Tired

Oh boy. Today was crazy. Ok, not crazy. But work, real work.

I woke up around 7am and got right to work sorting, moving and packing. I was heading out to the coffee shop around the block to get some coffee and check my email. One neighbor waylaid me on the way out to ask if we could go to the bank later than planned. (Three of us planned to go to the bank to change/correct the very, very, VERY out of date signature card.) I said fine. My tenant, Ken, was also supposed to come over in the morning so I could give him keys, we could sign the lease and so he could hand me a check. He was running late too, so that was fine: more coffee shop time.

I got back home around 9:30. Shortly after, Ken arrived. I walked him through the house, demonstrated how the alarm worked, showed him the funky back gate and the basement. We also figured out where the battery was in the van (would you have guessed under the front passenger seat?). (I've been told I need to disconnect the battery if I let it sit for a long time, but I wanted Kenny to be able to reconnect it if he needs to move the van.)

We talked things over, went down to the basement, he carried a table down there for me. Then I noticed it was 11:30am--the bank closes at noon. Ken left and I knocked on the neighbor's door. Her baby was still sleeping (the reason for the delay) but she agreed to wake him. We grabbed the other neighbor and the four of us walked the three blocks to the bank. It took a while but we got everything done and I had a good time making faces at the baby.

Back home, I heard the current status of the neighbor who lives directly above me. She is going through a rough time right now. I like her fine and I was happy to talk to her. Her timing wasn't great but I can't fault her for that. Maybe we'll spend a little more friendly time together when I get back.

Then, after moving a few more things to the basement, it was time to go to Pele's house to drop off my bike and feed her cat. On the way there, I called Mom.

I complained about how hard this all is and I said, "It better be worth it!"

Mom said, "Well, you'll find out."

Nice, Mom. Everyone else has responded, "It will be."

I dropped the bike off at Pele's then went to pick up some lunch at the Salvadoran place around the corner. I came back, fed the cat and put on a DVD. This was my designated break time.

Pele's cat became my best friend! She sat next to me almost the entire time I was there and demanded extensive petting and scratching. I was happy to oblige.

I headed home and got back to work. Then, in a fit of what I can only term insanity, I trimmed some of the plants in the back yard. Dude! What is wrong with me?

I moved almost everything to the back room that either will stay there, go to the basement or be thrown away. The stuff does NOT fill the room.

I had a fleeting idea that I would go to the coffee shop for more internet time then stop by Union Station for a movie. When 8pm rolled around and I hadn't gotten in the shower yet, I decided to nix that plan.

My suitcases have been partially filled since last weekend when Diego came over to help me with clothing decisions. One bag was filled with the clothing Diego picked out for me and the other was collecting items as I came upon them. I stuffed a whole bunch of additional stuff in the clothing bag and weighed it (first me, then me+bag): 38 pounds! My total weight limit is 80 pounds.

I realized I needed to unpack both bags and see exactly what I'm bringing. Plus, I still have to fold and store a couple of boxes worth of clothing. Oy!

It was almost 8:30 and I'd managed to pull everything out of both bags and fold and pile most of it. I forced myself to stop for dinner. It's not too much clothing. The weight was coming from a few books, and excessive amount of toiletries and all the knitting paraphernalia. I'll probably leave a couple of the books and pare down the toiletries. All knitting gear must come! (It's not all the knitting stuff I own, just needles that would be very expensive to replace and, um, a whole bunch of yarn. Some of the yarn can stay.)

One friend of mine was surprised that I was bringing three bags--two checked and one carry-on. It is definitely more than I usually bring on a trip--but it's six months! I don't want to feel deprived and go shopping. I don't want to spend money on clothing--I want to save it for entertainment, food and travel. Plus, I'll have all the regular living expenses: laundry, household items, public transportation, etc.

It's 9:15pm now and I'm watching some tv, doing laundry and thinking about what else I have to eat in the house. I may do a little more packing tonight--and laundry folding. Tomorrow I will move the rest of the clothing I'm not bringing to the back and take everything that goes to basement to the basement. Take out the trash. Clean the bathroom, mop the kitchen, and vacuum the back room. Also, go to the office to deposit Ken's check, go out for coffee and, very last, have dinner with friends!!!

Another full day. Oy!

Grateful for: one day closer to France!

PS Whoever's wifi I'm stealing: thank you very much!!!

Crazy/Packing

I feel crazy and discouraged. I just found out that the ATM card for my Capital One account (the one that charges no fees on withdrawals overseas) will not arrive until after I'm in Europe. I got so angry! I started swearing under my breath and had to hang up before I started screaming at the lady on the other end of the line. She also slightly chastised me for asking how a second party (my renter) could deposit money into my account, "This account wasn't set up for that kind of thing." Great. Sue me for asking a damn question! They won't even accept a wire transfer from a second party account! Amazing.

