Monday, August 17, 2009
Musings on Moving, Life, etc.
Following a 6-hour packing marathon on Friday night, we spent about 10 hours coordinating the movers on Saturday and another few hours unpacking and cleaning -- thanks for the help Babs and QG! Yesterday was spent recovering and trying to fit out our closet (which, alas, is smaller than our old one). But we're here and (almost) everything made it in one piece. So far, our only casualty has been a glass cake stand, which was infrequently used and easily replaceable. For me at least, moving has a way of making everything seem so temporary, so impermanent. It's such an odd thing to see everything you own packed tightly into one (not-so-big) moving truck. Suddenly, it's just "stuff" -- and I'm left with a big empty house that feels a whole lot less like home and a whole lot more like just a place where I used to live. A house that, on Friday, will no longer be mine. The only evidence that we'd ever been there will be some paint and a few extra scuffs in our soft pine floors. I haven't yet met the future owner of our place, but I wonder what she's like and what the house will come to mean to her. I do hope she comes to appreciate and love it though; after all, it was a great home to us.
Out with the "old"...
I thought in some ways that I'd feel more nostalgic for the old house -- and I do, but I suppose I'm at the age where there's more looking forward than looking back, and so I tend to embrace change with the optimism of youth. But when I allow myself to look back, I know that this home was an important milestone for Dave and me: it was our first house...and it was a huge learning experience. For example, I remember about 6 months after we first moved in we noticed that ants had invaded our kitchen. Up until that point the thought that we'd need regular pest control hadn't even occurred to us. In our defense, Dave and I had only ever lived in our parents' homes, dormitories, and apartments. What did we know of the regular maintenance and upkeep that owning your own home entails? So in many ways I will look back on our old house as the place where Dave and I really grew up. Where we learned what it meant to own a home, how live on our own, and how to live together.
...and in with the new!
So today I'm staying at home to settle in a bit more, get my bearings...and wait on the alarm guy. While much of our stuff is still in boxes scattered throughout the house, it's already starting to feel a bit like home. I look into the empty upstairs' bedrooms, the vacant family room and I wonder: what's next? Will this room someday be a nursery? What important milestones will be celebrated in this dining room? What will the people building next door be like? Will they become our friends? So, while this place doesn't yet feel completely like home, it most certainly feels like my future.
{P.S. - For some wonderfully poignant musings on a recent post of mine responding to a color quiz in House Beautiful, decorating, and what either one has to do with the more important aspects of life, please visit Gannet Girl's Search the Sea.}
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19 comments:
This is so well written Averill. Moving is always exciting because it does open up a realm of possibilities and new memories. Your new home is fabulous & you have bright futures and much happiness that lay ahead.
Thanks for the stories about your families during the 60's,early 70's. I could just envision your mom. Fascinating time for us to all draw something from wither being there or not. Thank you for sharing. Happy Home to you & Dave!
Wow! Good luck with unpacking and settling in to your new nest. I have some catching up to do as I just returned from honeymoon (swooooon) but catch up I will. Yay new house!
Your home is SO gorgeous! Can't wait to see what the inside looks like :) Happy nesting!
I hope you enjoy this transitional time - letting go of your previous home and settling in your new one. May you hold onto all the wonderful memories that are attached to your previous home and I'm sure there will be many great memories to come...your first Christmas, perhaps that nursery you spoke of, etc...I'm so happy for you and Dave, Averill!
Very well said. My Father-in-law told us when we purchased our first home, that we would always love it. I certainly feel that way, maybe because I wasn't quite ready to leave it when we did...but as you say, life moves on...
Good luck with the rest of your unpacking and "re-homing" your new (lovely) digs!
I love this post! Moving is always such a strange time mixed with excitement and a bit apprehension, and I think you've captured that perfectly. Cheers to your new home!
Congratulations, Averill! I am happy for you and know that you have many wonderful years ahead in your beautiful new home.
Must read the p.s. link adn Averill's follow-up post. So beautiful. You are amazing!
Averill-Congratulations and much happiness in your new home.
wow, what a beautiful new place! i actually liked the 'old' too! you are blessed!
xox
I'm right there with you - a bit more than three months in the new house and all the boxes are gone but all is not yet like we want it. The mounting of large paintings and silk hangings, the re-setting of locks, the garden just like I want it; but we are settled in and like you I look forward to what life will unfold in this structure.
I wish you much joy and adventure in your new home.
So many boxes... What a fabulous fresh start! x
Averill, this was a wonderful poignant musing on your homes...I teared up! I am sure one of those rooms will be a nursery, if you decide to have children...and I love that you're already starting to feel like it's home. I can't wait to see more pictures and hear more about it! I'm so happy for you!!!
congrats! It's very exciting to move up!
Well said, Averill! Moving is so strange. Every spring when I moved out of a college dorm room, it felt so odd to think about all I'd been through while living there, and the next year the same thing would happen. I believe each space we live in and, as Paul Abdul would say "make our own", shapes us a bit. Now all the lessons you learned in your first home will make settling into the second so much easier!
Congratulations! We have been in our home for about 3 years, but we still call it the "new house." I loved the "old house" so much that I kept it! Some friends live there now, but I have so many happy memories there that I couldn't bear to let it go. I have to be able to go into the "old garden" to see my lillies and tulips and trees! Can't wait to see your new house unfold!
I just "found" your blog and am glad I did. It is beautiful, so is your new home.
I'm so trilled for you and I wish you happy times in your new house. :)
I hope the unpacking goes fast for you!
What a great post. Moving is one of those turning point times in life when we are so highly aware of the before and the after. I moved a lot as a child - my father moved up the corporate ladder by taking new positions at different companies. By the time I was 11, I had lived in 7 different houses or apartments. My oldest child, who is 11, has lived in the same house her entire life! In fact, this house in Atlanta is the only place I have ever lived more than 7 years (we have now been here 12). It will be a strange experience to leave this house, and plans are in the works to do that at some point over the next 2 years.
Anyway, congratulations on making it into the new house!
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