I WILL be warm: More waltzing of Furniture

Phase One of my plan to guarantee that I will be warm this winter is complete. Our new sleeping quarters have been arranged resulting in about 500sf of space that no longer needs to be heated. On to Phase Two where I look at not having to wear gloves while typing on my computer in the freezing office. Oh, yes...we're rolling along now!

Two weeks ago my husband had to be out of town for a few days. He needed to meet the other travelers at a rendevouz point that necessitated my having to deliver him to the meeting place.

At 4:00am.

Now, we get up early, but not THAT early! My son and I made the delivery and returned home. At that point it was all of 4:15. He and I tried to go back to sleep, but both of us were just staring into the dark. Then, my mind began to think of my "I WILL be warm this winter" goal.


So, at 4:30am, the downstairs lights were blazing and my 7yo was helping me move furniture! Sure, he's short, but he's helpful. That's all I ask.

My plan involved getting closer to the heat sources. This is a picture of my "Club Room" which had a dining area, a seating area and an armoir (in the unseen corner):

This is a full view of the dining area. Notice the sidelight window.

A quick curtain sewing project was run up so that I could cover that window each evening to give more privacy for. . .


. . .My new office area! I pulled the essentials of paperwork and homeschooling stuff out of the office and set it up in this snug little corner. The armoir was banished to previous office, now storage room. Now we're snug and warm near the wood heating vents and kerosene monitor.

I was so proud of myself. I have used this area for two weeks now and it is working perfectly. The back of the house could now be shut off and . . . but, wait.

As I said in the previous post, I found out just two days ago that my MIL is indeed going to come and live with us. I speedily surmised that she needed a place to sleep and have some privacy. Where, oh where, could I make room? Why, those shut off rooms, of course!

With all my decluttering, all my paring down because of wanting to live in as small a place as possible, I had ended up creating space for another person. I knew the the Lord was prompting me for the last year as I pursued simplifying our lives, but it wasn't just for us. How awesome is that?

On Monday evening I discovered that I had until Wednesday evening to rearrange the house and to pack for a trip south. Well, I did it. It is now Thursday evening and we're in a hotel just south of the Mason/Dixon line. I spent 15 work hours on Tuesday (husband and son put in a lot of time as well) and another several hours on Wednesday. This morning we got out of Dodge and spent 10 hours on the road.

I'm a little bit tired.

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of the newest house transformation. I could entitle the post, "How to Prepare for a Major Life Change in 48 hours." The pictures will prove that all it takes is perseverance, muscles (that are now questioning why they have to be attached to me), and not worrying too much about sleep. When you're faced with a deadline and a need, pretty much the only choice is to rise to the challenge and make it happen!