Monday, June 19, 2006
IKEA, redux
I can't remember if I posted about going to IKEA last weekend with T. Well, we did. One of the main items she wanted, a kitchen cart, was out of stock. Of course we didn't find this out until after we'd run between the wicker basket level and the kitchen level several times in an attempt to figure out what baskets would work on the cart shelves.
On trip #2 to IKEA (the next weekend), we got the kitchen cart, but they were out of the Gorm shelves and crates I wanted for my room.
IKEA Law #1: You will not find the main item you came for. You will, however, find lots of other items that will necessitate you standing in a long line. And you will select these items BEFORE discovering they are out of Important Item #1.
I went to another IKEA that next Monday, got my shelves and proved IKEA Law #2.
IKEA Law #2: Even if you have the exact location--aisle and bin #--of the item you want, you will not get in and out of IKEA in less than 2 hours.
I had a lot of snafus, including having to wait in the return line because I couldn't use the gift card I had at the check out first time around. They were on #12. I was #26. Ahem.
Keeping in mind that this is the "close to me" IKEA and it's still over an hour away (45 or so miles, but the first 26 of them are curvy, curvy, curvy) and you see I had quite a night.
When I got home, I stayed up late, banging the shelves into submission, I mean, uhm, "assembling" them. They are braced and very crooked. I had trouble sleeping the first couple of nights with them--they are both crooked and right in my field of vision (at the foot of my bed). When I fall asleep and when I wake up, there they are. My closing and opening glances at the world are, in a word, askew.
But, hey, I have shelves! With crates (not yet assembled).
On trip #2 to IKEA (the next weekend), we got the kitchen cart, but they were out of the Gorm shelves and crates I wanted for my room.
IKEA Law #1: You will not find the main item you came for. You will, however, find lots of other items that will necessitate you standing in a long line. And you will select these items BEFORE discovering they are out of Important Item #1.
I went to another IKEA that next Monday, got my shelves and proved IKEA Law #2.
IKEA Law #2: Even if you have the exact location--aisle and bin #--of the item you want, you will not get in and out of IKEA in less than 2 hours.
I had a lot of snafus, including having to wait in the return line because I couldn't use the gift card I had at the check out first time around. They were on #12. I was #26. Ahem.
Keeping in mind that this is the "close to me" IKEA and it's still over an hour away (45 or so miles, but the first 26 of them are curvy, curvy, curvy) and you see I had quite a night.
When I got home, I stayed up late, banging the shelves into submission, I mean, uhm, "assembling" them. They are braced and very crooked. I had trouble sleeping the first couple of nights with them--they are both crooked and right in my field of vision (at the foot of my bed). When I fall asleep and when I wake up, there they are. My closing and opening glances at the world are, in a word, askew.
But, hey, I have shelves! With crates (not yet assembled).
Monday, June 12, 2006
General Update: Of garages and shopping
A few updates:
*T. told me that I could store some of my stuff in her garage. This is incredibly generous on her part, because it's a one-car garage and she was originally going to park her car in it once she got a new door. Instead, it will contain shelves and such for my camping gear, kayaking gear etc. (She'll of course have some things in there as well). This will free up a lot of room in my room and in my storage space (that I rent).
*Last weekend I bought 2 large shelving units and 9 big tupperware-type tubs from Tar-jeh for this express reason. It cost me about the same as two months' rent on my storage unit.
*Yesterday, T. and I went to IKEA. It's her least-favorite "home buying" store experience. It's not that she doesn't like the stuff, but rather that the huge, confusing warehouse chock full of people gets to her. (My least favorite home shopping experience is Home Depot, because there you often need something really specific, and She needed a kitchen cart and some other stuff; alas, we got everything BUT the cart. We found a good one, and even picked out baskets to hold the stuff on the shelves it had etc. but when we got to the place where they are stored, they were OUT OUT OUT of them. That was a bummer. We did get some good things for her house (a rug, bedside lamps etc.) and I got a summer-weight down comforter and cover and two picture frames. I want to make sure that I make my room livable, which currently, it's not really. I figure if I am not sweating under a giant comforter all summer, and looking at my "art" laying around on the floor, that's a decent start.
*T. told me that I could store some of my stuff in her garage. This is incredibly generous on her part, because it's a one-car garage and she was originally going to park her car in it once she got a new door. Instead, it will contain shelves and such for my camping gear, kayaking gear etc. (She'll of course have some things in there as well). This will free up a lot of room in my room and in my storage space (that I rent).
*Last weekend I bought 2 large shelving units and 9 big tupperware-type tubs from Tar-jeh for this express reason. It cost me about the same as two months' rent on my storage unit.
*Yesterday, T. and I went to IKEA. It's her least-favorite "home buying" store experience. It's not that she doesn't like the stuff, but rather that the huge, confusing warehouse chock full of people gets to her. (My least favorite home shopping experience is Home Depot, because there you often need something really specific, and She needed a kitchen cart and some other stuff; alas, we got everything BUT the cart. We found a good one, and even picked out baskets to hold the stuff on the shelves it had etc. but when we got to the place where they are stored, they were OUT OUT OUT of them. That was a bummer. We did get some good things for her house (a rug, bedside lamps etc.) and I got a summer-weight down comforter and cover and two picture frames. I want to make sure that I make my room livable, which currently, it's not really. I figure if I am not sweating under a giant comforter all summer, and looking at my "art" laying around on the floor, that's a decent start.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Decluttering as a Spiritual Practice
When I go back to decluttering as a way to simplify my life so that I can attend to the things that are truly important, it gets much easier. When I use the process itself as a spiritual process, it's even easier. Attending to things on the material plane makes things elsewhere (on the emotional, mental and spiritual planes) smoother.
I decided a lot of things that may, in fact, be completely contradictory, but that help me nonetheless. Feel free to pick and choose for your own use!
*I decided to "make friends" with my mess and my room. Instead of seeing the clutter and getting angry, I'm trying to greet it like a slightly disheveled friend who needs my attention.
*I decided that things don't have to be perfect. Just because I can't get the whole thing cleaned and sorted tonight, doesn't mean I can't do a little bit.
*I decided I want my space to look nice, and feel relaxing, calm, content and happy.
*I decided to always keep in mind that things CHANGE. Everything is dynamic. The room may be neat for a while. Then it may be sloppy. Then in between. Why think of the neatness as temporary and the clutter as its permenant state?
*It's okay to make some "wrong" decisions about stuff. Getting rid of the wrong thing, or keeping something silly, well, ultimately, it's okay. Making decisions incites energy to move, and things shift (and CHANGE!) and you end up with your space feeling fresher and more alive.
I decided a lot of things that may, in fact, be completely contradictory, but that help me nonetheless. Feel free to pick and choose for your own use!
*I decided to "make friends" with my mess and my room. Instead of seeing the clutter and getting angry, I'm trying to greet it like a slightly disheveled friend who needs my attention.
*I decided that things don't have to be perfect. Just because I can't get the whole thing cleaned and sorted tonight, doesn't mean I can't do a little bit.
*I decided I want my space to look nice, and feel relaxing, calm, content and happy.
*I decided to always keep in mind that things CHANGE. Everything is dynamic. The room may be neat for a while. Then it may be sloppy. Then in between. Why think of the neatness as temporary and the clutter as its permenant state?
*It's okay to make some "wrong" decisions about stuff. Getting rid of the wrong thing, or keeping something silly, well, ultimately, it's okay. Making decisions incites energy to move, and things shift (and CHANGE!) and you end up with your space feeling fresher and more alive.
