a lot more important than cleaning up the sawdust and general dust that has made its way into the living spaces.

    Looking forward to seeing you build a kitchen.

  6. I know how you feel. I started to put in my resume for the new astronaut class a few weeks ago (because that’s what I wanted to be growing up.) As a 35 yo single woman, I figured “why not?” But somewhere along the way I realized I was actually pretty happy in my current position. I just moved to a nice little farm close to family and with really great friends. For the first time in my life – I’m not planning an around the world trip to escape. I’m perfectly content to stay home and plant my garden, build shit in my garage and drink lots of wine. Life is good.

  7. HI there Kit! Long time lurker, and I didn’t want to delurk to be MissNegative…. so HI FIRST!!

    Onto the MissNegative now.. it took us two and a half months to get our kitchen back together after we JUST swapped out the appliances. We started with a samsung set and had to return it almost as soon as everything was hooked up. Just… heads up? Good luck?

    From the friendly folks at Big Blue (as opposed to Big Orange), Samsung appliances can be hit or miss. 3 out of 4 of our appliances were big misses.

    I hope they work out for you.. but.. if they don’t, …. I feel your pain!!

    Julie

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