Nothing Crafty Whatsoever.

Ugh. I’m starting to get messages from friends and family asking: “Are you settling in?”  And in a word: no. Two words? @#$% no.

We’ve been in a hotel for close to three weeks now. We left the first hotel because it was not a good fit for us (What, the county health department couldn’t wait another week or two to close the pool?) and we’ve now moved to a larger room in the second hotel. The second one is much, much, much better for family living, but… I’m looking around, and… no, there’s no good place for crafting here.

I wish I could say the end was in sight, but it isn’t yet. We close on a house (fingers crossed) next week, but because it currently has renters that have a lease until the end of August, we’ll be in the hotel until they leave. They may leave early. I’m sure hoping that they do. They’re perfectly nice people, they just happen to be in the spot where I’d like to be. Like, “that’s where my couch and my popcorn bowl are supposed to go, thankyouverymuch.”

Once we’re in the house, there’s a lot to do. Paint, flooring, kitchen updates. Get our stuff that’s in storage. Get the stuff that’s on the boat from the other side of the world. Get rid of the things that won’t fit or we don’t need. And then… hopefully… carve out my crafty space. Can I just push fast forward and jump to that part? That’s the part I’m really excited about. Well, that’s only partly true. Seeing my girls enjoy America and our family and friends is pretty fun. Reacquainting ourselves with the many, many, many choices to be had here. Enjoying lots of daddy time before he heads back to work. Lots of splashing and laughing and silliness with friends.

I really can’t complain about any of that. I just get antsy. I’m a nester. So in the meantime I’ve been nesting on behalf of my friend Sylvie who lives eight houses down from the house we’re buying. I’ve cleaned, organized and labeled the shelves in her fridge, painted an accent wall in her kitchen and gone out in search of perfectly-sized boxes to sort her plastic storage containers. Oh, and measured her kitchen and stood in it mentally rearranging, since her kitchen layout is nearly the mirror image of the one I’ll soon own. If she hates what I’m doing, she hides it well.

Fortunately for crafterhours, A and I speak on the phone or on Skype pretty regularly. I told her all about how much I love our new-to-us minivan and she shows me all of the stuff she’s been working on. And then I get cranky and jealous because I’d love to be crafting right now, but there just isn’t the energy and time and space for it yet. But there are a few ideas sprouting. And I’ve sketched a few things. And bought a little fabric. And signed up for the local freecycle for project supplies. And started to scroll through my Google Reader again. And hunted through my friend’s basement to locate her sewing machine– she’s given me permission to borrow it when I’m ready.

Someday… soon, I hope. There’s hope.