So, I went to my credit union (in the building) and it turns out they DO accept second party wire transfers. Worst case, my renter can transfer the money there and then I can transfer it from the credit union to CapOne. Event though I'm angry at them. The credit union does charge a one-dollar fee for each ATM transaction, but no foreign exchange fee, so I can use them to get cash at least until I get the CapOne ATM card. Lord, why are things so complicated? It's me, I know. I should have just used the credit union right along. But I hate fees! And, the interest rate on the savings is a joke...so, it's complicated, but worthwhile and it will all work. I just wish this were all resolved completely by now and that I wasn't still putting out fires. Argh!

I'm in the middle of packing my office. Why? Because we're scheduled to move sometime soon. No one knows when or where (just moving down the hall? or having the entire space converted to cubicles?). Nevertheless, I have to pack. I have so many books and files here, it's ridiculous. I toted a lot of my personal sociology library over here and originally, I meant to take these home, along with some of the personal files I keep at the office for convenience. I ran out of time and energy for that, however, so into boxes it all goes. I've filled ten so far. I have at least two or three more to go.

This morning, in another round of "move boxes around and see how to fit them most efficiently in to the available closet space," I slipped down my step ladder and scraped the underside of my foot. Note to self: WEAR SHOES while moving heavy boxes. Now, I have a bruise under my toes! I'm lucky it wasn't worse, though, and I regained my footing without falling down. This would be a perfect time to break a bone or sprain something. Perish the thought!

The problem I'm facing isn't so much a lack of time but a lack of energy. The office packing is so wearing that when I get home, I just want to relax and go to bed early, when what I really need to do is pack a little more and move things into the back closets. Well, worst case, I do most everything that's left to do on Saturday. Not ideal, but it should be enough time.

When will the cleaning get done, though, I wonder?

Grateful for: the organizational skills that have carried me this far.

Ok

Sometimes a date is just a date. I don't want to say I'm disappointed. If anything, I'm relieved: I will be leaving the US with no unresolved emotional dilemmas (beyond the ones I currently have).

The date itself was fine. The guy was fine. He was nervous and so was I. He still resides in neutral territory. I liked him well enough to consider friendship, but I didn't feel an immediate spark (which means nothing). He didn't bowl me over with his good looks, but he was fine looking. If I were going to be around, I don't know if we'd have another date. Since I'm leaving, we won't.

Altogether, it wasn't exciting or boring or worth worrying about. Oh well.

On the Paris front, I heard from my new landlord (a couple of unanswered emails had me worried) and banking issues are resolved (I love you Capital One! Well, really, really like because, while you charge no fees, the hold times on transfers from other banks are outrageously long. Guess you have to make your money somewhere.)

I seem to alternate between gleefulness (while brushing my teeth this morning, I did a little happy dance while saying "I'm going to Paris" in my head) and anxiety (when am I going to pack, what am I going to take?). I plan to start packing my house next week. While I get to leave most of my stuff, a few things have to go and several things have to be stored. But where? The future tenant did another walk through on Monday and we agreed on what is staying and what has to go. He also agreed that I could use the huge closet in the back room as storage space. That and the basement might be enough room if I can get rid of my mattress--he is bringing his own bed.

For quite a while, I've only been able to use part of the back closet because of a leak in the roof. We are currently (yay!!!) having the roof repaired. Hopefully, this means that the closet can be fully used again. It is half-full, but a lot of what is in there is JUNK. If I could clear out the junk I don't care about, I might well be able to fill it with all the junk from the rest of the house that I do care about. And then anything that I want to keep but don't care much about can go to the damp, musty basement. Hmm.

I'm not looking forward to next week. I will try and make good use of Freecycle. After that, it's the dumpster.

Anyone want a five-year-old queen sized mattress? Free to any home! What about a bunch of old New Yorker magazines? Old MacWorld magazines? A bulky sleeping bag? A REALLY old tent? Old clothing? Anyone? Hello?

Grateful for: perspective

I am awesome

I still haven't called the Spanish lessons guy but I'm going to, tonight. For real. I am. Really. Why is this so hard?

It's a damn good thing I stayed home yesterday because I haven't a minute to spare today on packing/cleaning/organizing. I'm going to Pele's right after work and who knows how late I'll be up. Well, probably not too late because I have soccer on Saturday morning. Then a van is coming to take me to the airport at 5pm (for an 8pm flight--so stupid!). Right, let's review: 11am soccer game, 30 minute drive from my house. I'll leave by 10:15 and be home by 1:30pm. That gives me 3.5 hours to shower, dress, do any last minute cleaning and pack. Good plan! I'll probably wake up early on Saturday and do most of the packing then. I foresee no packing tonight. See, I am awesome!

