bolson

There's this thing about naming households around here. I never really got that where I grew up and didn't encounter it seriously until I met queen_of_wands. Despite long discussion and thinking about it, nothing quite fit for my current household (of one) until recently. It is "My Messy Room". Never mind that it's a whole 1bd apartment with kitchen/living/dining/bath. That's what it is. I've welcomed several people to it with that opening line, to me it just works. I have too much stuff and too little space and don't spend enough time organizing it to make it too much better. On the down side, it is a little embarrassing when I think about a girl I like coming over and I suddenly realize what chaos I live in. One of those things to work on, but it's a ways down on the list after diet and exercise and the other things I need to work on. So, for the time being, it will remain my messy room.

I decided once that a good way to answer the fundamental question "Who are you?" is to decide who I want to be and then become that. Moving to Boston seemed like an excellent time to throw of the shackles of who I had been in Santa Barbara and start out on a course towards who I want to be. That's a good intention, but I haven't been following it very well. It's still easy to blow in the wind at the whims of other people's expectations of who I should be. Some of those expectations I could fulfill may be very nice looking and attractive and possibly even satisfying in some ways, but not truly me (whatever that is).

On the other hand, there are goals I had for myself that I'm not achieving. The perennial battle to eat right and exercise has made no progress in the two months I've been in Boston. I've been out on my bike once and it needs a tune-up and I should stop making excuses to not ride it places. Saturday I walked a rather long way and bike would have been much better for that.

Ok, enough self criticism. I did put my foot down about one thing I wanted last week. I had a good day Saturday unpacking and cleaning. Several boxes were retired, the living room is closer to liveable. Soon, I will be inviting you all over for dinner and I won't be embarrassed about the state of my apartment.

I'm still not unpacked and enjoying a fully liveable space and this is frustrating me. I've gotten busy with other things now that I've been here a while, and that's good, but in that usually busy schedule it seems like a 'productive' day when I can get all my laundry done. But of course there will always be laundry to do and dishes to wash and that's just breaking even and not making any real progress.

My kitchen is probably my most established room in the apartment. It's functional, though lacking a microwave, and it could do with better shelving to more efficiently hold all the utensils. The bedroom is serviceable and holds clothes and bed, but is full of boxes. The living room is full of boxes. The dining room is temporary space for unpacking things, alternately full of boxes and packing materials, and the dining table is shoved off against the wall.

I have many many empty boxes and a huge stack of 2.5'x3' wrinkled newsprint that all my stuff was packed in. Need any packing supplies or cardboard and paper for crafty projects?