Ugh

Taking a break on the last day of packing (the movers come tomorrow at 9 am). Have a carload of books ready to go to the library, but only half loaded in the car, as it is raining. Total books to go = two carloads. So much still to do.

I thought that I was finished with the books I'm keeping

as far as packing goes, but I forgot the cookbooks in the kitchen. There are two partial shelves, so there aren't a lot of books left. I think that they'll fit in a copy box. I wound up finishing up everything else book-wise and came about two boxes short of the small U-Haul boxes, but I'd put some VHS tapes in a couple, so it's just about 52 boxes of books to go. Now I have to turn to the other stuff that's going into storage, like the curio cabinet contents, electronics I won't be using, etc. I have to empty the chest of drawers that's left, which is mostly photos and audio tapes (yes, I still have a tape recorder on my player) and the steamer trunk (which is full of art supplies, many of which are old and need to just be thrown out, although I gave Brenda some Renaissance and Elizabethan patterns, a Hobbit graphic novel, and my fish. She came yesterday and got those, and so the tank is now empty save for gravel and some water, and I have to get the rest of that out today so it can dry).

Today I'm going to go get a few more totes for things that shouldn't go into cardboard, do some packing, take some things over to YKWIA's, including my laundry, do that, work on a project for him, take him to my apartment so that he can look through the discarded books (there's a lot of good stuff, I just didn't keep things that I would not reasonably read or use). I have to get things ready for a Goodwill drop off. And then I have to pack up the books that are left to take to the library so I can drop them off tomorrow. I think I reduced the books by about a third; I went from fourteen shelves to about five or six with books on them.

So most things will be taken by the movers to storage on Tuesday. Between now and then I need to take the following to YKWIA's:

1. Three small boxes of books
2. My library books (mustn't get them mixed up with the others)
3. My summer clothes (winter ones are going into storage in totes)
4. CDs and DVDs
5. My laptop, accessories, and a portable DVD drive, since I don't have one built-in
6. Some purses and bags with their holder that hangs in the closet
7. My fan
8. The CPAP and accessories
9. My jewelry box
10. The remaining plants
11. Food and a few glasses
12. Towels, washcloths, and hand towels
13. Toiletries
14. Shoes and hanging shoe rack

That's just about it. I have two long drawers in my bed, an entryway closet for clothes and a few other things, and YKWIA is going to let me use the cedar chest for some clothes, too, and I don't usually have many clothes at any given time, just enough for a week, so that should work. The books can go on the bed's bookcase; the CDs and DVDs can go in the sliding door compartments on the foot of the bed and if needed, the drawers. I was going to try to bring one of the folding bookcases, but there isn't room.

Okay, I should get started. I wanted to get breakfast in me and take my medicine; I've done so. Also, I really need to get a shower before I go to Kroger for the containers, as I didn't yesterday and worked pretty hard. By the time I get those and get them packed, I should be able to go over to YKWIAs.

Okay

Sixteen boxes packed and one peace lily that constantly needs water replanted in the lavender pot (it had died, and the pot is a nice cobalt blue and larger than what the peace lily was in, plus it has an attached saucer built in. The peace lily is going on the floor in the room I'm going to be sleeping in--which is technically in the living room, not a bedroom--in front of a shady window.)

I did spill some soil on the carpet, and my vacuum is over at YKWIA's, so I will need to retrieve it tomorrow. Anyway, I think it's time to work on notes, now. Time to turn off Pandora and listen to the game instead. I also need to water the other houseplants. Two orchids are still blooming (in fact, the yellow one sent another shoot off of last year's stem and has five blooms and a bud on it, and the pink one that started blooming in March is still going strong). I've been going through things and rearranging them so I can get around things. I've also been throwing or recycling things as I go. There are two-and-a-half big bags of recyclables, one and a half of trash, almost two, and a small grocery bag full of drink lids, which one of my co-workers collect for some form of charity purposes. I'll take the bags out later--that's not got a time limit for today, whereas the notes do. So it's next on the list. I also have a (small) collection of books to take (remember, it's a book case bed), a few I want to read, a few to study (mainly Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, all of which I'm getting rusty with), and then there are a couple I just need to take--my workbooks on hoarding and anxiety/phobia disorders. I've also gotten my important papers and identification papers together, like my birth certificate, passport and passport card, business licence, and librarian certification, that sort of thing. They're definitely going with me, and not into storage.

Okay, on to notes!