I got an email from JenA saying I should photograph my packing process. Is that actually of interest to anyone? If I get the pics off my currently full memory card before I start the packing process, I will do it. I could also do the camera phone-straight-to-blog thing (which is awesome and super easy, but the camera phone doesn't have much memory either...), but boy those pics are ugly.

Anyway. This is the story. I leave Saturday evening for ten fun-filled days of Mom. Mom has called me every day this week. And emailed. Seriously. She called me at 1:30 this afternoon to tell me I don't need to bring a towel.* Yeesh. I've been a little worried about the many solo driving days I have planned (not the being lonely part so much as the falling asleep behind the wheel part), but, y'know, I'm starting to think that after staying in Mom's no-room studio (it's large but has no separate rooms) for seven days and then being on the road with her for three, my week of solo driving is going to feel like a little slice of heaven. Awesome!

I'll be writing from the road [insert the usual caveats about internet access, scheduling unknowns, etc. here], so don't be a stranger.

*Not actually true. I asked about the towel. She called to tell me that a certain repair she wants done on the van is going to cost less than $100. Good to know, since I'm paying.

Grateful for: travel.

Lessons

I pride myself on my ability to pack light. Compared to Spesh, who can go to Canada for two weeks with a tiny backpack, I'm an amateur. But for a middle-class American, I'm a pro. I went to Israel this year with a medium-sized rolling suitcase and a small backpack. In the old days, I could have carried on the suitcase, but this trip allowed only one piece of "hand baggage" on the plane. Still, with these two pieces, I was relatively mobile. My backpack was big enough to hold my computer and other on-plane necessities. The computer could go in the big bag for in-country travel and I could have a light, easy to carry around-town bag. The system worked.

Where I failed though, was in my clothing choices. I had three items I never wore (two shirts and a sweater) and more that I only wore once. That's a disaster. I completely misjudged my clothing needs. Of course, I had to dress for two completely different environments: the ultra-orthodox enclave of my brother and the contemporary world. I'd decided that in neither world would shorts be acceptable attire, so I packed none. That was a fine choice. My slacks, dress and skirt got a reasonable work out. It was the tops that I planned incorrectly. That sweater? What a joke. It was much too warm to ever consider wearing it, even though it's cotton. The long-sleeved tee was for sleeping if it got cool. It never got cool. I could have used another sleeping tee and some lightweight long sleeves. Oh, and fewer pairs of tights. More knee-highs. Lord knows how anyone could ever wear hose in that heat.

Oh, and when you buy a dress a size too small, expect to be slightly uncomfortable the entire time you wear it, especially while seated and especially if wearing a shirt underneath it. I felt slightly ridiculous in my dress, which is lovely but snug. It probably didn't look ridiculous, but I didn't fit in. It's very hard to match the dressing customs of this crowd. The basic rules: covered up to the collarbone, skirts and dresses with hems ten centimeters below the knee and sleeves below the elbow. (And only skirts or dresses for the women.) So what if it's almost 100 degrees? Keep covered! Whew. Makes me hot just thinking about it.

The other thing I brought on this trip was a plastic water bottle. I was curious to see if I could bring an empty bottle through security. Turns out you can. What's the point? After you get to the gate, you can fill it up at a water fountain and take it on the plane. However, make sure you empty it before transferring to the next flight because you'll probably pass through another security checkpoint. I drank my water before getting to my checkpoint and was able to keep the bottle. On my way back, the bottle raised no eyebrows in Tel Aviv. In Heathrow, where I changed planes, I overheard the security folks discussing whether or not it was empty but they didn't say anything to me and the bottle got through. There you go--a practical tip for the next time you fly.

Jet lag is a funny thing. For the last three nights, around 8:30pm I get very, very sleepy (that's about 3:30am Israel time). I fight to stay awake. As it approaches bedtime, I start to wake up (11pm here is 6am in Israel). I've been taking a pill every night to make sure I'm good and sleepy by 11pm. Falling asleep has been easy but I wake up around 4am, even though the room is totally dark. I sort of fall asleep again, but not deeply. I hope I get another hour or two of sleep tonight or work tomorrow won't be much fun. Heh. Who am I kidding? Nothing would make the first day back fun, but it would be good to stay awake. Hell, I might even make it to the gym. Hmm, probably not--maybe I'll walk to work instead. That's the ticket.

Grateful for: adjusting.