Still Alive, Barely

I like to think of myself as someone who is good at planning, someone who is good at organizing, someone who gets things done. I spread the packing for this move over 6 weeks, had lists, crossed jobs off the list, and still it's been an incredibly stressful week. There's been NO KNITTING AT ALL for the last two days, and that says it all. Now, at last, the kitchen is set up to a functional level, the dining room has been cleared enough that we could sit down to a meal last night, and I have a load of laundry in the system while I sit and get caught up (underwearless until the laundry is done!)
I think the underlying problem with this move was the fact that this time round there were three other adults in the household. In previous moves, the kids were younger (read easier to order around) and Bill was working and/or out of the country. (While we were in Washington, DC, he once actually handed me a power of attorney and told me to go buy a house before he boarded a plane for India.)This time, it was all of us constantly rubbing elbows with each other and not always agreeing on the next priority.
On Tuesday, Bill and I walked over to our solicitor's office to sign the final transfer documents. After a few short hours of sleep on Wednesday night, the movers arrived and we actually loaded up in a record five hours. Then followed a brief respite. We walked over to the Hotel Belvedere to stay the night. This is my favourite place to stay in Kingston. The mansion, built around 1880, with a 1920s add-on, is impeccably decorated in early art-deco style. I always feel, when I'm there, that Hercule Poirot will open the door to the room next door and doff his hat to me. The atmosphere is wonderfully restful.

Fireplace in one of our rooms at the Belvedere.

Bill and I walked over to Pan Chancho for afternoon tea, and on the way back to the Belvedere we watched the skaters at the market square rink. It was a day for couples. This young man was encouraging his newbie skater partner to shuffle a few steps at a time,

 

 while this couple glided around in the romantic way that couples do on ice.

I made reservations at Olivea for dinner. It being Valentine's Day, we were the only non-couples table in the restaurant. My tuna and white bean salad was suberb. Back at the hotel, Isabel and I watched Simon Shama's "History of Britain"on DVD while I actually knitted a few mindless rows on my Lucy scarf.
Next morning, a much more exhausting day began. The movers pulled up their truck and started the process of dumping all our possessions over three floors of the new house.

By the middle of the afternoon, after one family member had spilled tea on the stair carpet and we had discovered that our internet connection was faulty, I found myself near tears (not all the way there, but close), which is unusual for me. I put it down to being on my feet since dawn in a freezing house (no point in keeping the furnace on when the front is open all day). The kids and I decided to go out for an early meal, stopping by the grocery store on the way home. I think we all felt refreshed with a little time away from the chaos. Here's the view out my new front door.



All moves involve a good deal of problem solving. One of the nice surprises was that my experience with Bell in getting our internet going again turned out to be pleasant and easy. Thank you Bell! So, now I can connect to Ravelry and the rest of the world while I decide what to knit next and wait for the March issue of Knitty, which I am happy to announce will feature one of my designs.