Tomorrow I pack

Well, begin packing, anyway. It's going to take awhile. I went by U-Haul and got a bundle of 25 boxes (for 73 cents each!) and some box tape. The plan is to begin in the living room, to pack the books that I want to keep, and then I'll be able to pack up the ones to be donated after that, in different types of boxes for now. The U-Haul boxes will be uniform and easier to store. I may eventually need to get some for the donated ones, but for now, I'm going to focus on what to keep, so I can start taking them over to the storage unit. The art will all go, too, although there's one triptych with two of the paintings that are too big for my car, I believe, so they may have to go last. And then there's YKWIA's self-portrait, which is on a larger canvas. But I think all the others will fit in my car. Then there are furniture/major items.

To keep:

• The kitchen island
• The microwave stand
• All of the bookshelves that come apart and fold up
• The bookshelf with glass doors
• The bookshelf that matches my computer desk
• The bookshelf my dad built
• The computer desk and maybe the printer stand, if I still have the triangular piece that goes with them, along with the desk's hutch
• The steamer trunk
• My aquarium
• The table (which comes apart)
• The curio cabinet
• The CD/DVD stand
• The boards and blocks the plants usually stand on
• The queen mattress and box springs
• Ma Craig's hourglass table (it has sand and works)

Not going:

• The cherry end tables
• The loveseat, which was 'found' by the Dumpster fourteen years ago, so it gave its all
• The entertainment center
• The tall Sauder bookshelf
• The short pressboard bookshelf
• The bed [it has a broken cross rail that cannot be repaired, after 30 years of service]

Maybe keep/maybe go:

• The dresser
• The two chest-of-drawers
• Two occasional tables
• The two steel shelving units in the closet
• The table I'm using as a TV stand [Brenda might be able to use it as a potting stand]

Taking with me to the house:

• The laptop and accessories
• My printer
• My floor speaker that is Bluetooth
• (Perhaps) one folding bookcase
• Two bins, one for clean clothes, one for dirty ones, to go in the closet
• Two small trash cans, one for trash, one for recyclables
• (Maybe) the TV and DVD player
• The plants!

I'm going to see if Brenda can take the fish. If not, maybe I can get Animal House or another pet store to take them. There are three pretty goldfish and a Chinese algae eater. Of course, some small things will go, like some clothes, my CPAP, etc. But most of the small things will either go to storage or Goodwill. That's all I can think of at the moment, anyway. But tomorrow starts all the decisions of what to keep and what to purge.

Seven hours before liftoff and I have decided that

I will just have to live with being a slob, and the house will not be straightened up, and the best I can do is take the trash out so nothing goes sour and live with it. It took an hour and a half to pack. I am terrified that I will oversleep. I have set no less than eight alarms on three devices, plus arranged for a co-worker who is insomniac to call me in the wee hours of the morning if she happens to be up. I don't know what else I can do.

One nice thing is that my CPAP humidifier comes off completely, halving the size. I'm carrying it in a very small bag, which includes my liquids, my medicines, my tablet, and Kindle. I'm not taking the laptop. I unfortunately could not fit the hose and face masque into the small bag, so it's in the rolling bag. Unless it's somehow too heavy, I should be able to not officially check that bag, but rather on a plane this small, they usually just tag it and put it in the back so as to free overhead compartment room.

I debated on saying anything about the timing of the trip, simply because it's an invitation for mayhem when you're away. Hopefully none of you who might be horribly drawn to crime are reading this and know where I live. I try not to be terribly specific. Someone might figure out the general location, but hopefully my specific apartment number isn't out there. But unless you plan on stealing books, there's not much of value in my house, really. :) Even the laptop is extremely basic.

Anyway, I'm charging up the electronics, I've packed and laid out my clothes for tomorrow. I'm going to wear my slip-on Birkenstocks through the airports but change to my regular walking shoes for sight-seeing. I tried to find a pair of pants that would have decent pockets in the front but still work for a business meeting, unlike my jeans, but alas, both Lane Bryant and Gabriel Brothers failed me. I called LB earlier and just asked, saving myself a trip to the mall. I went to Gabriel Brothers briefly to look, picking up a small umbrella, as there's about a 30-40% chance of rain tomorrow, and some underwear. On the way there was an accident involving a motorcycle. I don't think the cyclist was terribly hurt, as he was up and walking, but it tore his mirror off the cycle and I'm not sure what all else. I didn't actually see what caused him to wreck, just him falling, as I was several cars back, so I didn't wait for the police once he got up and got out of the street. But it was scary. I hope he's okay, although I suspect the bike is very much the worse for wear. But he didn't have a helmet on, so it could have been much worse. And I'm glad I wasn't involved. One, having been run over by a car, I try to avoid doing that to others. Two, the last thing I would need is a last-minute accident right before the trip. As you may remember, I was hit by a car last time I was supposed to go to Chicago.

So the only things left are to pull the CPAP back out, go to bed, get up early, take out the trash, and then get ready to head over to the airport. I should probably get some cash to tuck about my person, too, for the trip, while I'm still around an ATM that won't charge me. Good night.