Julia Child and Hardware Stores

       Tom and I just got home from seeing the movie "Julie and Julia", which is about Julia Child's quest to learn French cooking and get her cookbook published and about Julie, a blogger who spends a year cooking every recipe in Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".  

       Some of the similarities between Julia, Julie and me were a bit overwhelming.  Tom commented that it was very nearly creepy in parts.

       But it also was a bit inspiring, in that each of Julie and Julia relentlessly pursued their goals and their writing.

       It made me feel terrible for not posting for the last week...

       Each day over the past week has been exhausting.  Each day I come home confused about where the hours have gone, but it seems like I can't accomplish more than two or three tasks in any day -- which may involve overseeing construction in our new home, seeking permits from the city, moving some of our more fragile possessions myself, ordering items for the new place, trying to rent our condo before we move out and keeping our home life healthy and sound. 

       I'm not doing everything equally well, however, especially in the latter category.  

       We have been eating out for nearly every meal. I have not done laundry. I am taking Olympia on very short walks, and have been telling myself that this will be good preparation for when she has to start doing her business in the back yard of the new home, but I'm not sure even I believe me. On top of everything else, my lower back has been killing me; I'm not returning calls from friends; and, I'm feeling fat.

       I feel worn out already, even though the biggest part of our move is yet to come. 

       But at the same time, I made a commitment to this blog, and like Julie and Julia, I will continue to see it though. And I really must keep in mind that it is all supposed to be good for me!

       Take my resolution for this month: I do need to learn about the suburbs. If my new home is going to be as satisfying as I hope, I have to force myself to see the good things in my new 'hood. 

       Looking at earlier months' resolutions too, I really do have to look after myself -- eat my vegetables, strengthen my back, be organized in keeping two houses, try to feel good about myself.  And if I don't want to feel summer has slipped away, I have to continue to enjoy nature...

       

       And the fact is that I have been discovering some things about the new neighborhood, even if I haven't made the time to write about them...

       One of them is BIG hardware stores. 

       In Toronto and New York, I did not own a car to drive to the suburbs.  The city-center hardware stores available to me bore a resemblance to corner groceries, with everything jammed together in as small a space as possible. In my new neighborhood though, there is a Home Depot and a Lowe's -- only a block apart from each other. 

       Now I should make clear that I am not a do-it-yourselfer -- and neither is Tom. We believe in hiring experts for anything more complex than changing a light bulb.  And weeks of procrastination can pass before even that light bulb is changed.

       But we now have a large house and nearly an acre of property.  We need things like garden hoses, a ladder and garage shelving.  At the same time, I am trying to oversee the renovation of our home without hiring a designer and without being fleeced by our contractor, so I need some knowledge of materials, prices and availability...  

       So I have explored both Lowe's and Home Depot at length, walking up and down each cavernous aisle and taking notes on what we might need and what we might be able to adapt to our own uses. 

       And I have learned there is a whole world of possibilities out there.  I understand now why some people enjoy going to such stores. Unlike the tiny stores I used to go to just to buy a lightbulb or have a key cut, these are stores  which seem to offer a promise of re-creating our own little part of the universe. 

       I feel myself curious suddenly about types of glass and fencing materials and thicknesses of wood. I find myself wanting not only to buy a really nice drill, but also to learn how to use a circular saw. I even bought myself some leather work gloves the other day, so I'd be ready to dig in and get to it.

       A transformation is beginning...

       Look out world, Brenda the Handyman is coming!