Doing Its Expanding Thing
Photo courtesy of Gratisography
Monday, May 25th, 2026There is a street light on the pole in front of my house that lights up the yard like it’s under a perpetual full moon. It shines directly into most of the windows of the house. It’s that harsh cold fluorescent light that messes with the circadian rhythms of birds and humans alike. I’ve barely scratched the surface on researching window solutions beyond recognizing that I need to. This is very different from the house I’m coming from where there are curtains on nearly every window and only a small amount of natural light gets in. I’m glad I opted for the bedroom to be upstairs with the only window that faces another direction.
The bed frame arrived last week in three enormous cardboard boxes. It showed up the day after the recycling was picked up. After putting it all together, there was a waist high pile of cardboard in the middle of my kitchen. I knew I couldn’t live like that for two weeks and planned to take it to recycling on the weekend. It literally filled the entire back of my car to the roof. It was a very satisfying removal of unnecessary stuff.
The new bed frame is lovely. My first real headboard with a nice curve that feels like a metaphorical hug. I ordered a 14” deep queen size mattress - for the extra lux - and opened it up onto the frame so it could do its expanding thing.
It didn’t take long for me to start questioning that 14” decision. The mattress is so high, it’s nearly the max of Willow’s capacity to jump.
And then I noticed that it was lopsided. Well not lopsided exactly, but like it was too big for the frame. I started to question if I had ordered the right one. It was only sitting in the actual frame on one side. The other side was sitting on top of the frame. I couldn’t push it down, so I used some of the cardboard and all my body weight to wedge it in position. Finally, I got it. I really had to work at it though. It was like the frame was rejecting the mattress.
While I knew there would be an adjustment period with the new bed size and a different mattress, I figured eventually, I’d get used to it.
I didn’t. I wouldn’t. I won’t.
The first jump onto it landed with a thud. It’s firm. Very firm. But firm is supportive, right? Tough love and all that?
Last night I woke up at 1:00 am wondering how long I’d have to live with this mattress before I could light it on fire (they’re flame retardant, I know). It is rock hard with very little squish and minimal pressure relief.
I realized that I can’t live like this.
I checked to see if I was still within the return window for the one I was (not) sleeping on. And then I spent the next few wee hours of the morning researching best mattress lists and Memorial Day sales prices. After finding a very comprehensive mattress review site, my decision was made - I was buying the highest rated mattress on the site.
I took a moment to see if the one I was sleeping on was among their ranks of 400 other options. It was. It was in the bottom 2%. I immediately initiated the return and ordered the new mattress before the sale was over.
I wish I had paid more attention to the timing though.
The old mattress gets picked up on Wednesday, but the new one doesn’t show up until a week later. I could have timed that return better.. Good thing the pups and I still have the option to stay back at the other house.
Back to being a commuter to my WFH job.
Thank goodness I have a small yard. The lack of sidewalks in the new neighborhood has presented a problem with the sprained ankle. I twisted it again yesterday when I was taking the dogs out for only their second walk since the initial “tripping”. I immediately came home and put the boot back on. That’s the second time I’ve re-sprained the sprain.
I’m really struggling with the “rest” part of R.I.C.E. Although, to be fair, the only part I’m really consciously doing is “C” for Compression, with the occasional “I” for Ice. I feel like the “E” for Elevation happens every night while I sleep, so that’s good enough, right?
To make matters worse, because I’m trying to put less weight on the foot, I’m leaning harder on my hands. This, combined with the excessive amount of internet scrolling I’ve been doing to locate a suitable sofa, has made my left wrist quite tender in certain positions, so I’m wearing a brace on that too. I feel ridiculous.
You know what would probably make this better? Physical Therapy. But who has time for that right now? I haven’t even opened the message from my doctor about it yet.
It’s a hard thing to put together a home from scratch, especially when your body isn’t fighting on all cylinders.. There are a thousand things needed all at once. And often, it’s not apparent until the moment it’s needed, and it’s not there. I’m fairly certain Amazon has been by every day for the last week. Various other delivery services as well, each one bringing me the next piece of the puzzle.
It’s hard to picture it all together in my mind. There are some mistakes I’ve already made ahem mattress ahem. There are some things I hope I got right. There are more things I got rid of. There are still pieces I’m hunting for.
The money hemorrhage is still raging, but it’s showing signs of slowing.
One of the main things I keep focusing on buying is storage. Places to put all the things I have. And the additional things I’m acquiring. I’m overwhelmed by the amount of stuff. The more stuff I have, the more systems I need to organize and contain it all.
I like to have my things organized in a way that feels intuitive to how I live my life. The issue is, I haven’t lived my life in this space before, so It’s difficult to predict how that will actually play out.
Last week, I attempted to organize my closet with all my clothes and my brain was unable to establish a proper home for everything, so some things just got tossed in. Today I reorganized it with the inclusion of an additional credenza, which worked a lot better. Everything has a space and nothing is too crowded.
There’s still space to grow, and that’s important.
I’ve discovered that if I organize things into categories (bathroom things, closet things, dog things), and then break those down into smaller categories, (daily use, occasional use, in case of emergency use) it helps to establish either where it needs to go, or how much space it’s going to take up, or both. The real tricks are writing up separate post-it notes to keep the categories separate as well as determining what size container is needed to hold that category of stuff and then finding the right one and putting it in the shopping cart.
It’s a slow process. And there is a lot of inefficiency. There are many times when I find myself getting distracted and starting on another project when I still have something in my hand from the last thing that’s only 10% done. I keep reminding myself…
…I don’t have to answer to anyone.
…I don’t have to maximize my productivity.
…I can go at whatever pace I’m comfortable with.
…And any progress is still progress. No one is timing me. No one is here to tell me I’m wrong.
If only I had a glaringly bright light to shine on all of this…
Stay Gritty