Still Settling In

Moving In

As many of you know, moving is a lot of work. Earlier this week I did some research on Queen Victoria as a writer. It was very common in the Victorian Era for people to have very fancy writing sets, and I thought it would be fun to focus on writing as a subject since it's something I'm very passionate about. I have done some of the research for that post, but sadly I haven't done enough to write a good post for you by tomorrow morning. That means you get to read more about me.

This week has been full of transitional business. Decorating and organizing work took a backseat this week to maintenance and phone calls...lots of phone calls. Sadly, our favorite Washington bank has no branches in California, so we opened a new account last week. Like many fine folks these days, we have several payments that come automatically out of our checking account each month. This is great, EXCEPT when you move and have to open a new account.

Phone Calls

I realized a couple of days ago that I just couldn't put off the phone calls any longer. With $34 left in our old account and no way to get funds in there before the 7th, which is when our car insurance autodraft comes out, I decided to take care of some business.

That one phone call turned into five phone calls, and after an entire morning I crossed a whole host of things off my list...new California auto insurance policy, my address and bank account information changed with all the companies that take their payments automatically, and a renewed sense of urgency about taking our driver's license test (which technically we should have done the first week we moved here...geesh!).

California Driver's License Test

I spent one whole afternoon reading the handbook and am happy to report that I am now the proud owner of a temporary California driver's license. I'm excited, and my husband is feeling the weight of a huge commitment...neither of us have ever been licensed outside of Washington State. I'm so relieved that it's all out of the way. We are well on our way to officially moving out of transition, though we're not in the clear just yet.

Added to the list of things to take care of, I've also discovered why I haven't been sleeping well. Ever since we moved in, I've been waking up at least three or four times a night. At first I thought it must be the trains, which do go by and honk very loudly several times throughout the night, but there wasn't always a train when I was waking up. Next, I thought maybe it was because I was too hot. I started opening the window before I went to bed and turning on the fan. Though that has helped tremendously with the amount of time it takes me to fall back to sleep, I'm still waking up several times a night.

Finally, a few nights ago, I figured it out. Strange noises. I know...it's like I'm six again. It makes all kinds of sense, though, since the way I'm waking up is very strange. I know I'm falling asleep...nearly into deep sleep for sure...and suddenly I'm wide awake and my legs are all twitchy and restless. For several nights I was just laying there perplexed, waiting sometimes for over an hour for my body to relax and fall asleep again. I'd take Advil, get a drink of water, and then just lie there trying to go back to sleep.

Insomnia

A couple of nights ago, I decided not to wait it out in bed. I got up and went to the couch to read and write in my journal until I felt sleepy again. I had been sitting there for less than ten minutes when I heard a strange noise that made my heart jump into my throat. It was my cell phone, on vibrate, in a wicker side table drawer, with its batteries dying. What a creepy sound it was. Now, that hasn't been happening every night, but it was that noise that alerted me to how terribly jumpy I was, and the mystery was solved. I found my culprit....adrenaline.

Yep, though consciously I feel super safe here and I'm super excited about our new adventure, at night my animal instincts kick in and alert me to every strange noise (which is every noise right now). With these strange noises, my adrenals shoot me a shot of adrenaline, waking me up fully alert with legs twitching. I'm not sure what the solution to this problem is, but it seems to have helped the last couple of nights just to know what's going on. I'm really hoping that I start getting used to all the noises very soon. Good sleep would be really nice right now!

Anyway, now you know what I've been up to once again. I've resigned myself to maintaining the focus of these posts on the house and the settling in for the next couple of weeks until the whole house is finished. I hope you'll hang in there with me through this transition.

Until next Wednesday, I wish for you to be filled with hope for your future, joy in the moment, and peace with your past.

~Angela