Accomplishment - Level 1.3

I am a relatively new home owner, and it is challenging to me. It has almost been seven months since I moved into this place, and I am still living in an unorganized, box-filled mess. I have had to replace the dishwasher and now cannot even open the back sliding glass door in order to get myself out to the overgrown back yard. I feel like I am floundering and failing in this part of life.

I took a gulp and booked some help with the sliding glass door yesterday. I have a person coming to look at the situation and to fix things next Friday. That gives me a week to get this room ready so the guy can access the door without trying to climb over my desk. It also encourages me to move my computer desk to a new place to see if I like the other position better. This part of the project requires that I do some other work first, so I have been working on the guest bedroom/music therapy bedroom so I can put some of the stuff out here in there.

I have a week to clear out and clean up. Yesterday, in between reports from my mother and my sister about things happening in our family situation, I dithered and wandered around randomly until I ended up at the movies. I saw Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness again because there were only four of us in the theater rather than going to see Jurassic World where things were jampacked! I am still not all that convinced that Covid is gone, so I prefer to sit far away from other people. Actually, that was my preference before Covid as well. I just am more purposeful about it now. I am hoping to make movie viewing a bit more of my routine this summer. After the movie, I talked to my sister while my mother was at a ukulele performance for her widow's group that she actively resisted at first but seems to be enjoying now. My sister was waiting for the attorney to call about some action steps for my Mom, so she spent some time talking to me about what she wanted to happen. We talked after they met with the attorney as well - lots of talking about things yesterday. I finally got to the point where I was ready to start weed whacking and then the door would not open. Meltdown ensued.

One of the things about my meltdowns is that they often spur me into action. This one was no different. After having my mini tantrum, I decided to do something and got onto the internet for answers. I used Angi's list for the first time ever and got a phone call within minutes for a general home service system group thing. I signed up with them for this version of stuff and will see if I want to sign up for their annual service after this one gets finished up.

Home Ownership Accomplishment - Level up to 1.3!!

Once my service appointment was set up, I decided that I needed to start being serious about getting things set up downstairs. I put together some shelves for instruments and music therapy props. I have started to unpack my instruments and sort them into categories so I can find them easily. I need some boxes or bags or some sort of storage stuff to contain things like the jingle bells - things that are currently loose and that I want contained. I will be looking for things to reuse rather than buying anything at all. I don't have the money to be buying cutesy containers. I just need to get something to contain things. I have also found the milk crates that I am going to use to prop up the twin sized bed in the library bedroom. I eventually want a daybed frame in there, but I can't afford that right now, so I will settle for milk crates as my alternative. I am waffling about where I want the bed. I think it will be best on the far wall, but I am not settled with a decision yet.

I felt so much joy when I started to unpack some of my instruments. 

I have been an instrument collector for many years. I think most of us music therapists are - aren't we? My Dad used to ask me what I wanted for gifts, and I would say, "any type of instrument would be great!" He would go into the local music store and say, "Bring me the strangest instrument that you have," or "Give me the instrument that someone ordered and didn't want," and I would get all sorts of great things for Christmas! I got a torpedo shaker thing, a large ocean drum, Boomwhackers, and all sorts of metal bowls and things that way! I loved that tradition and situation. Once my Dad discovered the convenience of Amazon, he would find the instruments himself, always looking for the strangest things that he could find. I now have a mini slot drum, an Omatatone, a Makey Makey, a mini Makey Makey, and all sorts of things I would have never purchased for myself but that I really enjoy.

Does anyone else use their instruments as decorative elements in their homes? I will be hanging drums on the walls today. I will using the ledge area in the bedroom to display some of my smaller and thinner instruments. I am looking forward to getting things to the point where I have spaces to use for various music therapy projects. Right now, I have an entire set of chromatic Boomwhackers in galvanized metal buckets that I can put in each corner around a table area. I'll make that table area my visual aid making area - where my laminator and laminating film will be stored. I will add another table to my wish list to hold my sewing machine. If I ever get enough nerve to go out into the world for estate sales and garage sales, I should be able to find some furniture pretty easily. I also want to lurk around apartment complexes at the end of this and next month in order to pick up furniture that people throw away. It is amazing how much stuff people just toss out! I should be able to find all the chairs that I want as well as several tables or desks by dumpster diving - AND, not pay a thing (except for gas)!!

Time to head out into the garage to get the dolly so I can start moving boxes out of the music therapy room into the library. Once I get the boxes sorted out, I set up the bed frame and get the bed where I want it, move the table into the room, and continue to put instruments into their places as I go. Once that room gets to the point where there is more empty space available, I can move some of the stuff from the office area in there for the service call so service person can get around the locked and closed sliding glass door.

What will the next level bring? We shall see.