When the Walls Close In

One thousand square feet is easy to keep clean, especially when the contents are rather sparse. I wouldn't say living in our apartment, waiting to make the move to Texas, has been a vacation. After all, we are still rising early each morning and going to work. We are still fixing meals, washing dishes and doing laundry. But there are fewer responsibilities as well as fewer opportunities for creative outlets.

For example . . . no house maintenance projects; no Daring Baker (or other baking) projects, since my kitchen is bare of all but the basics; no Bible class lessons to prepare, since I've reluctantly turned over my class to a new teacher; and less blogging, because I don't seem to be doing many blog-worthy activities.

It hasn't been bad, actually. The only thing is that now and then the walls seem to close in, and I become a tad bit stir-crazy. The best remedy I've found for that is to keep busy. Here are some of the activities that are helping to keep me sane.

I'm watching more TV than usual. Netflix has been a good friend to me, of late. I've watched a number of classics as well as some newer, rather obscure movies.

I'm spending more time on the computer. I've found a few new sites that have free puzzles, of various kinds, and I stop by once or twice a day to challenge my mind.

I've been reading like crazy.

I'm working jigsaw puzzles. This is the second one I've worked on in the past six weeks or so. Since we only have one table - our kitchen table - it leaves little space for us to eat dinner. Dan's been very understanding about it, but I try to work them quickly, so that he isn't inconvenienced for too long.

I've been doing origami . . . just for the fun of it. I've especially enjoyed making my own origami boxes and gift bags. Awhile back I sent Robert and Clara some cards, and inside of each one was a piece of origami made from paper money. Robert's was a shirt and tie, and Clara's was a dress.



For awhile I was spending a lot of time positioning paper "furniture" on our house plan, trying to decide where we'd put everything. I finally gave up on that, and decided to wait until I'm there in person, and can shove the real stuff around.

And, occasionally I do exercises with my "senior" exercise DVD. I need it after all of these sedentary activities.

This weekend we might take in a movie, since I have a theater gift-card that needs to be used up.

And with Christmas so near, I have lots of shopping to do and plans to make.

In my effort to avoid being stir-crazy, I may have become somewhat hyperactive!

Did I mention that I'm at 36 work-days (71 calendar days) and counting to R-Day?