(the) rest

I’m taking it easy this morning after too many days obsessing over my endless To Do list. Yesterday I emptied the Evanston apartment and Cozbi helped me bring the last bags and boxes of “stuff” into the city—all the files I didn’t have energy to sift through, all the odd-shaped items I couldn’t figure out how to pack on Sunday. My arms and legs ache from hauling bits of my life up and down three flights of stairs for the past week, but I have no regrets about this top-floor unit. The pink is wearing on me; even with my belongings arranged to resemble livable rooms, the color just seems to clash with everything. But I have plants soaking up the sunlight and I put some suet out on the back deck after hearing birds chattering this morning. The crane lifting materials up to the roof of the adjacent block has stopped and it’s quiet. A little overcast. Yesterday I had time for a quick lunch before the cable and internet guys showed up; they took less than thirty minutes to get my service up and running and so yesterday I treated myself to a few hours of HGTV and this morning I’m watching my favorite British crime dramas. And just signed up for yet another streaming service (Sundance Now) so I can watch A Discovery of Witches. I’m going to try to relax for the rest of the day, but it’s hard. Every room I walk into needs something fixed or cleaned or rearranged. I’m about to measure the kitchen so I can see what Ikea’s designers recommend. I’m doing an in-person consultation with another design studio early Saturday morning. I’ve ordered two ceiling fans and five light fixtures from Lowe’s because the electrician is coming Monday and he thinks he can get everything rewired and installed in one day. I got a surprise royalty payment this week and will use that to at least start the kitchen. It’s appalling and even though I’m not much of a cook, I can’t imagine living with that mess for weeks and weeks. The rest of the rooms can’t be painted until they’ve been plastered and the layers of old, flaking paint have been stripped off the baseboards and door frames. So things will be pink for a while longer. But the window repair person comes tomorrow and so far I’ve had pretty good luck with contractors. The locksmith (yelp!), cleaner (Craigslist), and junk removers (yelp!) were great, the electrician actually lowered his quote and is bringing another contractor with him on Monday so I can get a second quote on plastering these walls. The contractor my friend recommended could do everything but I think it makes sense to have a few people doing different jobs all at once. If installing a new kitchen isn’t too expensive, then I’ll make it my priority and the bathrooms can wait till the end of the year. So many upsetting things happened this past week—closing was a nightmare and so was moving day—but they’re not worth writing about. Right now I just feel blessed to have this home and will try to spend this day indoors, on the couch, in front of the TV, with only occasional attention paid to my To Do list. There’s time for everything—work and rest, fruit and cake, daydreaming and scheming. Tomorrow the new month begins and I will get back to work on the novel. Till then, it’s TV time for TV!