I Think I Need Help

Hi, my name is Kristin, and I'm addicted to Lists. Now you say, "HI, Kristin!!" This is what my kitchen counter looks like right now. I'm embarrased to share this, but I have to. It's the first step to admitting I have a problem and getting help for myself.


I LOVE lists. I have to have at least 5 lists going at all times. Stuff that needs to happen at home, stuff that I need to buy, cool project ideas, good recipe ideas... Not that I monitor them all. 5 is too many to monitor, of course. I just like to make them. It feels SO good. And once one stops getting monitored, it's time to revise that one into a new one that will get my attention for a day or two. And so on.


The white envelope is the list I made in bed last night while I was trying to read. It will get incorporated into the main infrastructure today. And best of all, we just moved into a house that has nifty white-tiled counters, AND we bought a pack of sticky notes that fit the squares perfectly! Isn't that awesome??


Yes, this is totally OCD, and that's not my fault. It's 100% genetics so I make no apologies. I have a sister who has a floor that she spends so many hours a day cleaning and shining and polishing that when I spill something on it, I never wipe it up. I just get down on my hands and knees and slurp it up. It's that clean. If you want to know how bad my list making compulsion is, in really desperate times, I've been known to make lists that include items such as Wake Up, Brush Teeth, Re-write Lists; JUST so I could get the rush of endorphins from crossing items off my list.


Anyway, the reason for my need for so many lists right now is that Jay and I have FINALLY moved into a very cute house in San Diego! I was missing for some time, and that's because for the last month I've felt like this: And it's just hard to relax and blog when you're in that state of mind. I was so busy, and so frantic that I couldn't even make lists, which was only contributing to my state of mind. By the way, I stole this hilarious picture from my sister's blog without permission. I can do that since I'm the older sister.


We've had a very exciting month. First off, for anybody living under a rock, Jay got an awesome job in Corvallis, OR. We're very excited about this! Jay will split his time somehow between his office there and his office here - mostly here. It's a great position that Jay pretty much invented and created for himself in this company. They seem excited to have him and he's excited to be there.

As for me, I've spent the past month trying to get The Perfect Move laid out and executed for me and Jay. This involved two weeks on the phone and the internet trying to wrangle the perfect house/condo/apt. And endless phone calls to storage facilities, moving truck rental companies, motels, house owners, condo owners, agencies, and on and on and on.


And in the midst of all this excitement, Jay and I decided at the last minute to purchase a car for me. We got the Lexus I've been in love with for 3 years. It just makes me feel good, like I'm driving my own little Puffy Cloud around town. And it talks to me. And I talk to it. It's Old Lady Blue in color, with yummy metallic specks in it. Since we talk to each other and stuff, I feel like she needs a name. I've never named a car before. Never felt the need. But I feel like she needs a nice Old Lady name, like Ethel or Beula or something. I'm accepting suggestions.


Anyway, I found us the supposedly perfect 950 sq ft condo on the internet, and we put down a deposit and everything, but when we arrived here, we saw immediately that it was going to be WAY too small. Okay, actually Jay saw that immediately. You need to understand that conceptually, I have no CLUE what 950 sq ft looks like.



We were packed into a 26' truck, stacked to the ceiling, and we have more storage in Los Angeles somewhere, so waaaaaay long story short, we immediately reversed directions, spent another weekend house hunting and found ourselves a very cute house to rent. It's perfect. Little backyard for Buddy, office for Jay, guest bedroom for hopefully lots of visitors. We MIGHT have been able to unload the back third of that truck into our condo. Who knew? We're very happy to have found our current house.


So, anyway, now Jay's in Oregon for a few days, and here I am with my lists. We've been working around the clock to get moved in, and out of boxes and suitcases. I'm putting the finishing touches on it while Jay's traveling.



As you can see Buddy is helping me. He is my CONSTANT companion. Poor guy. I really feel for him. He was taken from his Garden of Eden in Oregon, and stuck in a cage in the back of my car for two long days, then carted to 4 different motel rooms, then put into this big house which has had an endless parade of delivery men, repair men and loud gardeners in it and around it. He's an awesome traveler. He will use any container we have handy as a litter box, as long as it's got some sand in it. This here's the turkey pan we used for Thanksgiving at La Quinta Inn. It's still in pretty good shape so we'll probably be able to use it again this Thankgiving. By the way, I don't know about you, but before I check into ANY motel, the first question I always ask is, "Do you have an in-room bottle opener?" If they don't, I don't waste any more time. We just move on to the next motel. No point being in a place that doesn't feel like home.


And now that I've broken back into the Blog World, I'll try to keep up with it again!