New digs

My favorite part about moving is making a place my own. Today, I finally feel like the pieces are coming together. We made the decision not to put our bed back together because we don't think we'll be here long enough to justify it, so our mattress is on the floor. It looks really nice, surprisingly, as I also hung one of my tapestries on the pole between the bedroom and the living room. It looks almost like a luxurious get away. 

It's low quality, of course, being from my computer, but you get the idea. 

One of the reasons that I love making a place my own so much is that it gives me a sense of peace. I'm a cleaner when I'm stressed, so having a place that's clean and put together makes me feel less stressed. The summer between my sophomore and junior year in college, I spent a summer living in one of the dorms at Northwestern University since I was a Teaching Assistant for a summer program at the school. I remember one of the other folks staying in the dorm, one of the head administrative people, came into my room one evening and told me that she always loved walking by and peeking into my room because it just exuded calmness and creativity. I thought that was about the best compliment ever -- while the rest of my life may be one grand disaster, at least I live in a cool looking place, right?