Done, Too.
Photo courtesy of Gratisography
Monday, June 15th, 2026I’ve been sleeping at my house since the last post. Turns out the dogs only scratch at the bedroom door because they want water. Once I realized they didn’t need to go outside, I gave them free range and they stopped bothering me. I don’t think I’ve woken up in the middle of the night since - early Amazon deliveries excepted.
This is a good thing, because the overwhelming easy part is mostly over.
Now, I’m getting down to the nitty gritty bits of this relocation.
The boxes are mostly unpacked. My shoes have found a home. I swapped out the shower head making the shower easier to clean (and the dogs). The trash cans and toilet brushes are mounted to the walls, which makes the bathrooms feel significantly more functional and the floor easier to clean. There are still piles of stuff around, but fewer of them.
The problem now is that I’m getting down to the things where I have to think.
Not big life decisions. Tiny ones.
Dining chairs. Cupboard organization. Garage storage. Where the dog supplies are going to live…
I think I’ve finally landed on dining chairs - pending chair/table height compatibility. I looked into powder coating the legs a different color and was quoted $150-200 per chair. Since that would more than double the cost, I’ve downgraded the plan to spray paint.
I’ll probably buy one chair first to test it out. Or just buy all Four, but only open one box before committing.
Which is apparently how I make decisions now —> pre-commitments abounding.
The house is no longer asking me to move things. It’s asking me how I want to live.
The garage has categories but no system. The kitchen cupboards have space but no logic.
I know approximately where things belong. I just don’t know exactly how I want them to belong.
It turns out ,tiny decisions create a disproportionate amount of mental drag.
The thing that has helped the most isn’t organizing. It’s changing how I measure progress.
I still keep a to-do list. It’s on a legal pad, just like the priority lists I used during fashion week chaos back in the day. Written in black pen. Crossed off with different colored markers. Because I enjoy the stripes.
Lately I’ve also started keeping a "Done, Too" list.
As I go through the day, I write down everything I completed. Or made a substantial dent in. Because dents are progress too.
It’s not always what I intended to do. But what I did do.
Maybe it was on the list. Maybe it was a productive side quest that I got distracted by.
Like the weeds I boiled to death yesterday, which lead to the drastic pruning of a tree in the yard that I hate, which lead to researching options for plants I don’t hate that can survive in that location, which lead to me finding multiple plants that I like that can survive under those specific conditions.
None of that was on the plan. All of it moved things forward.
That’s what the Done, Too list captures.
Because most days right now don’t feel productive. They feel scattered.
A little cardboard here. A cupboard decision there. Researching garage storage dimensions. Debating spray paint color palettes. Finally finding a home for a box that has spent the last month living on the floor.
When I look back at the list, I’m surprised by how much I actually accomplished.
Apparently the move is no longer the challenge. Now it’s about learning my operating system.
And so far it seems to involve colored markers, post-it notes, side quests, and giving myself credit for work that counts even when it wasn’t part of the plan.
The cupboards are still a mess.
But at least I know what's next.
Stay Gritty