make your bed!

Getting my apartment organized is no mean feat. Before my buddy Dr. Steve came over, I did what I could to maximize floor space, which meant taking boxes and boxes of books and consigning them to various closets. Several kitchen-related boxes were cracked open because I'd needed their contents for my food prep; whatever food and equipment wasn't placed in the kitchen was placed onto and into my bookshelves, to get it all off the floor. Along with that, empty boxes had to be cut up, collapsed, and tossed out.

I still have a little over a dozen kitchen boxes to go through, at least half of them still unopened. They contain a lot of small stuff-- cans of soup and tomato paste, small bowls, cups, etc. Once the kitchen items have been placed where they need to go, I've got that mountain of books to take care of.

Then there's the matter of the guest room. Last night, I finally began the assembly of the bunk bed I'd purchased. It was slow work, mainly because I was at pains not to disturb the neighbor who lives directly beneath me. Most of the bunk bed is metal tubes and rods (see here), which makes some clanging and banging inevitable. At around 5AM, with most of the bed finished, I decided to call it a night and went to sleep. Got up a few minutes ago, i.e., a bit after noon. I have that luxury today: as you'll recall, my company cancelled the rest of my work week.

For the rest of the day, I'm going to work like mad to finish the bed and get the kitchen as organized as possible. Over the weekend, I might begin the daunting task of unboxing my books, organizing them into proper categories, then shelving them. At that point, the apartment will finally start to look like an apartment.

Transitions are never easy, and this has been one hell of a year, transition-wise. By the end of this month, I'm hoping that things will have started to become more stable, and that life will have begun to feel like life again.


_