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December 1, 2006 | Filed Under ordinary | Leave a Comment
suddenly, all boxes have been opened, emptied, re-packed. a shortage of shelves sends most of our books packing. we’ve an attic that ernie shrinks through for fear of bats. “there are no bats in this house,” i declare. the house has no house numbers that are visible from the street, surely they cannot have followed and found us just yet.
i scramble to put-away, to tidy-up, to org-anize so that Christmas can come with a tree and lights and all. i want the boys to glue and clip and glitter and string, but i personally can’t handle christmas mess in the midst of moving mess, it just doesn’t fit into the norman rockwell ideal.
one more week, i’m giving it, and we should be settled, with the exception of ernie’s studio, the desperate need paint in many places, and the problem of having no couch. anyone local have a cool, minimalist-ish vintage couch to give away? have you seen one to thrift? i feel lucky, as lucky as one who believes in Providence can feel, as though i’ll stumble across the perfect couch in pristine condition, for under $75. i pretty much loathe thrifting with the kids in tow. i like to rummage through everything in the store and they just don’t have the endurance. our hunt for the perfect couch is burning them out.
my mother talks of baking cookies. i buy cookie cutters. i stay up late watching a cookie baking marathon on the food network. we throw together a boring batch of chocolate chip cookies and eat them hot.
too long without a home and we are still feeling it. most is still unfamiliar: the lights of this street and the sound of the traffic, the awkward place at the curb to roll the trash can, the way the house still smells of older people when we come in the door, the trick of the studio doorknob, the useful delight of a dishwasher, the quirk of the shower, the puddling of the driveway, the unlived-in living room, and the placement of outlet and lightswitch.
But what’s the use of wearing umbrellas round one’s knees?