27 July, 2012

From my NEW office!

It's 3 o'clock and I have finally finished moving into and arranging my new office.  Light!  Natural light!!  Fresh air!  I might even get an orchid for the window sill.  I am happy.

I have turned a corner these past couple of days.  My hives are on the run - practically gone!  The golf tournament and reunion dinner has been driving me crazy and I finally had to make a decision.  I gave an ultimatum to the group - speak up now or it's too late.  I have gotten a couple more but I am going to have to call the golf course and caterer on Monday and change things drastically.  First of all it was suggested to me that 5 foursomes would be a good number and in fact, if I don't count myself (which is another sigh of relief since I was NOT looking forward to showing everyone how bad I am) we have only two foursomes.  Eight people when I was expecting 20!  Further, I had booked with the caterer and said we would be expecting a minimum of 40 people.  We have 22.  I suspect we'll have to lose our deposit.  I am going to email everyone - all 26 of them - on Monday after I talk to the caterer and golf course and let them know that we will be meeting in the restaurant and everyone can order off the menu.  It's a shame David has to lose his deposit but really, I did everything I could.  There is a multi-class picnic this weekend and I suspect it has stolen some of our thunder.  Ah well.  Now that I've made those decisions I feel as if a weight has been lifted.  I will feel better when I make those phone calls.  Maybe I'll do it tomorrow instead of Monday.

Yesterday I was working from home, since I had no office, and I was doing a little housework.  I have been thinking a lot about moving in November when my lease is up - maybe October.  Since this situation is now going to be going on for probably another year, there is no reason for me to stay in this bad apartment.  I want to find a nicer, quieter place.  And I have done a little bit of searching and realize that if I want the space I have now I couldn't really afford to live in an urban area, or not a nice one.  As I was vacuuming my office I was thinking about how much I hate that reclining chaise my ex-husband gave me and how little time I actually spend in that office.  If I get rid of these things I don't use I will be quite comfortable in a smaller, thus nicer, place!  I can get rid of that HUGE and heavy oak roll top desk and get something smaller and more ladylike.  Get rid of that gigantic dining room table I've been hauling around for years and get something cute and small.  And my books.  There is no reason in the world for me to keep hauling those around either.  The only time I touch them is when I move them!  I will keep the reference volumes and sell all the novels.  If I want to read one sometime I will download it to my iPad!

This is such a revelation.  How do we get so stuck?  Why did I think I had to keep all that big furniture?  I will start slowly - I am not going to empty my apartment all at once.  For sure I'm getting rid of the dining table, big desk, chaise and most likely my big purple comfy chair and ottoman.  And most of the books.  I will want to have that all taken care of by October.  I need to check to find out if my lease is up at the end of October or the end of November.  If it's the end of November then it's going to be a bit of a challenge since I want to spend the last part of November in Europe.  But I'll figure it out.  First thing to do is find a building I want to move to.  The rest will fall into place.

Now - here I am.  MUCH happier than I was earlier in the week.  I can't really say why.  Nothing has changed except my attitude and goals.  The hives are still here but on the way out.  Things are looking up again.  Yay.  Now fingers crossed for the house to sell this weekend and then everything will be perfect.

1 comment:

Clayton Steadham said...

Nice one, Shelley! I was so happy, too, when I finally built my home office. I needed to take care of my kid and work at the same time, so I decided to work from home. One of the best advantages of having a home office is that it allows you to have more time with your family. Plus, you’ll save a lot of money because you won’t be driving to work anymore. Anyway, I’m glad you have an office now. I’m sure orchids will brighten up that place. =)