Notes on Moving
Apr. 16th, 2007 12:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annuinLife has been a mish-mash of exhaustion, stress and a touch of depression.
Exhaustion is due to Dashiell being back in his ridiculous sleeping schedule, defying all attempts to either cycle him around the clock or get him to wake up at regimented hours. Though the latter is hard to do when I'm not getting much of any sleep. The last thing I want to do is wake up at 8am after being up all night until 6.30am. At least I know from mothering.com's forums that I'm not the only person with a child that sleeps like a crazy person. The new place has much more light than our current apartment, so I'm hoping that that will help with his circadian rhythm... that and the fact that the weather ought to start getting nicer soon, which will allow for more outside activities, and we'll be moving to a place that actually has more places to go to and things to see and do... a library and shops and a Starbucks (yes, I'm weak) in walking distance.
The packing for the move has been going slowly. Being exhausted most of the time means that I've not packed much during the week while PreZ has been at work. It's depressing being too tired to do much of anything most of the time. This place needed a tidy-up anyway, and that was besides the packing stuff that was added a month ago when we had to start looking for a new place to live.
One of the stress points for me has been wondering how we're going to get everything to fit. The new place has some more space than this one, but a lot less storage. Both upstairs bedrooms have a closet, and there's a cupboard in the kitchen/dining area that could maybe house the vacuum and some other stuff, and that's it for built-in storage. The house has a basement, but we don't have full run of that as the landlord uses some of it, which is annoying. I remember the landlord complaining about how the previous tenants started taking over more and more of the basement, and when I thought about it, it didn't surprise me, especially when you consider that the previous tenants moved in with a toddler, much like we did, and I think they even had another child while they lived there for 7 years. You accumulate a lot of stuff when you have a child (or few), and sometimes you want to store stuff for future use with a future child. So the more I thought about it, the more I felt that the landlord was whining, especially with the lack of other storage space in the home. It's also not a particularly large house, so the amounts of storage that you can add will always be limited to a degree.
The office is smaller than the room we currently use for that purpose, so we had to figure out in which other rooms we could place some of the furniture. At least now we'll have a separate bedroom for Dashiell which will be nice to put some of the furniture and toys and such we have for him.
We have an order pending for a new mattress, which will be delivered to the new place the day before we move in. PreZ will be working there that afternoon so that he can be around when they hook up the dish and all that stuff. We're upgrading to a king size Tempur-pedic. I might not get much sleep in hours, but the quality should improve with a new mattress that doesn't poke uncomfortably.
At the end of the week we'll put in the order for the new bed we want, as well as some other pieces for the bedroom and living room. It'll be nice to have more permanent furniture than the Ikea stuff we have for most of those functions. I already feel rootless enough at times, living in a rented place, knowing that in a matter of years we'll be moving away again. So buying some nice furniture pieces that will last us a long while eases that a bit. There's nothing wrong with Ikea furniture, it's durable and functional and all that, but sometimes it's so basic that I almost find it devoid of style... or at least it just doesn't fit my own style.
Ramble ramble ramble...
Exhaustion is due to Dashiell being back in his ridiculous sleeping schedule, defying all attempts to either cycle him around the clock or get him to wake up at regimented hours. Though the latter is hard to do when I'm not getting much of any sleep. The last thing I want to do is wake up at 8am after being up all night until 6.30am. At least I know from mothering.com's forums that I'm not the only person with a child that sleeps like a crazy person. The new place has much more light than our current apartment, so I'm hoping that that will help with his circadian rhythm... that and the fact that the weather ought to start getting nicer soon, which will allow for more outside activities, and we'll be moving to a place that actually has more places to go to and things to see and do... a library and shops and a Starbucks (yes, I'm weak) in walking distance.
The packing for the move has been going slowly. Being exhausted most of the time means that I've not packed much during the week while PreZ has been at work. It's depressing being too tired to do much of anything most of the time. This place needed a tidy-up anyway, and that was besides the packing stuff that was added a month ago when we had to start looking for a new place to live.
One of the stress points for me has been wondering how we're going to get everything to fit. The new place has some more space than this one, but a lot less storage. Both upstairs bedrooms have a closet, and there's a cupboard in the kitchen/dining area that could maybe house the vacuum and some other stuff, and that's it for built-in storage. The house has a basement, but we don't have full run of that as the landlord uses some of it, which is annoying. I remember the landlord complaining about how the previous tenants started taking over more and more of the basement, and when I thought about it, it didn't surprise me, especially when you consider that the previous tenants moved in with a toddler, much like we did, and I think they even had another child while they lived there for 7 years. You accumulate a lot of stuff when you have a child (or few), and sometimes you want to store stuff for future use with a future child. So the more I thought about it, the more I felt that the landlord was whining, especially with the lack of other storage space in the home. It's also not a particularly large house, so the amounts of storage that you can add will always be limited to a degree.
The office is smaller than the room we currently use for that purpose, so we had to figure out in which other rooms we could place some of the furniture. At least now we'll have a separate bedroom for Dashiell which will be nice to put some of the furniture and toys and such we have for him.
We have an order pending for a new mattress, which will be delivered to the new place the day before we move in. PreZ will be working there that afternoon so that he can be around when they hook up the dish and all that stuff. We're upgrading to a king size Tempur-pedic. I might not get much sleep in hours, but the quality should improve with a new mattress that doesn't poke uncomfortably.
At the end of the week we'll put in the order for the new bed we want, as well as some other pieces for the bedroom and living room. It'll be nice to have more permanent furniture than the Ikea stuff we have for most of those functions. I already feel rootless enough at times, living in a rented place, knowing that in a matter of years we'll be moving away again. So buying some nice furniture pieces that will last us a long while eases that a bit. There's nothing wrong with Ikea furniture, it's durable and functional and all that, but sometimes it's so basic that I almost find it devoid of style... or at least it just doesn't fit my own style.
Ramble ramble ramble...
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-16 05:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-16 08:50 pm (UTC)I'm sorry to hear about the sleep. I know you wouldn't swap D for the world; still, if there is an up-side to infertility, it is that I know my sleep protocol is not likely to be much disturbed over time! Over the past 2 1/2 years, I have repeatedly been surprised and delighted at how proper sleep has changed everything. The memory of how hard it is to be exhausted all the time is always with me, and my heart goes out to the sleep-deprived. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that a lighter, airier home will make a difference to both of you.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-16 09:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-17 12:50 am (UTC)I did it with Michael (Tresillian) because of poor sleep (his was reflux related), and they use a fair bit of controlled crying technique. Karitane uses less controlled crying, and would be better suited to your parenting style.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-17 04:50 am (UTC)Moving is so hard, especially with a kid. Hang in there! I hope your new bed helps you get better quality sleep, even if you aren't getting any more of it.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-17 06:47 am (UTC)And like what you describe, I know friends who've had issues with bookcases (same bookcases we have) where the shelves have started buckling under the weight of the books... I guess it's part and parcel of them being made of particle board rather than solid wood.
The new furniture we're getting are solid wood pieces from Pottery Barn. They ought to hold up a lot longer than any Ikea piece would, and they're more stylish and homey (nice wood pieces in a mahogany or espresso stain).
As for Dashiell, right now he just likes to get in the way with packing sometimes. On moving day though we'll be dropping him off at PreZ's aunt's house so she can watch him and we can move without being hindered.