A Short Sabbatical

Sabbatical

Hello faithful readers!

I am writing this week's post a little early, as starting tomorrow I am taking a short sabbatical from writing. First, I'd like to say thanks to all of you who thought of me and prayed for me this past week. I am sleeping!!! My daughter is still waking up once a night, but that's better than twice and I'm falling all the way asleep in between. I can't tell you how much of a difference it makes to actually be getting enough rest!

This brings me to why I'm taking a week off from writing. I have discovered in the past couple of years that I stink at multi-tasking. I am pretty sure I was really good at it at one point, or at least that's what I told myself and others. However, this skill has left the building. Perhaps my hard drive is just a little overloaded, and since I'm not real eager to perform any kind of memory dump I've decided that I need to just start concentrating on one thing at a time and giving it my full attention.

So this next week, I'm focusing on getting my home in order. We are down to the nitty gritty...the stuff that was shoved in the hall closet because it had no other designated place. My job this week is to sort through it all, get rid of what I don't need, and reorganize it so that it can be put logically back into the closet and so that I will never have to organize it again! This will probably take me a few more days, then I will be moving into the tornado aftermath that I'm calling my children's bedroom. It has been a bit of a free-for-all in there, and I'm going to be putting a swift and final end to that.

Sunset over Haifa

By the end of this next week, I expect my friend and I will have whipped the office and kids' bedrooms into shape, and my brain will finally be free to concentrate on writing again. I am so grateful for those of you who read my blog every week, even when I'm not writing about beautiful things like jewelry and queens of old. I am also grateful for those of you who stop by once in awhile to check in on me. I look forward to giving all of you my full attention two Wednesdays from now.

Until then, I wish for you (and me) focus, clarity of thought, direction, purpose, and the strength, joy, enthusiasm, and energy to pursue those things which most need your attention this week.

~Angela

P.S. I had an interesting revelation about the word sabbatical and its close relation to the word shabbat (sabbath). That makes all kinds of sense to me now!

Shabbat Candles

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

What Have I Been Doing All Week?

Hello everyone! Instead of writing about the transformation of queens today, I decided to write about the transformation of space...my new home to be exact. My dear friend has come over nearly every day this past week to help me organize, arrange, and decorate our new home. I should actually change that to say that I am helping her organize, arrange, and decorate. When you see the photos, I want you to know that this is all her genius, not mine!

It has been so fun and so exhausting for both of us. After mastering our bedroom and living room, we decided a few days of rest were in order. We will, however, be back at it tomorrow. Though I'm glad for the physical rest, I'm eager to get working on the rest of the house.

Some of you know that my family of four has lived in a one-bedroom, 750-square-foot home for the past four years. We recently upgraded to a three-bedroom, umpteen-square-foot home, and I am in happy home heaven. Here are some photos to show you where all my energy has been going this week. I'm sure, like me, you will be amazed at what a difference a little time and organization plus a lot more space can make in the quality of a life!

We started in the bedroom. Here's what it looked like the first few days:

And here's what it looks like now!

It's a little bit hard to tell in the pictures, but the bed is now at an angle, and we have this sitting area in the corner for my hubby to have his quiet time. I am happy to see the coffee coaster and the books on the floor near his chair, knowing that he is enjoying his new private space.

Moving into the the living room, here are the before pics:
 

Here are the in-process photos:

And here is the grand finale:

I know, seriously! My friend is amazing. Thank you, my friend!

Stay tuned next week for the kids' room and my office.

~Angela

Juggling

Juggling

This past week I’ve been juggling several different projects, feeling behind in every one of them. I have been so overwhelmed, some days I don’t know where to begin. Rather than grind myself into oblivion by pushing myself to get another well-researched post out to you this week, I decided to let up on myself and take this opportunity to share what has been going on in my world.

First, we are moving out of state in less than four weeks! Whenever I say that, I want to go hide in a corner. That alone is sufficient to keep a mom busy full time. My list of things to do seems to be growing rather than shrinking, though I received some great strategy tips from a friend last night. This past week it feels like I’ve spent more time spinning my wheels than actually making progress. Yesterday, I wrote in my journal all the things pressing on me. Though I risk single-handedly raising your blood pressure, I’m going to use this space to sort it all out.

House Hunting

I am knee-deep in research, trying to find us a place to live. It is a tricky thing, as most people are looking to fill their rentals by March first. Since we are not moving until March 12^th, sometimes it seems like we’re still a little premature. On the other hand, without knowing where we’re going to live, it’s hard to be confident that we will actually be able to move on March 12^th. It’s a fine balancing act, for sure.

I did breathe a sigh of relief yesterday when I found out we will get a decent tax return, which will mitigate the costs and transition time involved in moving. Phew! However, this will only provide a small cushion, which leads to another thing on my list…finding paid freelance work. I love writing my blogs, but they don’t pay right now, so I’ve been looking for writing/editing gigs. I’ve got a solid company to write for, but I’ve been stuck in the goo of writer’s block again. Yep, I know…it’s fear!! It’s all fear!!

Breakthrough

I’m happy to report that the block seemed to lift yesterday when I decided I was going to keep my focus very narrow for right now. The problem was that they told me I could write about anything I wanted. I thought that if I wrote about different topics, things I know more about than jewelry and queens, it would be faster and easier.

Unfortunately, I am me…I can’t just write off the top of my head without verifying what I’ve written. The freedom was killing me! So yesterday I decided to stick to what I’m researching now…gems, jewelry, and queens. Since I’m already building a significant database of research about what I’ve been blogging about, I’ll save myself a ton of time by sticking with that.

Lord, Have Mercy

So that leaves the kids and the packing. The kids have been left to their own devices for weeks now. I have been so consumed by finding work, making these huge decisions, finding us a place to live, packing, and writing (when I’m not stuck in the muck)…poor little things. We did go for a walk together yesterday, but it was cut short by rain and the fact that I didn’t take a ton of time beforehand to be sure we were dressed appropriately for the weather.

It was still fun to get out and do something where I could concentrate my full attention on them for a bit. All I really have energy for these days is reading books to them. My kinesthetic son wants me to play with him and do science experiments. I feel like such a bad mom saying no. He has so many amazing ideas, and I hate to squelch any of them. As much as possible, I’ve been encouraging him to work on those things on his own. It’s not enough for him, but it's all I have to offer. I’m glad we’re going to be on the other side of this very soon!

Anyway, thanks for reading today. Send prayers and thoughts of peace my way in the coming weeks. I will continue to post weekly until the computer gets packed up.

Until next week, I wish you peace and joy!

~Angela