Space, The Final Frontier

You know the rule about how the time to complete a task will expand to fill whatever amount of time happens to be available? It's the same rule that had us all cramming in college on the last night before an exam or a paper was due, even though we'd known about the deadline for weeks or even months before.

I think the same rule applies to space. Almost exactly one month ago, the movers arrived in NoCal with all of my stuff. The very same amount of stuff that fit (quite comfortably) into quite a tiny apartment on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. Barely 30 days later, my things and I have managed to ooze like jelly into every last room, corner and crevice of my new place -- which, by the way, is TWICE as big as my humble NY pied-a-terre.

In New York, I had a sink in my bathoom, but literally no counterspace save for a tiny strip of granite that ran behind the sink, up against the wall. In my new place, I have oodles of bathroom counterspace and suddenly, bottles and tubes and beauty accessories of all shapes and sizes have found their way onto the countertop to fill the open space and I have no idea where they all came from. They must be multiplying in the warm, sunny California climate.

I did buy a couple of pieces of furniture (like a desk and a kitchen table), but those aside, I still seem to have managed to occupy twice the space I had previously in record time. As I was re-arranging a closet today, I stood back, scratched my head and thought, "How did I ever fit this in my place in Manhattan?"

I'm definitely not complaining... it is such a treat to have a little bit more room. Excuse me while I go spread out and make pretend snow angels on the floor in my living room.