I’m still managing to get some work done at work, although my head is in the clouds a lot of the time these days.
The biggest distractor is definitely moving and all that it entails (including selecting & purchasing appliances & carpet, arranging insurance, keeping tabs on paperwork, packing the current house, arranging movers, etc.; I will blog soon on how I’m keeping all of this organized so I’ll stay sane). We close on our house in 9 days, and we move in 12. I’m starting to feel panicked that we won’t be ready, or that something will go really, really wrong. This would be consistent with our moving track record.
Flashback to Summer 2005… Two weeks before we moved last time, I caught viral bronchitis from a family member. A week later I was still sick when Hubby (who was then just “Boyfriend”) returned to his home country in order to attend his younger sibling’s graduation. The last week, I finished the rest of the packing at home and in my office, held a garage sale, drove back and forth to the moving truck for two days’ straight (long story, but the gist is that we couldn’t afford to park it on the street in front of our house), and packed the moving truck in 100+ degree heat. The night we packed the truck I ended up in the emergency room unable to catch my breath between coughing fits. They patched me up with a bunch of steroids but also issued some hilarious instructions: “The medication will keep you from sleeping, but go home, stretch out on the couch, and don’t do anything for at least 3-4 days!” This was hilarious because I’d packed my couch in the moving truck that very afternoon, was sleeping on my yoga mat on the floor, and knew that I had to start driving the 900 mile trip to Current City about 30 hours after the trip to the ER. After one decent relaxing day in Old City (e.g., taking things to the recycling drop-off, Goodwill, and figuring out what to do with the stuff that wouldn’t fit in the car but hadn’t made it into the moving van), I then drove for 1.25 days with anxious kitties who wanted to be at home instead of in their carrying bags in the car. I picked up Middle Brother on the way, and Middle Brother’s dog made the anxious kitties anxiety turn into terror. The rest of the family met us in New City, and spent 2 days unpacking the moving truck and trying to find basic essentials like shower curtains. It was still 90+ degrees for all of this.
This was really, really not fun, and I’m so incredibly glad that our new house is only 90 minutes away from our current home. If nothing else, this will be way easier on the cats! There’s still a lot of room for error and anticipatory stress:
- I’m going home this weekend for a family-friend event, and my mom has had bronchitis for the last week. I’m tempted to sleep in the car in order to avoid the germs.
- While I’m at home over the weekend, Hubby will be responsible for keeping up with the packing. It will be interesting to see how this goes, as Hubby is a huge soccer fan, and Euro 2008 is currently underway. If he can pack while watching soccer, things will probably be okay, but I’m skeptical about how much packing will actually be accomplished during the matches.
- We’re almost out of boxes and are entirely out of packaging tape. I’m going to get the tape this afternoon, but Hubby will be on the hook for a box run over the weekend. It’s unclear how this will work with the soccer schedule.
- Next week I have to take an overnight trip to New City for a grantwriting workshop I’ve already completed. I’m hoping to bring stuff with me (e.g., plants), as it seems like a waste to bring an empty car. No word from the realtor yet on whether this will be possible.
- Once I’m back, a friend is coming to town for a conference…. and the very next day is the closing.
- Although this is slightly more distant, I’m very concerned about parking the 26″ truck in our current neighborhood, and about getting it up & down the hills in our new neighborhood. Hubby has experience driving big trucks, but not on hills.
Please keep your fingers crossed that everything will go smoothly for us!
